Does it really matter what key your produce in ?

[FSTZ1]

D minor really is the saddest key.

the saddest of the sad keys

[uncle bill]

You realise all keys are completely transposable? Major being different to minor is not to do with sound qualities it's just that different intervals are used. If you're recording live instruments then the key would affect the timbre but production-wise it fuck all.

You are right about everything being transposable of course. And I am aware of what the difference is between major and minor. But if you transposed a song from A flat minor to A minor it would sound different. The relationship of the notes stay the same but different notes are used. A is not the same note as A flat.

When you say that

All the 3 or 4 not tunes about could fit into several different keys because they share the same notes, it makes no difference to anything.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, but I think you're refering to the fact that 2 keys could have the same notes. (C major & A minor for example) The difference is what the tonic is and how the notes are functioning.

All I'm saying that if your writing a song, using different keys is a way to spice things up. If everybody just wrote in C, things would be pretty boring.

The question I have for you is, if all keys are the same then why do we have them at all?

Because when all instruments were acoustic they tended to perform better in some tonal ranges than they did in others. Also, vocalists often sing better in one key than another. The deciding factor for which key to use is often which instrument is taking the lead in a composition eg. violin, soprano vocal, saxophone etc.

Some sophisticated instruments (not just electronic ones - pianos have a very consistent tone across different keys) don't struggle with pitch in the way that traditional woodwind or stringed instruments do. This means that they can be used in any key you choose and makes them perfect for accompaniment.

If you're using entirely electronic instruments (ie. no sampled instruments, no vocals, no found sounds) key still has its place. Understanding key helps you predict whether a certain notes are going to sound good following each other or not. Making music without a basic understanding of key, chords, harmony etc is like painting in the dark.

[grooki]

140 f minor. Each and every time, so you shaddup.

not everyone does this though. I do actually ( although I think this might contributing to a little rut I have found myself in). But lots of tracks are either faster or slower, you can't rely on it. So no, I won't shaddap

[dj.ik]

Like a few have already said, the key will set the 'mood' for the track, so using whatever minor, major, sus 4th, augmented, dimished scales, is surely up to preference?

But the root note is important, certain notes will hit harder on bigger systems, others will sound better on smaller speakers

A list of musical notes and their hz equivalent.


C1 32.70
C#1/Db1 34.65
D1 36.71
D#1/Eb1 38.89
E1 41.20
F1 43.65
F#1/Gb1 46.25
G1 49.00
G#1/Ab1 51.91
A1 55.00
A#1/Bb1 58.27
B1 61.74
C2 65.41
C#2/Db2 69.30
D2 73.42
D#2/Eb2 77.78
E2 82.41
F2 87.31
F#2/Gb2 92.50
G2 98.00
G#2/Ab2 103.83
A2 110.00
A#2/Bb2 116.54
B2 123.47
C3 130.81

[the dub lemon]

with bass heavy music the key matters when it comes to the root note. If you have it centred between 30-40 hz then you are gonna be feeling that on a good system. If I remember the note "G" is sposed to be good for this. If it's for personal audio systems, ipod, computer speakers. Then having the root note higher up will give it a better chance of being heard and makes sure people with crap speakers aren't left asking "wheres the bassline?"

This is true, F, F# & G are good notes, however you can still write in other keys but in different modes to continue using these notes to give you solid bass

[grooki]

with bass heavy music the key matters when it comes to the root note. If you have it centred between 30-40 hz then you are gonna be feeling that on a good system. If I remember the note "G" is sposed to be good for this. If it's for personal audio systems, ipod, computer speakers. Then having the root note higher up will give it a better chance of being heard and makes sure people with crap speakers aren't left asking "wheres the bassline?"

This is true, F, F# & G are good notes, however you can still write in other keys but in different modes to continue using these notes to give you solid bass

remember also that you can drop to these notes using them as the 7th of the octave below, making them sound even lower than your granma thought.

[jsilver]

sus 4th, augmented, dimished

these are types of chords not scales lol?

[therapist]

remember also that you can drop to these notes using them as the 7th of the octave below, making them sound even lower than your granma thought.

What do you mean? Would that be a different note?

[grooki]

remember also that you can drop to these notes using them as the 7th of the octave below, making them sound even lower than your granma thought.

What do you mean? Would that be a different note?

you have a scale that you use for your bass line and melodies. each note has a number from 1 to 7. So the root note is 1. What a lot of people have been saying in this thread is that they make F their root note, as this is (arguably) the lowest sub note which is still clear.

but

What you can do is have your track in a scale which starts at G, so G is 1. So now if you were using a minor scale, F is the 7th note in the scale. You can now make a bass line in which the root note is G (nice and low), and you can dip below G to F (also nice and even lower). It sounds nice and is unexpected - you have an even lower note resolving to the root note.

A lot of reggae and dub bass lines use the 7th and it sounds great. It took me a while to realise what they were doing because I would always presume that the lowest note was the beginning of the scale they were using.

[dj.ik]

sus 4th, augmented, dimished

these are types of chords not scales lol?

I do believe your right, sus4 is simply a chord...

But there is a diminished scale, its also known as the octatonic....and the augmented scale is also called the hexatonic.

I dunno though, I still might not be 100 percent correct.

[jsilver]

sus 4th, augmented, dimished

these are types of chords not scales lol?

I do believe your right, sus4 is simply a chord...

But there is a diminished scale, its also known as the octatonic....and the augmented scale is also called the hexatonic.

I dunno though, I still might not be 100 percent correct.

yeah you're right, hmm didnt kno that

[deadly_habit]

joys of playing by ear