is there a program for detecting a key of a song

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djcmonkey

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i am a remixer just starting out and im having a hell of a time figuring out the keys of some acapellas is there any program that i can use that will tell me teh key teh acapella is sang in ?
 
Cool edit pro and Wavelab are 2 that I know of that detect the key pretty well.


SoMm
 
I do it the old fashioned way. I use my ears.
 
Track Rat - clearly you haven't entered the 21st century.

I suppose you actually play your instument too:o
 
I don't want to come off too hard nosed about it, but shouldn't you be looking for at least some basic music skills. I mean, IF you're going to wing it anyway, I'm wondering what difference does the key make?

First step; Hum the scale you hear the song is in. Learn what the 1st note in the scale sounds like. It's the 'Tonic', it's called 'home' because that's what it 'sounds' and feels like. Find that note on an instrument. That's the key.:D

Wayne
 
Even with detecting pitches, that doesn't necessarily tell you what key they are in. For example, a bunch of pitches that would be in the key of C major would also be in the key of A minor. If there's only a couple of notes in the audio material the key might be almost anything, and a software algorithm would have no way of making a decision unless it made certain assumptions (like, the last note is the root).

There is also the complexity of all the possible chord progressions that might be used in the harmony.

Then there are many songs where the key changes... that is, a section is in another key than the rest, or the whole form modulates up or down to another key near the end...
 
E.A.R.S....

Oh! And can't forget that piano/keyboard!

Music Theory 101 here dude, gotta learn how to recognize pitches and intervals.
 
true.. but he said theyre acapelas. they can even be rap acapelas, and as u know, those guys dont really sing in keys, at least not that i know of, they just freestyle
 
what key?

I am a singer and sing a capella all the time. Including opera. I don't know a lot of sw that does this but the way I do it is pick the notes out on a piano. The last note is usually the tonic. The note that has a feeling of resolution. All the tention in the song will resolve to this note. And yes major scales have the same key signature as it's relative minor. Aminor will have the same key signature as C major. But they will still resolve to thier tonic respectively. In other words, an a capella in C major will resolve to C and in A minor it will resolve to A. Good Luck
 
Track Rat said:
I do it the old fashioned way. I use my ears.
Click to expand...

mikeh said:
Track Rat - clearly you haven't entered the 21st century.
I suppose you actually play your instument too:o
Click to expand...

There are softwares that do the work, but what is it good for if you don't really know what the software is doing? If you can't find the key by yourself I believe you won't be able to use it well to. Theory and ears, that's the best way. :cool:
 
Well, finding the base note is easy. Then it's the next stop of finding if it's major or minor or any of the really werid keys.

If the softwares can do that, I'm impressed, and then they are useful.
 
What Janissinger said.

Go to the end of the tune.

I don't read, just play by ear, and I've had success unlocking a lot of tunes by starting at the end and working backwards.
 
Alot of acapella is just done on the fly without a really "note of key" being established.

The first guy will hum the note then then they will take it from there, but no real instrument is used to establish a proper note.

You might never find a "real" key... But if you find the closest note and then fine tune the instrument to match what the singers are doing, then you will be ok, but theres nothing to say the singers won't waver from the note they started on by the end of the song..

Just saying, it can get really tricky with acapella.

Joe
 
VOXVENDOR said:
Alot of acapella is just done on the fly without a really "note of key" being established.

The first guy will hum the note then then they will take it from there, but no real instrument is used to establish a proper note.
Click to expand...


Uhm. Since when do you need a "real instrument" to establish a "proper note"? Notes are notes, sung, plucked, bowed or blown. Same thing. When the guy hums, he establishes a proper note.
 
Jesus Regebro, is everything black and white with you?.. LOL :confused:

I mean as opposed to a proper note on a keyboard tuned to a-440

Yes, anyone can make a "note".. But thats not what I meant. This guy wants to establish a proper key to add musical accompniant of some sort, or so im led to believe. Most instruments run at A-440 don't they?

I shouldn't have to explain this, you know what I meant.;)
 
He's just feeling a little more anal-retentive today than usual.:rolleyes:
 
Regebro is a smart guy. I'm 100% sure he knew what I meant, and just felt like busting my balls..

I'm cool with that, but I just f*cking hate having to over explain stuff.
 
The actual pitch reference is an arbitrary choice. But once a pitch reference is chosen by whatever means -- a pitch pipe, somebody's voice, a piano, a guitar -- there is then a typically a key, established by the relationships of all the other intervals to that reference point -- at least in "standard" tonal music.
 
Interesting discussion folks! I know a fair amount of theory, and there's something that's been bugging me for a bit. There's an Eva Cassidy song "Anniversary Song"; anyone know it? It's played in C, but it's about 1/4 step off. It's guitar and piano (and synth strings I think?) Did she start recording out of tune, and then the take was so good, they had to "untune" the other instruments? I guess if they're all synths it's not a big deal. I could just adjust my synths to confirm, but I'm lazy. Anyone else find songs with a full band that aren't in a "proper key?" (Apologies to Regebro!)

PS - Any Eva fans out there? That lady could sing! Unfortunately she left this world too young, and before her music really took off.
 
Thats usually just due to the tape speed being changed on mixdown. I would bet money the song was recorded in the A-440 version of C.

Joe
 
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