What you see in the left-hand column is the key (all of which are minor scales in this case, denoted by the lowercase “m”), and the rows show us each key’s corresponding notes, presented in a keyboard style. Of course, there are more kinds of keys, but for most electronic music, these two will be all you need.īasically, every key consists of seven notes that you can play that will sound in-key. If there is just a letter (like “A” or “D”) and maybe an accidental (the sharp or flat symbols, # or b), it’s a major one. If your audio is in a minor key, it has a lowercase “m” at the end of its name, like in “Gbm” (aka G-flat minor). One is for major scales, the other for minor scales. All you need to do is download these images right here and here. Relax: No detailed knowledge of scales is needed, since we have Wikipedia. Now it’s time to choose the notes we want to use. That’s all you need to know to go on to the next step. So let’s say we choose a guitar sample in G-flat minor (Gbm). The key will appear on the right-hand side in a red box. It’s simple: Just open Keyfinder, drag and drop any amount of audio files into the window, and hit Run Batch Analysis. In this guide, I will use a little freeware program called Keyfinder. There are a number of programs out there to help you, including Mixed in Key, which is a pretty popular add-on that analyzes the harmonies and melodies of your music so that you can mix key-compatible tracks.

For the former, it’s possible that the key is noted in your sample’s file name (something like “C” or “Am”), or if, for example, you bought the track on Beatport, the key may be written into the track’s metadata.īut if don’t know your audio’s key, and still want to add more sounds to it, you should find it out to keep your song’s harmonies in check. If you already know the key of a sample or a song you want to remix, or, say, you build your melodies from scratch, you can skip this step. This combination of tools and hacks will enable you to add chords, melodies, and basslines to your productions, in the right key and without much effort. If you want to make your tracks more musical without knowing much about scales and harmony, then this tutorial is for you.

Just Enough by B. Harmony