I came across this website that speaks about harmonic mixing and I figured out that it had to do with the keys that appear next to my songs in my Djay library:
I would like to use the Camelot wheel to mix but I don’t understand the relation between the keys in Djay and the zones on the wheel.
First problem is that I am French speaking so Bb, Ab, G and the like doesn’t mean anything to me (in French we have do, ré, mi, fa, sol, la si, do!)
So even if I understand that mixing two Bb songs together is easy, I don’t know what “goes well” with Bb besides Bb.
There must be some kind of logic behind this but I don’t know what it is.
This would all be very simple if Djay 2 let you choose which type of key system you use. Camelot is by far the most widely used and understood among DJs.
There’s also the very similar but free from copyrights, trade marks or licensing alternative, the Open Key wheel: https://www.beatunes.com/en/open-key-…
Generally speaking, each major key has a parallel minor key, e.g. Bb is parallel to Gm. You can determine the relation of one key to another in the “circle of quints”.
BUT, what you can also do with djay is simply transpose a song to the match the other song’s key! Simply press the “collapse” icon next to the song’s key and select “Match”.
thanks for the expression “circle of quints”. After Googling it I came across “circle of fifths” on Wiki so I was able to figure out what it means in french.
I used the “Match” feature on djay but felt it was weird as it seems to change the tone of the song.
How do people use that feature (i mean when is it useful and when should it NOT be used?).
Somewhat of a beginner here, but how do your Keys line up with the Camelot wheel? Is your wheel just helping me find all the songs in that key and it’s my job to find the compatible keys? Or if I select A for example, are all A’s and the adjacent D and E key tracks also compatible?
Take some time and read, “Beyond Beatmatching” from Mixed In Key. Its a free pdf and will teach you tons about DJ’ing. These are the guys who designed this system. There is a reason when great DJs mix songs it sounds great, and when you mix it, even with perfect beatmatching and the same BPM, it sounds…crummy.
It will explain everything. The DJay software doesn’t harmonize anything, and yes, if you change the key of the song, usually, it will sound weird.
What the new version does though is huge by labeling the key of each track. If you know the key, you can figure out what other songs, be it the same key, or other harmonically related key, will sound great mixed with the song you are currently playing.
Pascale, I faced a similar challenge because I’m from Latin America, where we use “do, re, mi” etc. However, I eventually learned that since so much software stuff is oriented towards the Anglophone letter system I had to suck it up and learned it along with the true notation of the Circle of Fifths and not just the easier Camelot wheel system.
By the way, Google for the composite, colored image that uses **both** the musical notes and the Camelot numbers. Put it in your phone and memorize it while having drinks or watching football (soccer).
I know it’s not as easy as 1-2-3, but it works. The same with an image of the pentagram with both musical note labeling systems.
But there’s more to this.
I’m not truly a trained musician but in the process of learning this, after reading also Yakov’s “Beyond Beatnatching” book, I realized that to take things to the next level a DJ should learn at least a little bit of music theory because it will help you get a better grasp of why some keys work better with some and not with others depending on the major/minor thing, the music genre, and the mood and energy of a song, for example.
I didn’t spend a ton of money learning this. I just downloaded some music theory apps on my iPad (Musicopoulous is the best) and read and did the exercise a little each day for about two months or so since I have a regular job.
Over time it will become like second nature.
Anyone learning to DJ should consider learning this stuff. It reveals amazing secrets and makes doing gigs even more fun.
I currently use Keyfinder software to find the key, i also have the default values changed to mirror the Camelot System as thats so much easier to use, i have noticed though that 2 songs that match the same in keyfinder appear to have different keys in idjay 2!!! Anyway, i agree with GenErik, a way of changing the default key system to use the camelot system would be great.
Hey community! I rewrite the camelot circle in order to read it more easily with key nomenclature used by Djay Pro. I hope it’ll be useful while Algoriddim’s developers improve the product.
Any news on this? I’m really confused over the way these keys are placed in Djay Pro. Is it just me or does it only show the Major keys and then you have to figure out from the letter if it’s Major or minor? How do I find a song in Bm if I play a song in D major for example? What does algoriddm mark as “B minor”?
