I ran an analysis of the same music on Djay pro 2 on Spotify (deck 1), Djay pro 2 with MP3 (deck 2) and the MP3 using mixed in key (song on library with a 4A result), and got 3 different Key results. (Spotify and the mp3 are both 320kbps).
who to trust?
yeah, it’s funny because when I analyze a song from Spotify it gives a key, and when I move the same Spotify song to the “my library” section on djay pro 2 for Mac, it changes the key from the same music and both on Spotify.
I bought djay pro because of Spotify integration but it seems I will have to change to another software.
mixed in key, Serato and rekordbox gives the same key (4A on the example I posted) and djay pro gives 3 different ones for the same track.
Who to trust?
Your ears … if it sounds good together then go with it
Here is the thing. If your concern is compatible matches for mixing then it really does not matter. The only thing that does matter is you are consistent with which option you use. If you go with MIK then MIK for all. If Djay then Djay. The above comments are truly overkill for normal DJ use. FWIW there have been several batch tests over the years and MIK has always landed at the top of the list.
Buy a guitar pitch pipe from any Guitar Center or Amazon. The best is “C to C” octave.
Here’s one I can recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000EE…
Since our opening in 1984 we have all given the keys on our Razormaid product. Over the years we have sent out a short course on how to locate “tonic” - the bottom of the triad also know as the key of the song. If you’d like I can forward this 6 step process to you. It’s an email set. Or our Razormaid! business Facebook page has it too here.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?stor…
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The keys in DJay Pro are NOT accurate. Maybe 10%, but it’s not good. We use the COMMENTS column in iTunes to enter the keys for our 6,000 Song library. When we load DJay Pro we turn their key column off and comments column on because the two are so “off “ it will mess up anyone actually mixing by keys (like all our members).
In this short course we send out, we use 5 or 6 popular tracks listening the correct keys, so the user can check against the pitch pipe. From there you can use our technique for discovering the “triad” of the chord in the song, using that to identify the TONIC using the bass line.
Anyone needing this info Email me (Joseph Watt) at: razrmaid@aol.com and I’ll be happy to send out our “how to …” guide to learn how to find the tonic if any song using a pitch pipe. Having a guitar chord calculator is also very helpful too. Here the original one I bought my business partner when we started Razormaid! so he could learn what keys work with what keys.
The purpose for the converter is to know the options for the key. I’m this photo the key of A is used. So the ideal choices would be Perfect 4th or Perfect 5th. I’m if’s ted with the “- >”. More difficult would be 3rd and 6th indicated by the “circle”. The most different would be 2nd and 7th but not impossible. I explain this in our training. But once you pull to the key of the song your end then the calculate will assign the correct keys. We just do this in our heads now but starting out this can be very helpful
Except if you have ever taken a music theory class then you’d know that’s not how keys are used ((MIK). It’s like a DJ using the phrase “32 Beat intro”. They sound like an idiot because in music theory there’s no such animal. Music is composed in measures not “beats”. Musical phrases are in 8 measure sequences so referring to an 8 measure music phrase as “32 Beat intro” is like me trying to describe those things you kick below the frame of your car. You know? Those circular things the car rides on? They rotate in a circle? “You mean a tire?”
I’ve made my point. Describing a tire as a “round circular thing that rotated and you kick” is what I hear when a DJ says “32 Beat intro”. You mean 8 measures?
By the way that “8 measures” is part of the music writing notation process as well
A verse is considered Theme A. A chorus is Theme B the second verse is then considered Theme A variation 1 and the chorus? You guessed it: Theme B variation 1. Then there’s Theme C which in pop music is sometimes referred to as “middle 8” which then resolves itself back to Theme B variation 2 and end of song.
This is actually the formula not only for all song writing but dates back to Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, all the way up to modern composers.
As owner of Razormaid I took pride in making sure our subscribers were the most well informed DJ’s out there hammering correct terminology and usage into them since day one and have been doing so the past 30 years. As a Conducting Major and minor in Music Theory I felt communication key to our members and I didn’t want them sounding illiterate The more they new about how things should be done correctly the more they could appreciate HOW we did things correctly.
This followed through to the artists as well. With over 3,000 artists in our roster we were never turned down when requesting to work on the tracks from the artists because they quickly learned we would adhere to strict music theory process - including correctly identifying the key of there song.
Theoretically there’s only seven positions when computing keys. The optimum being 4th’s and 5th’s. 3rds and 6th’s are less desirable but doable leaving 2nds and 7th’s more challenging but the reward is the greatest. Unfortunately these last two can only be used when moving up in key not down. In other wards Ab>Bb. Or E>Gb, etc. (whole tone). Once you understand basic Nico theory you just swap out the letter name
7. B. G
6. A. F
5. G. E
4. F. D
3. E. C.
2. D. B
Depending on the letter (key) you start with determine the key correction I listed the C octave and A octave in the example but you can see there’s only 7 positions. At Razormaid! we only use flats not sharps to limit confuse so if every letter is two half steps you’d have Ab, Bb, etc
My point being… when you buy a pitch pipe it only lists the 12 keys available in an octave, not some bizarre “system” trying to reinvent the wheel (MIK). There’s 12 notes in a octave on piano keyboard so there’s 12 pitches on a pitch pipe. Done. Unless you’re one of those people still try’ing to come up with a name for those circular things that are round and rotate under your car? (Hint: they’re called tires)
The funny part is, it does a decent job of analyzing local tracks you have in iTunes (when compared to info on beatport), but gets Spotify tracks almost 100% wrong. I think there is a glitch in their analyzation algorithm. Probably something they could fix…
Yeah, it’t too bad. I just bought a controller, so I am just gonna have to figure out a workaround. I’ve been buying tracks anyway because I don’t want to have to count on wifi when I’m playing out. But it’s nice to be able to check out tracks and plan sets in Spotify through my phone and tablet.
I hope they sort it out…
