Staying always in one key at my productions for puplishing?

[crazyfiltertweaker]

I have realized that on Beatport there is ALWAYS the key indicated in every kind of genre! I use no particular key, should I when I load up some Music to Beatport, is it necessary? Do every successfull producer use keys in his tracks?

[GeckoYamori]

It's probably just some helpful pointers for DJs.

[BertKoor]

I use no particular key

Maybe you just haven't realised it yet, but unless your tracks are in the Music Concrete genre (or something else rather silly) me thinks all your tracks can be labelled with a certain key. There might be multiple present, but one of them will stick out as a sore thumb being the one that the track always returns to, being like the center of gravity.

[crazyfiltertweaker]

really, I dont use a centre of gravity, I use Progressions which sounds nice, but no pArticular key...

But is it necessary to be good?

[BertKoor]

Progressions always come back to a root note. Link me to one of your songs and I'll tell you what the key or root note is.

Not that it makes any difference. This piece of metadata is probably there for DJs so they can make a track list with songs in the same key and tempo.

[Hooj]

Agree w/prior post. Melodies/progressions resolve (return home) @ some point.

How do you NOT know what key a track YOU built is in? What notes did you use? Which progressions? Those are usually GOOD indicators!


To your last point, YES! People who create/produce music know what key they are using.


Just curious, which "label" are you using???


'

[Aroused by JarJar]

Progressions always come back to a root note. Link me to one of your songs and I'll tell you what the key or root note is.

Not that it makes any difference. This piece of metadata is probably there for DJs so they can make a track list with songs in the same key and tempo.

What's true of "most western tonal music today" is not necessarily true of "music".

Sure, in my experience when people say that they don't use keys or scales or whatever, it usually turns out they simply don't have the knowledge to realize that their music does use keys and scales and is in fact very strictly limited to "the rules".

However, a melody doesn't have to start and end on a certain note or key. Because my record collection of chants from different cultures is long gone, I can't think of a specific example of the many chants that end elsewhere than what modern western tonality would think of as the "root note". So I took a couple of minutes to improvise a little tune as an example:

http://soundcloud.com/aroused-by-jarjar ... ality-abjj

[Lyrakill]

have the issue trying to keep in key with acapellas / voice etc alot, using mixed in key helps!

[Ja.x]

When people are serious about music they should learn a bit about notes, chords, keys, progressions, modes, times signatures... Once they know almost all about it, many years later, then they can use "no keys" in their music, knowing exactly what keys they are using. When people "don't use keys" it most probably means they are just throwing loops into Ableton Live.

[cruisy18]

The first bass note of the first full bar defines what key your track is in. Or at least the key it starts off in. Key changes within tracks are not uncommon. However, when labeling the key signature of a track, it is labeled by the first key it is in. It has been this way since the days of classical music.

And EVERY music composer (not just classical) should be familiar with their scales/key signatures.

[ksandvik]

The first bass note of the first full bar defines what key your track is in..

Not true at all. It could be any bass note, maybe not even in the first full bar... And there are plenty of songs that start with a IV or let's say V-IV progression before moving to I.

[Aroused by JarJar]

The first bass note of the first full bar defines what key your track is in..

Not true at all. It could be any bass note, maybe not even in the first full bar... And there are plenty of songs that start with a IV or let's say V-IV progression before moving to I.

Yes, and even if it starts on I or i, the chord might be in inversion. And there are many varieties of music- even though pop music has a lot of formalistic and restrictive elements, they are a) not universal and b) differ according to the style and era.

The whole idea of "key" in a traditional sense is very iffy in a lot of music even in popular Western styles. The late '70s and early '80s had a lot of guitar playing which, whether because it was "naive" or secretly very sophisticated (or both together, you could have a professor and basically a homeless guy together in a band in those days) does not scan as far mainstream musical theory.

[Syncretia]

should I when I load up some Music to Beatport, is it necessary? Do every successfull producer use keys in his tracks?

To answer this question very concisely, no - it's not necessary. Yes, they do, but it may change from section to section. Also, some musicians add notes from outside the current key for "colour". Jazz musicians do this frequently, but it's not very common in other genres.

Beatport put it there so that the DJ can create seamless mixes from one track to the next. It's the same problem with BPMs. Beatport can advertise the BPM of a track but if the BPM changes throughout the track, the advertised BPM is useless. Both these things are just there as a helpful tip for DJs and nothing else.

Unless you are a DJ, you are not going to care about the key or the tempo of the song.

PS: I'm pretty sure that you are using at least one scale in your tracks. If you didn't, your music would sound like complete dogshit. Perhaps the key changes from section to section, but it definitely would have a key in each of the sections.