Yes, exactly. All the DJM-800 will do for you is if a track is in between keys (due to you pitching the record up or down), it will bump the key to the nearest note. Which means you still have to know the key of the track before you played it, and have to figure out what the key will be after the DJM-800 has adjusted it.

If you have CDJ's, just enable master tempo and you don't need to use this.

Also, you have to pitch a record up or down quite a bit to REALLY throw of the key.

World class DJ's have been pulling off flawless harmonic mixes for years without it.

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Originally posted by Rebel Brown Um, no. The DJM doesn't take each song you have and key them for you.

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Originally posted by skot_e i don't really understand how a computer is able to pick out what key a track is in (assuming the artist actually intended to record in key) when there are many different elements to the track such as high hats and kick drum, which if they are samples, will not be tuned to be in any particular key. Software can not be 100% accurate imo. Too late for me anyway as I've just finished all my tunes tonight. It didn't take too long to work out how to do it, and now I find it quite easy. I would say tho that if the software is fool proof, it would be useful fo someone who can't be bothered learning. Personally I'd rather by more tunes. And I use a mac...

Only a shit producer wouldn't tune his samples.

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quote:

Originally posted by Zild Only a shit producer wouldn't tune his samples.

I think he means when a key is ambiguous, like when it's percussion only without anything going on tonally to give it a key.

Zild, How do you tune a sample? A sample is a fixed recording, and the only way I can see altering it is to transpose it, but that's not really tuning it. Please correct me if I'm wrong (I don't use samples)
Est is sorta right, what I am getting at is with all the other info going on within the track, how can software 'isolate' the elements which make up the key signature?

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Originally posted by skot_e Zild, How do you tune a sample? A sample is a fixed recording, and the only way I can see altering it is to transpose it, but that's not really tuning it. Please correct me if I'm wrong (I don't use samples) Est is sorta right, what I am getting at is with all the other info going on within the track, how can software 'isolate' the elements which make up the key signature?

Dear Skot_E,

Mixed In Key analyzes songs based only on their harmonic elements. It pretty much ignores the kick drums and other elements that don't have exact tonality.


Also, here is the story behind Mixed In Key:

Before I developed Mixed In Key, I had to key songs manually. My Dad has good hearing and pitch, so we would spend time together on the weekends going through my tunes, with him playing the keyboard. He would play the melody and find the root note.

After keying about 1200 songs, we decided to use some statistics to find out how many are actually harmonically compatible. We found that any two songs from my collection have a 23% chance to be harmonically compatible. I love how harmonic mixing sounds, so I wanted to improve that ratio. I couldn't ask my dad to help me all the time, so I started developing this program. I am an official Microsoft Partner, so I'm completely qualified to write custom Windows software. Mixed In Key was developed for DJs and musicians who already know how to beatmatch, read the crowd, etc. With Mixed In Key, DJs can spend more time on finding great music, promoting themselves, putting together mixed CDs, etc. The purpose of this program is to do a great job of detecting keys, and show them to the DJ in a clean and friendly format.

Mixed In Key makes DJs sound like top-rated producers and helps them stand out from the crowd.

What do you think?


Thanks,
Yakov

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Originally posted by nennon With Mixed In Key, DJs can spend more time on finding great music, promoting themselves, putting together mixed CDs, etc.

i bet it takes longer to turn my computer on & load the program than it does for me to key a song manually. so essentially youre asking me to pay $$ so that ill then have less time to do these things sorry, i think its a rip off, especially with free software like mixshare out there.

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Originally posted by skot_e Zild, How do you tune a sample? A sample is a fixed recording, and the only way I can see altering it is to transpose it, but that's not really tuning it.

OK so if you had 2 samples that were in different keys, you could transponse one so as it's in the same key as the other. Then you'd have a record that's nicely in tune.

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Please correct me if I'm wrong (I don't use samples) Est is sorta right, what I am getting at is with all the other info going on within the track, how can software 'isolate' the elements which make up the key signature?

No idea how the software works, but things like high hats and drums (anything that does't play an actual note) won't contribute anything to the key anyway.

It's got me thinking - some tracks start with just a kick drum and a high hat - no bassline/harmonies/melodies, in fact nothing tonal going on at all. How would the software cope when there is NO information to key a track?

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Originally posted by est It's got me thinking - some tracks start with just a kick drum and a high hat - no bassline/harmonies/melodies, in fact nothing tonal going on at all. How would the software cope when there is NO information to key a track?

quick connection to random.org?

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Originally posted by est OK so if you had 2 samples that were in different keys, you could transponse one so as it's in the same key as the other. Then you'd have a record that's nicely in tune.

Can't this leave the sound slightly out of tune tho? Transposing a sound will also change the length of the sample won't it, unless using something similar to ableton.

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No idea how the software works, but things like high hats and drums (anything that does't play an actual note) won't contribute anything to the key anyway.

I do understand that point, but I would have thought that that info would confuse the situation (for software I mean - a person is albe to ignore that and focus on the other elements)

Nennon, I unlike some, commend you for making the effort, it's just that I know how to do it by ear now. I see no reason for obtaining a program free or other, in order to achieve the same objective.
it would certainly help someone new to keying, but the flip side to that is they won't learn how to 'hear' what key it is in.
And think of the quality time with your dad you miss out on

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Originally posted by Ryan0751 Yes, exactly. All the DJM-800 will do for you is if a track is in between keys (due to you pitching the record up or down), it will bump the key to the nearest note.

Oh man this confused me for ages! The descriptions of the harmonic effect on the DJM800 are frankly rubbish, and I thought the exact same as you, until I saw a demo of how it works.

You can use the harmonic feature to transpose (move the key) up or down in semitones. So, you still need to know your keys and use your ears etc, but it does much more than just move it to the nearest available key.

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Originally posted by skot_e Can't this leave the sound slightly out of tune tho? Transposing a sound will also change the length of the sample won't it, unless using something similar to ableton.

OK this is about where my knowledge of sampling/productions begins to fade. How to get all your samples in key and tempo-matched is a question for the DJ booth, I guess.

But I do wonder what would happen when the key of a tune is somewhat ambiguous, for whatever reason.

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I do understand that point, but I would have thought that that info would confuse the situation (for software I mean - a person is albe to ignore that and focus on the other elements)

How would it confuse it, though? The presence of a hi-hat won't make it choose the wrong key, because those elements don't have a key.

Using a sampler you can do almost anything you want to your samples. Play with a sampler like Battery to see what I'm talking about.

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I've never been able to eat a whole baby.
Kill the women. Eat the children.
It's just one of those days where you want to bend over everyone you know and kiss their ass goodbye with a big sideways boot.

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