How crucial is choosing a "Key" for your tracks? Do you even bother? (Music Theory Q)

Home :: Producer tips and DAW information :: How crucial is choosing a "Key" for your tracks? Do you even bother? (Music Theory Q)Reply
How crucial is choosing a "Key" for your tracks? Do you even bother? (Music Theory Q)
Posted on: 11.12.2013 by Bernard Pulizzi
I've been producing for a while now, and I've always had the same questions which I've never really searched for an answers for, so I'm hoping this thread will clear things up for me..

I have been wondering for a while whether or not producers actively decide one a key before or during the production of a track.

I had played piano for around 2 years when I was much younger (I say much younger, I'm only 20 now..), but I can't remember a whole lot from it - I can read music and know the notes etc, all the basic stuff, but I was never at the level of composing my own piece back in the day.. So here's where the questions come in..

I figure there are two ways of tackling a song; either choose a key, or just go by what sounds good.

I guess there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to music, but, do music producers actively choose a key for their songs? If you were to pick a key, do you stick to it throughout the whole track? How do you pick what key to use? Is it not limiting choosing a key?

should I be learning basic scales, and do you know of any good ways to re-teach myself this aspect of music theory?
Berta Baie
11.12.2013
Originally Posted by kbridge
Cool I'll read through that and refresh myself first thing tomorrow - is choosing a key not restricting?
You don't really have a choice in the matter. If you want to write good melodic music, you will inevitably end up writing in a specific key if you actively choose to or not. If you are writing techno or like minimal or something, and u only have drums, well then thats a diff story because then who really cares about the key in the first place. I don't really believe its possible to NOT write in ANY key, and if you did the song would most likely sound pretty awful.
Bernard Pulizzi
11.12.2013
Originally Posted by Tarekith
Basic music theory for electronic musicians:

http://www.worldofbryan.com/rsg2mt.pdf

Like Grazz I often pick a root note early on to mix things up some, but I don't often know exactly what key or tonality I'll end up with yet. After playing for a little bit something usually appears. And while I might not have planned it, I make sure everything else from that point stays in the same one.
Cool I'll read through that and refresh myself first thing tomorrow - is choosing a key not restricting?
Bernard Pulizzi
11.12.2013
Originally Posted by grazz16
I usually do choose a key for the simple sake of not having every song i write in the same key, and thus starting to sound the same. Not always though, sometimes i'll just sit down and write a melody and whatever key its in, its in. I do recommend variety however.
rookie question though, but how do you even work out the key of a track?
Bernard Pulizzi
11.12.2013		I've been producing for a while now, and I've always had the same questions which I've never really searched for an answers for, so I'm hoping this thread will clear things up for me..

I have been wondering for a while whether or not producers actively decide one a key before or during the production of a track.

I had played piano for around 2 years when I was much younger (I say much younger, I'm only 20 now..), but I can't remember a whole lot from it - I can read music and know the notes etc, all the basic stuff, but I was never at the level of composing my own piece back in the day.. So here's where the questions come in..

I figure there are two ways of tackling a song; either choose a key, or just go by what sounds good.

I guess there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to music, but, do music producers actively choose a key for their songs? If you were to pick a key, do you stick to it throughout the whole track? How do you pick what key to use? Is it not limiting choosing a key?

should I be learning basic scales, and do you know of any good ways to re-teach myself this aspect of music theory?
Augustina Zulu
14.12.2013		This is actually a really good question. On the one had it really doesn't matter what NOTE you pick for the tonic (root note) because you can play any scale off of any root note. But key often means more that just a note and also implies the SCALE (major/minor) you're using which effects what notes are used in the melody and basically set the entire mood of the song. In less melodic music the scale may not matter that much. The 4th and 5th notes are the same in major and minor. Likewise something like a minimal techno track may only have one note - the tonic.

On the other hand, because dance music often means writing sub-bass parts, the key can be an important decision from a production perspective. The sub-bass part of the musical spectrum is actually pretty small, basically 30Hz to 60Hz. Human hearing goes down to around 20Hz but notes around 30Hz and below are really interpreted more as just a low rumble. So check out this chart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_key_frequencies and you'll see that certain notes fall better in the sub-bass spectrum than others. The note B does not exist in the sub-bass sweet spot at all. B1 is 61.7354hz and an octave below that is 30.8677 which is really too low. C has the same issues. E1, F1 and G1 all fall right in the sweet spot 40Hz-50Hz. So the TLDR version - some notes just lend themselves to sub-bass parts better than others.

Another consideration is that some synths (especially analog) sound better at certain frequencies that others. Sometimes if I'm struggling to get a synth part sound tight I will try to transpose the whole song a step or two and see if that fixes it. If you're dealing with real musicians or samples it's usually best to stick with whatever key is already being used. I've even based the key of a track on the key of a sampled kick or tom.

As far as changing keys in a song, it's rare in dance music. I'm sure someone has pulled it off but usually it's done in ballads and verse/chorus pop songs. Some classic examples are Led Zepplin - Whole lot of Love and Beatles - Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (the Beatles were awesome at key changes).
Berta Baie
12.12.2013		Quick and dirty way to tell is its usually the first note in the melody line. Not always of course, but its a good start.
Bernard Pulizzi
12.12.2013		I get ya!

I know that if you're playing and it sounds good without any clashes then it doesn't really matter, I just haven't really thought about choosing a key when starting a track!

I'm going to re-learn the theory that I've forgotten, but I guess as long as what you make sounds good, then it doesn't overly matter what key you've written in - whether you know it or not!

if you've already made a melody, how do you find out what key it's in?
Berta Baie
11.12.2013
Originally Posted by kbridge
Cool I'll read through that and refresh myself first thing tomorrow - is choosing a key not restricting?
You don't really have a choice in the matter. If you want to write good melodic music, you will inevitably end up writing in a specific key if you actively choose to or not. If you are writing techno or like minimal or something, and u only have drums, well then thats a diff story because then who really cares about the key in the first place. I don't really believe its possible to NOT write in ANY key, and if you did the song would most likely sound pretty awful.
Monserrate Rupnow
11.12.2013		Umm, yes and no. You can use notes out of that key to create dissonance which is a useful technique, and there's nothing to say you can't change keys too.
Bernard Pulizzi
11.12.2013
Originally Posted by Tarekith
Basic music theory for electronic musicians:

http://www.worldofbryan.com/rsg2mt.pdf

Like Grazz I often pick a root note early on to mix things up some, but I don't often know exactly what key or tonality I'll end up with yet. After playing for a little bit something usually appears. And while I might not have planned it, I make sure everything else from that point stays in the same one.
Cool I'll read through that and refresh myself first thing tomorrow - is choosing a key not restricting?
Monserrate Rupnow
11.12.2013		Basic music theory for electronic musicians:

http://www.worldofbryan.com/rsg2mt.pdf

Like Grazz I often pick a root note early on to mix things up some, but I don't often know exactly what key or tonality I'll end up with yet. After playing for a little bit something usually appears. And while I might not have planned it, I make sure everything else from that point stays in the same one.
Bernard Pulizzi
11.12.2013
Originally Posted by grazz16
I usually do choose a key for the simple sake of not having every song i write in the same key, and thus starting to sound the same. Not always though, sometimes i'll just sit down and write a melody and whatever key its in, its in. I do recommend variety however.
rookie question though, but how do you even work out the key of a track?
Berta Baie
11.12.2013		I usually do choose a key for the simple sake of not having every song i write in the same key, and thus starting to sound the same. Not always though, sometimes i'll just sit down and write a melody and whatever key its in, its in. I do recommend variety however.

<< Back to Producer tips and DAW informationReply

Copyright 2012-2023
DJRANKINGS.ORG n.g.o.
Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan

Created by Ajaxel CMS

Terms & Privacy