Mixing in Key - How to figure out pitch of song that you pitch up/down
Hey everyone,
So i’ve recently been practicing by mixing in key because i feel it sounds better and it’s easier to mix. I was wondering if i have a song playing at 128bpm, and i want to bring in a track thats at 124 - i have to pitch that up obviously, so how would i account for the new key of the song so i can still mix something in harmoniously.
Did i make sense? i hope so.
Thanks
-Mooook
key lock/Master Tempo
The rule of thumb I’ve heard passed around is that you’re fine anywhere within +/-6% difference.
I think that depends on the speed, at 124, 6% difference might not make much of a difference, but at 175 its very noticeable. You could get away with it, but if you ever get into dnb or faster stuff, you will probably want to stick to closer to 1-2% before you will notice a bit of flat/sharpness.
Might have that a little confused. 6% is 6%…no matter what the tempo of the song…its going to sound like its been changed 6%
idk, i certainly seem to notice it more at higher speeds. Perhaps its just me.
Keep key lock on. But + or - 5% Usually doesn’t make a discernible difference.
Thats right, a change of over 6% changes the key (unless you use the keylock), but you shouldn’t be going over 3% anyway in my humble opinion 
Thank you for all the replies. Did i really say bitch instead of pitch in the title? wow. thats a typo 
. well i greatly appriciate the replies.
My roommate tells me that keylock messes up the track and makes it chop and says its not a good idea? any input on this? is there any negative to keylock?
if you are using 128 kbps mp3s, fuggedaboutit! but with 320 kbps a bit of keylock didn’t hurt nobody.
cool, thanks for the reply, i try to use only 320 and wav/aiff.
Wth slower computers Keylock can add to CPU spikes which cause the crackling noise. There are some settings in preferences to help with this.
It can also make the track sound generally crappy if you change the key (with the key knob) too much (more than 2 increments depending on your computer), or, as mentioned before changing the BPM over 5%.
Man, I resisted commenting on your “bitch” typo to try to take the high road! I couldn’t believe no one mentioned it. I guess I’m still 12 years old.
You probably won’t even notice any audio degradation on a decent computer with good audio, but you can always do the following: turn key lock on for the transition between songs, adjust tempo to new track’s original BPM, then turn keylock off (so as to preserve audio quality and system resources). Repeat for next transition.
I stopped doing this because I couldn’t hear any difference, really, and it was just extra busy work. Whatever works for you.
Key lock in Traktor is pretty good, not even noticeable. There are some sounds that it doesn’t do so well with.
my DJ handbook says 4% (I am kidding of course…your ears will tell you when things are whack)
thats why i stick to 3%