Musical Key?

[chrismoon27]

Musical Key?

Ok so I’m a noob producer (Into EDM music) & I’ve been having problems understanding music Keys (Aflat, Bmajor, Cminor for example). Gotten a couple of books but nothings really helped. I understand every song is in one certain key but there are a few things I’m having trouble understanding…

1. When sampling, can you sample something that’s in a different key? Does it matter?
2. Does every musical element of a song have to be in the same key? (Vocals, Synths, Piano, Chords for example)
3. When creating in a DAW, how do you make sure every sound your creating is in the same key? Does it matter?

Sorry if these questions sound stupid but I really would like help on the subject, thank you.

[Patch]

A key is a group of notes - so if you create 3 parts (elements of a song) using the same group of notes (the key) those 3 parts will fit nicely with each other.

To your questions - I’ll give you REALLY BASIC definitions (because this is a DEEP rabbit hole!):

1. Yes. But it has to be a complimentary key. Some notes just sound bad together. That’s why we stick to the established group of notes to use at any one time. Because, we know that those notes won’t sound terrible when played together.
2. Yes. But Google “key change”.
3. You have to know which notes are in each key. Some notes are common across even incompatible keys. Take a look at google and try to find a table that shows all keys, and th enotes that make up each key.

It’s a LOT of reading!

[chrismoon27]

@Patch

A key is a group of notes - so if you create 3 parts (elements of a song) using the same group of notes (the key) those 3 parts will fit nicely with each other.

To your questions - I’ll give you REALLY BASIC definitions (because this is a DEEP rabbit hole!):

1. Yes. But it has to be a complimentary key. Some notes just sound bad together. That’s why we stick to the established group of notes to use at any one time. Because, we know that those notes won’t sound terrible when played together.
2. Yes. But Google “key change”.
3. You have to know which notes are in each key. Some notes are common across even incompatible keys. Take a look at google and try to find a table that shows all keys, and th enotes that make up each key.

It’s a LOT of reading!

Thanks for the reply patch!

[Tarekith]

Try reading this for some basic music theory, it’s really easy to follow and uses electronic music examples (albeit a little dated now):

rsg2mt.pdf

[grazz16]

Whereas music theory is def helpful, all you really need is your ears. If 2 things dont sound good together chances are they are not part of the same key. But generally if you are writing in one key, all the elements in that song do need to be from the same key.

[chrismoon27]

@Tarekith

Try reading this for some basic music theory, it’s really easy to follow and uses electronic music examples (albeit a little dated now):

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

@grazz16

Whereas music theory is def helpful, all you really need is your ears. If 2 things dont sound good together chances are they are not part of the same key. But generally if you are writing in one key, all the elements in that song do need to be from the same key.

Thanks guys, much appreciated