Is there an app that tells you what key a sample Is in?

Small_paul1976 · July 2020

I have lots of vocal samples and wondered what key they are in.
Is there an app that you can load a sample into and it lets you know its in say, g major mixolydian etc.

mistercharlie · July 2020

The trouble with telling what key you're in is that the same notes appear in different keys. For instance, if a melody contains C E and F, it could be in C major or A minor. But it could also be in A harmonic minor if it has a G# instead of a G. Or any other key that shares those notes.

Figuring out the key, then, relies on some context, too. If you listen to the melody, you can feel the pull towards the root note. For example, let's say we're in C major. If the singer sings a melody and holds on the G, you'll feel a pull towards the C (root). When the singer sings the C, it feels like a resolution. That's a strong hint that the song is in C major.

If the sample contains chords, it's fairly straightforward to hear which are major and minor, and that will help a lot, too.

There are other tricks. Most contemporary pop is in C major. Many (but not all) chord progressions start on the I (root) chord. Guitar samples will often be in Am (and therefore C major, more or less), E, or D, because those are easy to play on guitar. Guitarist rarely play in flat keys, unless the whole instrument is dropped down (to Eb say).

I'm not trying to say you should learn to figure out this stuff by ear (although that's an excellent skill). Just to point out that it takes more than just knowing the notes to work out the key.

And sorry I didn't answer the question!

Small_paul1976 · July 2020

@mistercharlie said:
The trouble with telling what key you're in is that the same notes appear in different keys. For instance, if a melody contains C E and F, it could be in C major or A minor. But it could also be in A harmonic minor if it has a G# instead of a G. Or any other key that shares those notes.

Figuring out the key, then, relies on some context, too. If you listen to the melody, you can feel the pull towards the root note. For example, let's say we're in C major. If the singer sings a melody and holds on the G, you'll feel a pull towards the C (root). When the singer sings the C, it feels like a resolution. That's a strong hint that the song is in C major.

If the sample contains chords, it's fairly straightforward to hear which are major and minor, and that will help a lot, too.

There are other tricks. Most contemporary pop is in C major. Many (but not all) chord progressions start on the I (root) chord. Guitar samples will often be in Am (and therefore C major, more or less), E, or D, because those are easy to play on guitar. Guitarist rarely play in flat keys, unless the whole instrument is dropped down (to Eb say).

I'm not trying to say you should learn to figure out this stuff by ear (although that's an excellent skill). Just to point out that it takes more than just knowing the notes to work out the key.

And sorry I didn't answer the question!

Mistercharlie I wasnt expecting an answer as great as that!!
I feel like I need a degree in music to understand it ☺
Thank you for your insight and knowledge.
I really appreciate it👍

Scrubadub · July 2020

The free version of DJay Pro will give you an approx of the key of a sample you load in. Segments will also do it and give you ways to flip the sample as well, not free though.

Poppadocrock · July 2020

Depends on the sample but sometimes I just loop it in audioshare, and use a tuner on my phone. I see what notes come up, then fit those into the highest probable scale. Usually the first or last note is an indication of what scale it might be in.

Svetlovska · July 2020

Lately, and for the first time in the couple of years I’ve been app noodling, since I am basically not a musician, I have been using the Tuner preset of 4pockets AnalyserFX https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/analyser-tuner-auv3-plugin/id1436332576 inside AUM.

I set it to ‘32x’ Averaging on the drop down (so it offers a more stable pitch read out over time) in an FX slot to pick out the basic or commonest pitch of my long, wildly variable, often atonal and, ahem ‘experimental’ noise sample loops in AUMs file player.

With the loop running and the AnalyserFX window open I set the channel to Loop On, Sync Off, and by nudging the ‘Rate’ control on the channel to speed up or slow down the loop, until the persistent Tuner note of the sample loop approximates the lowest note of whatever MIDI sequencing things are going on at the same time, ‘tune’ my loop to the pitched instruments. This seems to work quite well.