Ableton Forum

evilevilerevilest wrote:I love the most to write in the white keys the most. They are perfect for fast music productions, and you don't hit the wrong (black) keys by accidentally. Either way you win with the whtei keys!

ESPECIALLY FOR TARNCE !

3dot... wrote:

evilevilerevilest wrote:I love the most to write in the white keys the most. They are perfect for fast music productions, and you don't hit the wrong (black) keys by accidentally. Either way you win with the whtei keys!

ESPECIALLY FOR TARNCE !

yes i believe that would be C, very safe, also know as the generic key, very good for tarnce

i have no favorite, try not to get stuck in any key or mode

Just wondering how you guys approach writing music, in regards to the key...


example:

Do you start with an idea in your head and say: "hmmmmm, this is melancholy, I shall therefore write it in D minor" or perhaps "I want to write something that's tender so I'll do this one in G major".

Or do you just dive into the piano roll and get cracking, and after you've got a basic melody determine which key its in and write the accompanying parts from there...

Reason I ask is because I tend to do a mix of both, sometimes I'll write in a specific key if I know that it's got the feeling I'm looking for, but just as often I'll jam away until I have a melody I'm happy with and then stick with that key...

masterblasterofdisaster wrote:I find D minor to be the saddest of all keys.

LOLs every time.

matthews wrote:Just wondering how you guys approach writing music, in regards to the key...


example:

Do you start with an idea in your head and say: "hmmmmm, this is melancholy, I shall therefore write it in D minor" or perhaps "I want to write something that's tender so I'll do this one in G major".

Or do you just dive into the piano roll and get cracking, and after you've got a basic melody determine which key its in and write the accompanying parts from there...

Reason I ask is because I tend to do a mix of both, sometimes I'll write in a specific key if I know that it's got the feeling I'm looking for, but just as often I'll jam away until I have a melody I'm happy with and then stick with that key...

Normally the riff, or song chunk, is in my head and I have no clue what key it is as I'm mentally doo-be-doo-ing it to myself. If I stop and think I can of course work it out, but I tend not to.
Then when I reach a keyboard or guitar I usually discover exactly what problems I have set myself. I lay it into Live and discover what the key is exactly.

The other 20% of the time I just twat around in d minor, because on the keyboard it's handy for cheesy trills and vamps.

I've stopped giving a toss, really. I just bang my head or other body part against the keyboard in the rhythm I want the part in and then delete notes at random. Whatever is left, over 9000% of times if a note sounds completely off you just nudge it a semitone in either direction and it's fine.

It helps that my ears are made of toffee so I can't really hear when things are off.

Angstrom wrote:twat around... minor

Is that legal?

noisetonepause wrote:

Angstrom wrote:twat around... minor

Is that legal?

According to my information : as you are In Denmark yes,
Otherwise ...no.

"I write in keys so minor you wouldn't be allowed to fondle them in the Vatican State, yo"

C...

Guitar is tuned Drop-C.
C Suits my vocal range the best (at least better than standard tuned guitars).
Keyboard/Piano is easy in C.
If I write something down I don't have to worry about key signature/and is quick to calculate accidentals/minor/dim/aug in C.
My old PC hard disk was in C:.

Sometimes I end up just writing a riff or keyboard thing that isn't C, so go with that. Sometimes I'll come up with something then end up transposing it if I want a lower note on bass guitar in a certain bit of the song.

Piplodocus wrote: C...
<snip>
...My old PC hard disk was in C:.

wait.
what?

massenmedium wrote:

masterblasterofdisaster wrote:I find D minor to be the saddest of all keys.

LOLs every time.

Hehe. I'll have to watch that movie again sometime soon. Good stuff.

So, goofing aside, I'd say, "it depends".

If you're playing a physical instrument, you've got certain physical/mechanical constraints to work with - and this constraint is multiplied by the other types of instruments in the ensemble. Guitarists and bassists naturally tend towards E minor (and then perhaps A minor) because E minor is the natural tuning of those instruments. (altered tunings change things, of course... "drop D" is probably the most common exception, but anything can happen, really.) When playing with wind instrumentalists, Eb or Bb minor are often preferred. Also, it depends on the piece, especially so with a stringed instrument, as there are often multiple ways to fret the same passage - and so, some positions will be preferred over others, depending on the needs of the performance, be they ergonomic, about "tone" (ie an open string sounds different than the same note fretted), percussive, or some requirement of smoothness, etc... A keyboardist might say similar things (I'm a klutz on the keyboard, though, so I won't make any specific statements in this regard).

As others have already mentioned, the singer's range might be a constraint as well.

The OP might be more interested in modes rather than keys.

Well the reason I ask is I'm making this big mashup and I'm transposing every clip to a particular key. So then I can just mash away and not have to worry about making clips match.

I was thinking either C, D, or G

evilevilerevilest wrote:I love the most to write in the white keys the most. They are perfect for fast music productions, and you don't hit the wrong (black) keys by accidentally. Either way you win with the whtei keys!

evil! welcome back!

my comedy answer is: Key west.

Forge. wrote:

evilevilerevilest wrote:I love the most to write in the white keys the most. They are perfect for fast music productions, and you don't hit the wrong (black) keys by accidentally. Either way you win with the whtei keys!

evil! welcome back!

my comedy answer is: Key west.

Key Largo is more musical.