Nov 16, 2015 - We pit all of the key-finding algorithms against each other in an epic battle. Seen new iterations of DJ software continue to incorporate key analysis. All of the data is available as a free download at the end of this article (or.
Why doesn't KeyFinder write to my files during analysis? If you want this automatic behaviour, go to Preferences (or Preferences > Tags, prior to v1.9) and check the relevant box. Alternatively, once you've run a batch job, select all the files you want to write to and then right-click > Write key to tags or hit Cmd+T.
Intrigued by key mixing, or “harmonic mixing”? Want to try it out without spending money on an established piece of software such as Mixed in Key or beaTunes? If so, you may be interested in Keyfinder, an open-source key detection program for Mac and (in beta) for Windows too. It’s not as polished as Mixed in Key or beaTunes, but it’s easy enough to use, and anecdotally produced results which are in the same ballpark as far as accuracy goes. Let’s take a closer look…
First impressions/setting up
Keyfinder started life as a university project but has turned into a perfectly usable key detection program, at least if you’re a Mac user. (There is also a PC version, but it’s still in beta and as of the time of writing not as stable as the Mac version, by the author’s own admission. We trialled the Mac version.)
The theory behind this kind of software is that you let it analyse your music, it decides the musical key of each piece of music, and then you can use this information to improve your mixes; if you mix into a piece of music in the same key the mix will likely sound great, likewise if you choose a related key. This way you can execute smoother, more musical mixes.
In use
Like Mixed in Key, Keyfinder is very simple. You drag your tunes onto a window, it analyses them, writing the results to a field of your choice in your MP3’s metadata (grouping, key or comment field), and – well, that’s it.
You can’t drag tunes directly from iTunes playlists, so you need to use the actual music files, which is a bit of a pain if you use iTunes to organise your music, but apart from that using it is straightforward.
There are two preferences windows. The basic preferences window allows you to specific PC load when analysing (good for whole-collection background jobs); to skip files that have already got key information in them, and to auto-write to files, or do so at the end. It also lets you specify custom codes to write as well as or instead of standard key information.
Under the bonnet
The Advanced window lets you get under the bonnet with all kinds of esoteric options that can fine-tune how to analyse your music – one for the anoraks, for sure, but proof that there’s magic going on under the surface. One intriguing function of this software is that if you right-click on a file, you can show a detailed analysis window.
Software like this works by spotting patterns of notes within tunes that give away the musical key because they correspond to a signature musical scale. This window lines the notes the software has spotted up against a piano keyboard, where it’s then easy enough to spot how it has made its guess. A nice addition.
Conclusion
Now, unless you have a modicum of musical theory under your belt, all this is possibly going to have sounded a little confusing to you, which is fair enough. If so, going for Mixed in Key and following their very simple instructions is definitely the recommended route.
That software uses a special method of tagging tunes so you can easily work out likely mixes without needing to really understand why they will mix well together, and while you can get Keyfinder to do the same thing, you need to understand it all a bit first. Mixed in Key basically demystifies the whole process so you can get going, which is the key (pardon the pun) to its success.
Alternatively, if you’re after more involved musical management as well as key detection, you may want to look at beaTunes instead, which offers far more than just key detection. But if you know about these things, and just want simple detection of musical key, Keyfinder is good. Sure, it’s a bit flaky on PCs at present, and it’s a big annoyance that it can’t work directly with iTunes playlists – but it’s free!
Results-wise, in our non-scientific test it was right the majority of the time, but by no means all the time. This is in line with all such packages. As always, the golden rule is to trust your ears above everything else.
Have you jumped on the harmonic mixing bandwagon yet? What program do you use? Have you tried Keyfinder? what are your impressions? Please let us know in the comments.
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As big proponents of harmonic mixing, the DJ TechTools staff started out with a simple question: which program that analyzes a song’s key gives the most accurate results? To find out, we looked up the keys using sheet music for a selection of 50 pop/rock songs and then analyzed those songs using four key-detecting apps: BeaTunes 2, Mixed In Key 4, MixMeister Fusion and Rapid Evolution 2. Read on to find out the results.
THE KEY MAKERS
For our 50 test songs comprising recent hits and vintage classics (in MP3 and AAC formats), I took the keys from the digital sheet music site MusicNotes.com and compared those keys with each software program’s results. The Camelot System wheel was used to determine if an analyzed key was not correct but compatible with the actual key. The Camelot System assigns all keys an alpha-numeric value; and for example, keys compatible with 4A are 3A, 5A and 4B: plus or minus one number or the same number with a different letter. Scroll all the way down for tables with all the specific results.
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Correct: 14 (28%)
Compatible: 18 (36%)
Incorrect: 18 (36%)
What else it does: BeaTunes 2 is an excellent complimentary program for iTunes. It helps you clean up your iTune Library by finding and correcting errors in the artist, album, title and other tags; searching for and adding other metadata such as album artwork, organizes songs with a color-coding system; determines BPM automatically or manually; and more. All of its changes are reflected in iTunes as well.
Price: $31.95 US for Mac or Windows
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Correct: 15 (30%)
Compatible: 18 (36%)
Incorrect: 17 (34%)
What else it does: Not much besides tempo and key analysis. Its preference options for adding BPM/key to the file name, as well as different ID3 tags, are great.
Price: $58 US for Mac or Windows
Correct: 7 (14%)
Compatible: 14 (28%)
Incorrect: 29 (58%)
What else it does: MixMeister Fusion is a full-feautred, professional-level DJ software for creating and editing DJ mixes or DJing live with a digital audio workstation-style, timeline-based interface. A couple of the many notable features include mixing up to 8 tracks as once and support for VST effects.
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Price: $329.95 for Mac or Windows (key detection also available in Mixmeister Studio for $199.95)
Correct: 15 (30%) Ninguem esta olhando 2017 filme download torrent.
Compatible: 14 (28%)
Incorrect: 21 (42%)
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What else it does: RE2 is an intelligently designed DJ utility made to use both and preparation for and during your sets. Besides tempo and key detection, it includes tap tempo and a software MIDI keyboard for you to work out BPM and key yourself, normalizing,time/pitch shift processing, live audio input analysis, key lock and more. You can save Mixouts, where you comment on mixes between particular songs. In addition, the MixShare website hosts a large harmonic mixing forum and a database of track information for hundreds of thousands of songs shared by RE2 users.
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Price: Free for Mac or Windows (donations encouraged)
IMPERFECT HARMONY
It should be said that this test can only provide a look at the accuracy of each of these programs relative to each other, rather than an assessment of the overall accuracy. I was surprised at the number of incorrect readings for each program. I’ve seen some other similar tests with higher percentages for Correct and Compatible readings, so there may some particularly difficult songs in my test batch.
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However, we can tell that that Mixed In Key 4 has the better numbers by a razor thin margin. MixMeister only gave out minor key results for some reason, which really hurt its stats.
Because Mixed In Key, BeaTunes and Rapid Evolution were statistically comparable, it comes down to which of those programs’ other features you want, as well as perhaps price.
My personal favorite is Mixed In Key, because it gives your results in the alpha-numeric Camelot System values — which is easier for mixing — processes files quickly and gives you some good options for how you want the key and BPM information to be added to the file name and to the file’s tags. However, it doesn’t do much more than key and BPM analysis, and it costs the most of the top-performing three.
As a free download, Rapid Evolution 2 gives you many interesting features besides key and tempo detection. and it makes up for not giving you the Camelot System numbers (User error: you CAN get the Camelot Sytem numbers in RE2 in the Keycode field.) You can look at only songs that are in a compatible key range, as well as similar in style and tempo.