Pitch Detection

[FrankJaeger]

Does anyone know how to find the key of an audio loop in Reason? In this case I have a bass loop from a sound pack that doesn't have the key information (I have no idea why not). I have tried the Neptune which isn't much help to be honest. Does anyone have their own method (in the box preferably) of finding out this information. Also, if anyone has a way of finding the key or root note of chords in an audio file, could you please let me know? Thanks.

PS: I don't have Melodyne as I expect that will eventually come up.

[selig]

I don't believe there is a totally reliable way to do this in all cases. The obvious cases can be done by ear but it get's tricky for variations that are't as obvious - though a human will still be more able to judge key than any current software since key is a human invention.

You will still have to deal with issues such as whether it's in a major or relative minor key - something that I've used to my advantage in the past to get around a limited set of samples/loops.

If you struggle with it you may find it best to simply ask around here, as there are many helpful and knowledgable folks here that are always ready to help.

[eusti]

Well, you know a sometimes workable non Reason solution already!

D.

[JesusChristIsLord]

Does anyone know how to find the key of an audio loop in Reason? In this case I have a bass loop from a sound pack that doesn't have the key information (I have no idea why not). I have tried the Neptune which isn't much help to be honest. Does anyone have their own method (in the box preferably) of finding out this information. Also, if anyone has a way of finding the key or root note of chords in an audio file, could you please let me know? Thanks.

PS: I don't have Melodyne as I expect that will eventually come up.

Can you post the loop? Maybe someone can work it out for you?

[FrankJaeger]

I don't believe there is a totally reliable way to do this in all cases. The obvious cases can be done by ear but it get's tricky for variations that are't as obvious - though a human will still be more able to judge key than any current software since key is a human invention.

You will still have to deal with issues such as whether it's in a major or relative minor key - something that I've used to my advantage in the past to get around a limited set of samples/loops.

If you struggle with it you may find it best to simply ask around here, as there are many helpful and knowledgable folks here that are always ready to help.

I think it's pretty cool that some of you guys can hear these kinds of things buy ear. I certainly can't so I'll either find a similar sounding bass and play something myself, or change the direction of the production. Where there is a will...

[eusti]

Does anyone know how to find the key of an audio loop in Reason? In this case I have a bass loop from a sound pack that doesn't have the key information (I have no idea why not). I have tried the Neptune which isn't much help to be honest. Does anyone have their own method (in the box preferably) of finding out this information. Also, if anyone has a way of finding the key or root note of chords in an audio file, could you please let me know? Thanks.

PS: I don't have Melodyne as I expect that will eventually come up.

Can you post the loop? Maybe someone can work it out for you?

That's a great idea. I'd be happy to try to run it through Melodyne for you.

D.

[FrankJaeger]

Hey thanks to everyone who replied on this.

I started fooling around with Reason Drum Kits while waiting for more responses and got a nice drum and percussion combination going that I actually like more than the original idea. It's more of a minimalistic approach than I had intended, but I can easily see a full song with vocals coming out of this already with maybe some sound fx thrown in. Gotta love how open ended creating music is. There is ALWAYS another avenue to go down...

[jam-s]

1. put the sample on loop
2. create a pure sine synth
3. bus both channels
4. open the analyser on the bus
5. play notes on the sine synth until you have the sine peak as close to the peak of the sample as possible.

[ScuzzyEye]

I think it's pretty cool that some of you guys can hear these kinds of things buy ear. I certainly can't so I'll either find a similar sounding bass and play something myself, or change the direction of the production. Where there is a will...

You want to be totally jealous? Check out this video:

(He even uses Reason for a couple bits.)

[eusti]

Good find, ScuzzyEye! Fascinating!

D.

[eusti]

In the second example in the video when he did a clav and the bell synth, I heard actually an organ...
Maybe he's gonna add that too?

D.

[FrankJaeger]

I think it's pretty cool that some of you guys can hear these kinds of things buy ear. I certainly can't so I'll either find a similar sounding bass and play something myself, or change the direction of the production. Where there is a will...

You want to be totally jealous? Check out this video:

(He even uses Reason for a couple bits.)

I'm still trying to figure out what kind of witchcraft he's using ...

[Ostermilk]

You will eventually get the hang of identifying chords by ear simply by the experience gained by doing it.

It's often hard to identify a particular key of a particular loop simply because there is often to little information to establish an intended key most of the time you might get a couple of chords which may work in a few keys, although you will usually be able to eliminate several keys it definitely won't work in, once you've identified any chords.

There are some great tools out there that will help that wont set you back the price the Melodyne Editor will and do the job of chord detection every bit as accurately such as this...

http://www.riffstation.com/index.html

[Gaja]

Well in my experience songs that are not guitar based (but keyboard/synth based), there are some keys that come up more than others, mainly for ease of playing. That would be C, A, (major or minor) or F#m. Guitar based songs are often in E, A or B (major or minor), again for ease of playing. Woodwind or brass based music is often in Eb Bb or F. This is of course no rule, but good starting points for finding out Key. If it is a synth loop there's a fair chance it's Cm, unless it's step sequenced, in that case it's harder to guess.

[selig]

I don't believe there is a totally reliable way to do this in all cases. The obvious cases can be done by ear but it get's tricky for variations that are't as obvious - though a human will still be more able to judge key than any current software since key is a human invention.

You will still have to deal with issues such as whether it's in a major or relative minor key - something that I've used to my advantage in the past to get around a limited set of samples/loops.

If you struggle with it you may find it best to simply ask around here, as there are many helpful and knowledgable folks here that are always ready to help.

I think it's pretty cool that some of you guys can hear these kinds of things buy ear. I certainly can't so I'll either find a similar sounding bass and play something myself, or change the direction of the production. Where there is a will...

Well, it's the same "skill" used to choose which notes to play when you are creating melodies or bass lines, and as such there is much room for personal interpretation. That is why AI would be required to create any sort of automatic detection feature IMO.

[wendylou]

AudioFinder from Iced Audio has a "Guess Key" button for samples.

AudioFinder-guess-key.png (83.93 KiB) Viewed 3112 times

[JNeffLind]

I always do it by ear and have a pretty good ear for that kind of thing. If you post it here I'll give it a go. My trick is always to go to the end of the chorus, treat it as the end of the song, and feel what bass note the piece wants to resolve to, then build the chord from there (major or minor)