Overview Transposing is the act of changing the key of a song to another key. For the DJ, transposing can be achieved by changing the tempo or by using software tools like Ableton Live and Traktor. This tutorial will be covering the second method. How-To Detect the key of your track, and then locate it on the chart below. The first row of numbers correspond to the inner ring of the Camelot Wheel, the minor keys, and the second row of numbers correspond to the outer wheel, the major keys. Once you've located the key of your song on the chart, count the number of keys that it takes to get to the key you want to transpose to. For example, if we want to transpose a track that is in 11A (F sharp minor) to 8A (A minor) we would turn our transpose or key knob to a setting of +3. If you are transposing a track that is is in the key of 10A (B minor) and want to get to 5A (C minor) you would just add one semitone. Think of the keyboard as repeating on either side of the image above, and count as normal. Audio Quality Transposing can be a great way to get two songs that normally wouldn't mix together to mesh, but every key that a song is transposed will result in more audio artifacts that will color the sound. Always use the least amount of transposition possible to get to a compatible key. Bonus Hint Sometimes you can mix major and minor songs that have the same rootnote, like 5A (C minor) and 8B (C major). Try it out when you're experimenting, it can create an interesting effect. Cheers, Chad P

thx for the explanation :) two questions: 1- When we use PN .. and the software corrects the pitch of the track, its says for example "Increased by 17 cents" .. the thing is, if i use the original track (the one that has not been healed by PN) in Ableton, and i use "Detune" (17 ct), would i get the same result? (in the change of the pitch). 2- Lets say i have a track in 10A .. i use transpose -1 i and i will get a 3A. The problem is that sometimes if i analize this new file ("3A") in MIK it might says that the track is in 10A or for example 4A.. in this case what should i do ? should i use the track as a 3A (becouse of the 10A -1st) or use the key that MIK is telling me the new file is in (4A)? (this only happends with lets say a 5% of the tracks)

1- When we use PN .. and the software corrects the pitch of the track, its says for example "Increased by 17 cents" .. the thing is, if i use the original track (the one that has not been healed by PN) in Ableton, and i use "Detune" (17 ct), would i get the same result? (in the change of the pitch). Yes, the detune knob in Ableton uses the same measurement. 100 cents is one semitone. 2- Lets say i have a track in 10A .. i use transpose -1 i and i will get a 3A. The problem is that sometimes if i analize this new file ("3A") in MIK it might says that the track is in 10A or for example 4A.. in this case what should i do ? should i use the track as a 3A (becouse of the 10A -1st) or use the key that MIK is telling me the new file is in (4A)? (this only happends with lets say a 5% of the tracks) You should use 3A. This is for the same reason that we always recommend that people ripping vinyl do it at 0 pitch adjustment. Mixed In Key's accuracy will always be higher with originally recorded material. Cheers, Chad P

Useful post! I posted a tip for creating a camelot quick reference system to help you make live, in key (via transposition) selections. It's in this post:- http://community.mixedinkey.com/Topic.aspx?ID=6569 Hope it helps!

Hi, Is it possible to detune a track (in my case an acapella) from 10B to 10A. It sounds almost harmonic but there's some weird parts when played in sync with the backing 10A track. Cheers for these posts. They're most insightful and inspring for making edits etc. Tapio

Is it possible to detune a track (in my case an acapella) from 10B to 10A? Impossible. You can tune it down 3 semitones to B Major, 1B, but definitely not to B minor, 10A.

Hi, I was curious as to how adding/subtracting a fraction of a semitone affects the key in terms of transposition. For example, if there is a tune A with a key code of 7A and a tune B with a key code of 12A and in order to harmonically mix these without affecting the audio artifacts too much, in theory adding 50 cents to tune B and decrementing 50 cents from tune A should get the two in key, correct? Now if we want to mix in another tune C with a key code of 7A into tune B, would it still be enharmonic? Basically, I am interested in how the key changes when the changes are in terms of cents only and how this can be applied in harmonic mixing generally. Thanks!

For example, if there is a tune A with a key code of 7A and a tune B with a key code of 12A and in order to harmonically mix these without affecting the audio artifacts too much, in theory adding 50 cents to tune B and decrementing 50 cents from tune A should get the two in key, correct? In theory, yes, that should work. Now if we want to mix in another tune C with a key code of 7A into tune B, would it still be enharmonic? It would probably be half a semitone off, which depending on the actual songs may or may not be noticeable.

I realise the original post here is quite old - worth pointing out that software like Ableton and Traktor seriously distorts music when you do manual transposing. The quality of sound if you're using a WAV goes from pristine to like 128kb/s MP3. I think you should not transpose a song if it's the main element of your music at that point in time. On that note, it would be nice if MIK 'normalised' the keys of songs to the same BPM, so take into account disparity in BPM and create some adjusted key.

Hey Chad, Wondering...if I wanted to change the key of a track - using ableton - from 1A to 2A, or 7A to 6A, would I add/subtract 7.14 cents? If +/- 1 semitone = +/- 50 cents = +/- 7 keys, then can you divide 50/7 to get the cents required to change the key by 1? A long time ago my friend said that +/- 25 cents = up or down 1 key. If 1 semitone = +/- 7 keys, mathematically 25 cents would equal +/- about 3.5 keys then...right? (So I've been mixing things wrong sometimes :] ) -Ryan

Hi Ryan, You kinda lost me there, but no, that's not right at all :) I think we can set you straight though: 1. A semitone is 100 cents, see Wikipedia for more info. 2. You don't even need to know that though, because Ableton has a transpose knob, you just turn it to the number of semitones you want to change the pitch. You're probably looking at the Detune setting, which is used for much finer adjustments. So, to answer your specific question of wanting to change a 1A to 2A, we look at the keyboard chart in my first post. 1A is A flat minor, and 2A is E flat minor. We should probably lower the key of the 1A track to 2A since it is less steps, 5. So you would set your transpose knob in Ableton to -5.

--Edited-- Chad, I understand now that 1 semitone = 100 cents. In ableton, when you click and hold the detune setting and move the mouse up or down, and the counter reaches exactly 50 cents (positive or negative), the transpose knob automatically moves to a setting of 1 or -1. I'm guessing that it does that because you're closer to a semitone adjustment than minor "detune" adjustments. It's confusing because you've only adjusted by a 1/2 semitone. If adjusting the transpose knob by 1 semitone is equivalent to changing a songs key by +/- 5* on the mixed in key wheel, can you divide 100 cents (1 semitone) by 5 to get the number of cents required for a key change of +/- 1? For example...can you change a track's key from 1A to 2A by moving the "detune" setting to 20 ct? Sorry for the confusing post earlier. -Ryan

If adjusting the transpose knob by 1 semitone is equivalent to changing a songs key by +/- 5* Yes, that is correct. It's easier though to think of it as +/-7, because -5 is actually going up a semitone, and +5 is actually going down a semitone (on the Camelot Wheel). on the mixed in key wheel, can you divide 100 cents (1 semitone) by 5 to get the number of cents required for a key change of +/- 1? Sorry, the number 5 from above isn't the number of semitones that we are moving. Look at the piano keyboard image above, it shows how the Camelot Keys are placed on a piano. Notice how they aren't in numerical order? On a piano each key is one semitone. You need to count the number of keys (white and black) between any 2 keys that you want to transpose to. For example...can you change a track's key from 1A to 2A by moving the "detune" setting to 20 ct? 20 cents is less than a semitone, you're not changing the key at all (at least not perceptibly). Look at the piano again - 1A is A flat minor, 2A is E flat minor. You need to move the transpose knob by +7 or -5 semitones to get from 1A to 2A.

Chad, what if i wanted to move from 11A (F# Minor) To 2B (F# Major)? Would I have to transpose at all? If not, how many steps would I have to, half a semitone?

That is impossible without changing individual notes in the track. Maybe you could do it with Melodyne, but it's not practical. Both scales start on F#, but F# minor has only 3 sharp notes, while F# major has 6.

Hi Guys! Great reading, helps me out alot. I just have some questions regarding changing the Key and tempo. So: I have a track in 12A, and a Vocal sample in 9B. What i want to do is to pitch the vocal up 6 semitones in ableton? And that will lead to the vocals new key is D Flat Major, wich is most compatible with 12A (D Flat Minor)? Since there is also 6 semitones down to get to D Flat Major, this is also an option? And does it matter wich of these steps i take? Now, i also want to change the tempo of the vocals, and i was wondering how this will affect the vocal sample? Change the tempo first and get the new key, and after this pitch the vocal in ableton to 3B. Or can you pitch the vocal and then set some kind of "master tempo" to the track in ableton so that the tempo change wont affect the key? I am relatively new to MIK and ableton so sorry for alot of questions :) //REvers