question about changing key of entire composition

[Jramos]

Ok this might sound stupid,
but say I compose something entirely in the key of C (midi composition btw), since im most familiar with it,
if I wanted to change the key, could I just shift the entire composition up or down the piano roll??

 

[tdubl]

Probably not. I don't know what the composition so you won't know till you transpose it. More than likely not though.

 

[F00T]

No...there should be a transpose feature in your DAW I'm pretty sure most have it.

so you could be playing in C Major but its coming out F major.

 

[Jramos]

so what exactly does that do? lol ,
i dont know it just seems like it would work....everything shifts accordingly. Everything moves up or down by semitones,

so for example, say i compare the C major scale with a major scale based on F#,, when you look at them both in the piano roll (i use logic btw) they are exactly the same except for the starting note..
so why wouldnt this apply to everything else?

 

[loopjamz]

No...there should be a transpose feature in your DAW I'm pretty sure most have it.

so you could be playing in C Major but its coming out F major.

OK...where do I find transpose in FL studio ?

 

[Darkstarr_]

OK...where do I find transpose in FL studio ?

when you click on a sample loaded on the step sequencer,
you should see the channel settings pop up for that sample,
go to the misc tab:

you'll see a piano, default root note should be at c5 (in orange on the keys)
simply right click the note you want to set as root

 

[Zell]

Lol, in some cases that may work, but in most there's normally a build up to changing keys in songs. Most songs conventionally goes into a bridge right before changing.

 

[Jramos]

Lol, in some cases that may work, but in most there's normally a build up to changing keys in songs. Most songs conventionally goes into a bridge right before changing.

I guess I wrote my question wrong, but I didn't mean changing the key during the song. I meant if I made the whole composition in the same key without ever changing key.

 

[Delphine]

Ok this might sound stupid,
but say I compose something entirely in the key of C (midi composition btw), since im most familiar with it,
if I wanted to change the key, could I just shift the entire composition up or down the piano roll??

If you are in C major, transposing all parts would work yes. Transpose the entire composition up 7 semitones for example and you are in G major. The intervals remain the same.

To change the key to a minor key via transposition would not work without you altering the intervals.

 

[Jramos]

If you are in C major, transposing all parts would work yes. Transpose the entire composition up 7 semitones for example and you are in G major. The intervals remain the same.

To change the key to a minor key via transposition would not work without you altering the intervals.

thanks man good to know,,

so would this work if I decided to transpose an A minor to another minor key?

btw I just started to learn music theory thats why I have all these questions lol

 

[Delphine]

If you think of scales as a pattern made up of intervals rather than them belonging to any specific note, you might find scales a lot easier to remember. For example, learning say 12 different major scales can seem a little overwhelming, but really, there's no need for that at all. All you need do, is learn the pattern of the major scale and start from any note along the entire keyboard. It's the intervals in between notes that define a scale, whether you play any given scale on C, or F, or A or wherever, that pattern will ALWAYS be the same for that scale.

So, in the case of the major scale: TTSTTTS.

'T' stands for 'tone' or a whole step if you are in the US
'S' stands for 'semitone' or a half step.

It works like this:

Put your finger on 'C' on the keyboard, then move a whole tone and you get to 'D', another whole tone gets you to 'E', then a semitone moves you to 'F' etc etc. and you get the pattern I just said above. When i first learned, I found it a hell of a lot easier than trying to remember how to build the major scale on all 12 notes. After a while you just get used to the pattern and you wont even have to think about it.

And yes, it's the same with any scale. So if you are in one of the minor keys starting on A and transposed it to say D, you are still using the same minor scale but now it's D minor. It's the same principle, you are only moving the 'block' of notes, the pattern, or spaces in between the notes remains the same.

Using the 'tone & semitone' method, you can work out any scale starting on any note. Build a minor scale and count the intervals and that's the pattern for that particular minor scale.

 

[Zell]

I guess I wrote my question wrong, but I didn't mean changing the key during the song. I meant if I made the whole composition in the same key without ever changing key.

Oh I see now, sorry I misunderstood what you were asking. Yes you can actually do this pretty easily in the piano roll, although you would only need to do this to melodic instruments (forgot the actually term...i think it's tuned instruments or something similar), ie. you wouldn't need to transpose a kick, snare, hi hats, etc in the piano roll. But you would transpose instruments like strings, pianos, toms, bass, etc.

Hope that helped

Oh yeah the post above by Delphine is definitely something you should go by in general when learning scales. Every major scale has the same pattern, every minor scale have it's own as well, and so on. (Although rather than tone I learned it W-Whole interval H-Half interval so it would look like this for a major scale: WWHWWWH. It's still the same thing though).

Another thing I may add is, experiment with different keys in your music. Each key has it's own distinctive feel, so something that may not sound that good in 1 key could sound great in another.

 

[Jramos]

yeah thanks for the advice,
cuz i figured that if I become really familiar with a key, and know as much scales and different combinations of chords etc., all I would have to do is transpose say maybe semitones up or down and Im in another key, without having to learn all the scales all over again

 

[salvia]

I think we should start a dedicated music theory topic, so whenever people have easy qns like this they get directed to it. This is a one line answer,

Yes if you shift everything by the same amount in the piano roll, you transpose the song to a different key.

 

[chiragkotak]

try this ....its easy to figure it out yourself...
in the piano roll sequence the c major scale in 16th notes or any such duration...c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c..
now do the same for d major in the next bar... d,e,f#,g,a,b,c#,d..or do this with any major scale..
then highlight the notes of dmaj with the selection thing...now drag the scale over to the first bar....drag it down a tone...see how it completely overlaps the notes of the cmajor scale....this shows you that the intervals of the any major scale are the same...and only the root note changes....so it is totally possible to do what you are asking...imo its not a great way to do stuff...but u'll get it soon..
also..the pitch slider or knob in fruity(next to pan and vol) does the same thing...transposes...(not pitch bend)..also going to the little keyboard on all the required instruments and changing them to the same note will put them all in the same key...by default its on middle c..whichever way u do it..its the same thing really...use your ears to make sure u got it right...