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Hey I just analyzed a bunch of tunes and noticed a disproportionate number of released tracks using these keys.
Thoughts?

minor scale and modes of the minor between E and G = 95% of music Ive ever made.

what can I say, Im a sucker for convention

Do you think there is a different feel for scales? Is D really the saddest key of them all?

Yup - those tend to sound the best when i am writing tracks... I guess they have a good vibe about them when it comes to edm.

EDIT : I totally think different scales how different feels - how the notes work together and such chords is where this stands out the most!

i recently put lots of dubstep tracks into playlists separated by key. there are a shit ton of D,E,F,F#,G and all that but weirdest of all VERY little C# minor out of every key. only Rusko - Pro Nails i think

Dunno about D being the saddest of them all lol, could be, not knocking the idea. Different scales do have different feels of course, sometimes the same scale on a different note can have a slightly different feel, but I think the scale makes a lot more difference than the root you play it on. D is a particularly sad key for me I guess because I have a few tunes in it and the subs are too low to really kick out on a lot of systems and hence theyre in the sin bin indefinatly

With this sort of music getting your sub low but not too low is so important it tends to dominate where I play my patterns on the keys, I pay little regard for the differences given by starting on G rather than F etc, whatever keeps the majority of my bass notes between E and G given the pattern Ive got going is the man concern.

thefrim wrote:i recently put lots of dubstep tracks into playlists separated by key. there are a shit ton of D,E,F,F#,G and all that but weirdest of all VERY little C# minor out of every key. only Rusko - Pro Nails i think

well, C# is at 32.7hz and again at 69.3hz, so I think 32 is lower than most people feel comfortable going with a sub and 69 is way too high, so it is a particularly ugly note to work with in large amounts.

i have a couple of tracks in C# and am a big fan of Bb.

but yeah, mostly D, F, A and most of all G.

Recessive Trait wrote:mostly D, F, A and most of all G.

This

I use the black keys. They always sound good together.

Yeah most systems (in terms of sub) should comfortably go down to F (and G can be played in a fair few home systems) but E and below is where it's a bit hit and miss as to whether the system will be able to replicate that kind of bass. I've only heard one system that could kinda do D but C# is not likely :/

That's why writing bass music can be a little depressing, changing the key of the song to where the bass is going to punch through more as opposed to what the track needs melodically.

I've been playing in this key a lot:

Well something ive noticed is is you mess around with a sub, it sounds at it's fattest with a low E/F/G.

The most beautiful key of all time is Csharp minor. I could have a random note generator playing the Csharp minor scale playing on a loop forever.

Debaser1 wrote:Well something ive noticed is is you mess around with a sub, it sounds at it's fattest with a low E/F/G.

The most beautiful key of all time is Csharp minor. I could have a random note generator playing the Csharp minor scale playing on a loop forever.

I love C# minor man

D is definitely the saddest of all keys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7vk5keNbRc

I don't get it, there's absolutely nothing special about D or C# or any other root
minor scales are minor scales. how good they sound is fully dependent on the range, physical properties, and handling of whatever instrument is being used to play them.

i.e. a sine wave through a subwoofer sounds best when playing E,F,F#,G because of the range that a sub reacts best to sines
D probably sounds better than C# on a violin, because the violinist has much easier work to do in D and the violin's body loves D. On a horn, flat keys sound best.

unless you have absolute perfect pitch, no note means a damn thing without context or relative distance from other notes being played

how about those cigarettes in dubstep these days

there needs to be more tunes in D. if you dont believe me, listen to some tune in G (spongebob, texx mars, flubberdub etc) then listen to sweet shop really loud.

G sounds like a tune with lots of bass. D sounds like a fuckin earthquake
its all about the 36.71 Hz. i should write some tunes in D cause its the very lowest key you can write in with out it being to low

Lands and Bones by Eskmo rocks a low D sub
Reso Hemisphere is D too - It's good shit

i don't think D is the lowest you can get away with tho -
Data - Leaves, thats a C# I think and sounds fat

decklyn wrote:Do you think there is a different feel for scales? Is D really the saddest key of them all?

Yeah, it makes a big difference in the way the subbass and bass reverberate. There's sweet spots in different keys. The root note of D minor played with subbass will give much different vibes than the root note of G minor, in the same octave.


When I used to be really into metal I noticed a disproportionate amount of songs in B minor, too. So I guess whatever key best fits the genre will most likely get used a shit ton.