Camelot in one paragraph
The Camelot wheel renames all 24 musical keys as a number from 1 to 12 plus a letter — A for minor, B for major. 8A is A minor; 8B is C major. From any position, three moves are safe: +1, −1, and switch the letter at the same number. That is the whole system, and it is why DJs use it instead of key names: you do not need to know the relative minor of E♭ major, you need to know that 5B sits next to 5A.
The wheel, drawn
A code on its own only helps if you already hold the rule in your head. The ring makes the rule visible — your key filled, its neighbours lit — so the next track is something you read off a picture. No second app, no chart taped to the monitor.
The same wheel is drawn in the app, with every result, and here.
A wrong key is a wrong code
The Camelot position comes from the key, so everything that affects the key affects it — and this is where most Camelot workflows quietly break.
A key finder that lands a fifth away gives you a code one position over, which means the mixing rule you are following points at the wrong keys, and you won't find out until something clashes in a set.
DropWave listens for the notes actually played, measures the tuning, shows how confident it is, and plays the key back so you can check by ear, before you build a set around a position.
The full mapping
Every code below has a page of its own: the wheel drawn with that position lit, the key signature, the scale spelled out, the Open Key equivalent, and the three positions it mixes with by name.
| Camelot | Minor key (A) | Camelot | Major key (B) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | A♭ minor (G♯ minor) | 1B | B major |
| 2A | E♭ minor (D♯ minor) | 2B | F♯ major |
| 3A | B♭ minor (A♯ minor) | 3B | D♭ major |
| 4A | F minor | 4B | A♭ major |
| 5A | C minor | 5B | E♭ major |
| 6A | G minor | 6B | B♭ major |
| 7A | D minor | 7B | F major |
| 8A | A minor | 8B | C major |
| 9A | E minor | 9B | G major |
| 10A | B minor | 10B | D major |
| 11A | F♯ minor | 11B | A major |
| 12A | C♯ minor | 12B | E major |
Using it
As a DJ. Read the position of what is playing and pick from the three lit ones. +1 lifts, −1 relaxes, switching letter changes the mood without changing the notes.
As a producer. Same problem in a different order: session in 8A and the loop is 9A? Drop it in. It is 3A? Five steps away — pitch it or leave it.
Filing a library. Camelot codes sort usefully in filenames in a way key names never will — 11A lands next to 11B and 10A in a directory listing.
Related
Key finder · Key & BPM finder · A producer's guide to the Camelot wheel · Camelot documentation