What you get
A tonic and a mode, like F minor or A major, and with it:
- the Camelot code, and the wheel with the keys that mix with it;
- the tuning offset in cents, so you can see how far from A = 440 the material sits;
- confidence: how many sections of the song agreed on the key, with the runner-up named when it was close;
- key changes: when a song modulates, each section's key and where it starts.
It listens for the notes
Every note an instrument plays carries overtones, and the strongest ones sit a fifth above it. A key finder that judges the overall colour of the sound gets pulled toward the key a fifth away, and hands you the neighbour on the wheel with total confidence.
DropWave picks out the notes actually being played, the bass line included, and weighs them the way your ear does. The key it reports is the one that sounds right when you play along.
Key changes
Plenty of songs change key: a lift for the last chorus, a bridge somewhere else. One number for the whole song would be wrong everywhere. When DropWave hears a real change, it shows a strip under the waveform with each section's key, and lists them in the details with their times. Short passing chords don't count as a change.
Check it by ear
Press Hear key: DropWave plays the key's chord, tuned to the track. Play it over the music. If it sits, the reading is right; if it clashes, try the runner-up.
The tuning offset, in practice
Sample packs are often recorded, resampled or bounced slightly off pitch, and anything pitch-shifted is off the grid by definition. DropWave measures the tuning rather than assuming A = 440, so detuned material still reads as its real key, and it tells you the offset.
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Within a few cents of 0 | Concert pitch. Nothing to do. |
| 10–50 cents either way | Shifted, resampled or recorded off pitch. Tune it, or tune the session to it. |
| Close to ±50 cents | Almost exactly between two semitones: listen before you commit. |
When a file has no key
- Drum loops and percussion have no key. You will still get a reading, and low confidence is the honest description of it.
- A minor and C major contain the same notes. Only where the music resolves separates them, and a short loop may not resolve anywhere. If the runner-up is the relative key, both are defensible and your ear decides.
- One-chord pads and filtered noise have no tonic to find.
What it is not
There is no AI model here. The same file always gives the same answer, and nothing is sent anywhere to produce it.
Related
BPM · Camelot wheel · Key finder · How to find the key of a sample