12. Key changes
1 Let’s see how easy it can be to kick up the energy levels in a song with a key change. Import Beat.wav on an audio track in a 124bpm project, then import Chords.mid onto a track with Bazille CM’s 04 Poly » HS DXzille Piano patch, and import Bassline.mid on a track with Dune CM’s 010 Chorus Bass RL preset. Pop a D16 Frontier limiter on the master bus, too. 2 This tune is in the key of G minor, and
A# Bbmaj7), the chords are Gm, maj7 (
A# Csus4, Gm, maj7, Cadd6. We’d like a key change at bar 9, when the solo comes in. Basic key changes can be achieved just by transposing entire sections, so let’s try that first – cut the MIDI clips at bar 9, and transpose the entire section from bars 9-17 up and down for an unexpected shift, like our song is changing gear. 3 Good settings to try are 1, 2, 5 and 7 semitones, either up or down. When you’ve tried it out, settle on -5 semitones, which puts the second half of our track into D minor. That’s it – our key change is done! The transition between the two parts could be improved, though. Let’s focus on the final chord of the first section, Cadd6. Solo the chords track so the bassline doesn’t throw us off. 4 Take a look at the triad Chord Sets for D minor and G minor in our MIDI Construction Kit – the triads shared by
A#, both keys are Dm, F, Gm and so these will make good transitional chords. Let’s try them all. Dm is the first chord of the incoming riff anyway, so it has no real impact. F isn’t bad, but let’s keep going.
A# 5
is a continuation of the preceding A#
maj7, so it sounds like not much is happening. Finally, Gm works really well. In the key of D minor, Gm is chord 4, so it creates a transition from chord 4 to chord 1 (called a plagal cadence). Now unsolo the chords and transpose the bassline -5 semitones, which not only fits the chord but also echoes the actual bassline of the second part of the track. 6 Another way to bridge keys is to use chord 5 of the incoming key – for Dm, that’d be Am ( A-C-E). Now add the seventh,
C#, G, making Am7… then move the C up to giving A7, a dominant seventh, a classic choice for transitions. Next, move the A up
A# to for a diminished seventh… and transpose the whole chord -1 semitone to make Adim7. Don’t be afraid to fool around with chords like this until you hit the spot!