Manipulating keys to work in a remix / mashup

Sometimes you hear a track and get an idea for what may sound good on it.  But when you put the elements together you realize that they don't sound quite right.  The progression or flow is there but it sounds off key.  With today's production tools it's a simple matter of changing the semitone of a key up or down the scale to to fit the track you want the sample to sound in key with.

In the following example, you have the instrumental track by Chris Brown - "Turn up the Music".  I placed the vocal / acapella of Ne-Yo - "Let's go" on it and played it at it's original key.  

If you listen, the chord progression between the two songs match, but Ne-Yo's vocals sound off. The issue is that he's singing on a different key than the melody of the instrumental track.

What I did in the second example was simply alter the key of the instrumental track one semitone lower.  By changing the key one semitone lower, it fitted Ne-Yo's vocals properly.   Listen below:




The question you may ask is "Why not change Ne-Yo's vocals?  Why change the key on the instrumental?"


My answer is that you have to listen to what sounds better.  In this example, changing Ne-Yo's vocals did not sound very good to my ears.  But changing the key of the instrumental did not sound bad and it fitted Ne-Yo vocals well.  Sometimes, you may have to alter the key of the vocal, or the melodic elements you're working with.  


I hope this helps you in some way.  Comment and share.