Key Detection

[OneBass]

I am trying to determine the key of a smooth jazz song.

Paul Hardcastle - New Dawn

This is what my AI assistant tells me; a bit disappointing.

Key detection in Studio One Pro:
Short answer: Studio One can attempt to detect a song’s key, but its built‑in detection is limited and not always reliable — many users still rely on manual ear‑checking or third‑party tools for consistent results.

What to expect:

• Studio One includes workflows and community tutorials that show how to find a track’s key inside the app, but results can vary depending on the audio (polyphonic mixes, heavy processing, ambiguous modes).
• PreSonus users have asked for improved key detection, which indicates the feature can fail or give inconclusive results in some material.

So I used Song Master Pro and it tells me “A”

Then I used Melodyne inside Studio One Pro and it tells me F# Minor.

Is this song in A, F# Minor or something else?

If Studio One Pro is unreliable for this task, can you suggest a program that is reliable?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Lukas]

If Studio One Pro is unreliable for this task, can you suggest a program that is reliable?

No, not really. Key detection is even more complex than chord detection, and there's no software that can do it reliably. Often, there's more than one correct solution. You can discuss the key of a song with three people, and all three might have different opinions - and all three can be valid. And I'm still talking about pop music. Jazz can be a thousand times more complex.

So no, there's no program that can reliable key detection that works in all cases. It still needs a human.

PS: Your song is in F#m. There are only two chord changes and these are F#m7 and Bm7 (or Bm7/F# or Dmaj7/F#). Good job, Melodyne!

 

[OneBass]

After noodling on my bass I agree that F#m is the key. Not sure why my AI gave S1 such a bad rap, neither am I sure how Song Master Pro arrived at "A".
Thanks for your inputs.

 

[Lukas]

F#m and A are actually the same key / scale, just with a different root note. So it's not entirely wrong. But the song is clearly in minor, so F#m is the best answer.