How to pick a key for an AI-generated DJ track

Set the key in the Club Ready Music studio under 05 · Groove with the Key · Camelot select. It lists all 24 keys from 1A to 12B, with the default 8A (A minor). The letter decides the mood: A keys are minor and darker, B keys are major and brighter. The key goes into the music prompt by its musical name, such as "key Am", and is written into the finished file's tags in musical, Camelot and Open Key notation so your DJ software reads it without analysis.

Steps

1. Open the Key select

In /studio, find the Key · Camelot card next to BPM under 05 · Groove. Each option shows the Camelot code and the musical name, for example 8A · Am or 8B · C. On the mobile studio the same select is on step 4, DJ settings.

2. Decide minor or major

Pick an A key for a dark, driving or emotional track and a B key for a bright, feel-good one. Techno, drum and bass, tech house, drill and trap are almost always minor. Disco house, pop, nu-disco, uplifting trance and feel-good afro house often work in major.

3. Choose the number

If you are building a set, pick a number that sits next to the tracks around it; see Camelot-compatible keys. If the track stands alone, these are safe choices:

• 8A (A minor): the default, works for almost any club genre.
• 5A (C minor) and 6A (G minor): darker techno, drill, neurofunk.
• 11A (F♯ minor) and 10A (B minor): melodic techno and progressive house.
• 8B (C major), 9B (G major), 4B (A♭ major): pop, disco, uplifting trance.

4. Read the "Mixes with" chips

Under the select, the Mixes with row shows the three keys that blend cleanly with your choice: the number one below and one above in the same letter, and the same number in the other letter. For 8A that is 7A, 9A, 8B. Use it to sanity-check the choice against your crate.

5. Match the brief to the key

The key is sent as part of the prompt ("126 BPM, key Am, peak-time, driving energy"), but words help too. If you choose a major key for a disco track, write "bright, major-key piano chords" in the Vibe box. If you choose minor for techno, "dark, minor-key stabs" keeps the model on the same page.

6. Render and check the tag

Press Generate. When the take is ready, the result tag shows the Camelot code, and the MP3 and WAV carry the key three ways: musical name, Camelot code and Open Key code, plus a comment line with BPM and bar counts. Load the file and your DJ software will show 8A, Am or 1m depending on its setting.

Tips

• Trust the tag over the analyser. DJ software key detection on AI tracks can disagree with itself between takes. The Club Ready Music tag records the key you asked for; if the track clearly sits elsewhere, re-tag in your software.
• Both takes share the key. The two takes are separate renders of the same brief, so they are asked for the same key; one may hold it more firmly than the other.
• Vocal range follows the key. A high female vocal in 12B (E major) sits very differently from the same voice in 5A (C minor). If a singer sounds strained, try a key two or three steps away.
• Key is cheap to change. Re-rendering with a different key costs one credit and keeps everything else, because the studio stores your draft.
• Energy and key work together. A Warm-up track in 8A and a Peak time track in 10A (two steps up) is a classic lift across a set.

Common problems

The track is clearly in a different key from the tag. Models follow key approximately. Keep the take that is closest, or re-render with the key named in the Vibe box as well ("in A minor throughout"). Re-tag the file in your DJ software if needed.

My DJ software shows 1m instead of 8A. That is Open Key notation for the same key. Club Ready Music writes both, and the software's key display setting decides which one you see.

The track modulates in the middle. Some renders change key at the breakdown. Add "stay in one key, no key change" to the brief and compare the second take.

I cannot find A♭ minor in the list. It is 1A. Keys are listed by Camelot number, so scan for the code: 1A A♭m, 2A E♭m, 3A B♭m, 4A Fm, 5A Cm, 6A Gm, 7A Dm, 8A Am, 9A Em, 10A Bm, 11A F♯m, 12A D♭m.