How can I manually change the key signature of a loop in MAGIX Music Maker 2014?

mikeyolly1 wrote on 6/8/2014, 7:00 AM

I've recorded a simple keyboard solo on MAGIX Music Maker 2014 in C minor. I want to have a couple of loops to run alongside the recording, but none of the 7 key signatures on offer (A minor, A# major, C major, D minor, E minor, F major and G major) are in C minor. Can I alter the key signature of loops to get them into C minor, and in the future be able to change a certain loop into a key signature that is not one of the 7 which are immediately on offer, next to the loops? Thanks

Comments

Procyon wrote on 6/8/2014, 2:13 PM

I would take the D minor and pitch-shift it one whole step down to a C minor.  The smaller the increment you have to pitch-shift the better.

Obviously, if you only have the choice of major and minor chords, that's the only shifts you can get - for example, no 7th chords.  For that, you would have to create your own with real instruments or in the Vita MIDI Editor.

 

Procyon wrote on 6/8/2014, 7:19 PM

"Hey Procyon, thanks for the answer, but I still have the same problem. What I think your advice is, is to take the sound loop in d minor (in this case "Extricating Layer" from Movie Score Vol. 11) and drag it into the main sound / mixing area with all the instruments that are in the track so far. Then I right click on the loop and hover mouse over "Tempo and Pitch". Then I click "one pitch lower". However, the loop is then moved down from number 4 (d minor as you advised) to number 3 (c major), not c minor. Any ideas? Thanks"

You have misunderstood what I had recommended.  Doing what you did simply makes the loop drop down to its next lower "variation", which as you noted is a C major.

What I recommended was to actually "pitch-shift" the D minor loop one whole step down.  I may not be familiar with the exact version of MMM you have, but they should have pretty much the same functions for the most part.  In the menu you accessed to drop it down "one pitch lower", you should also see the option to access the "Time-stretch and Pitch-shift" function.  This is what you need to use.  You can also access it through the Audio Effect Rack for that object.

In the Time Processor, you'd want to pitch-shift the loop. In it, you can pitch-shift the object by units called "tones", which is actually a half step.  To lower the object by one whole step, you would need to lower it by two tones.

I hope this clarifies things for you and gives you what you need.