Hi Stan,

In addition to Pat's comments, "Pitch Shift" in Realband also works a treat in transposing. For best results, though, it's better to stay close to the original key (i.e. 1 or 2 semitones up or down).

To use, simply load your audio file into RB, select the whole track (click on the track then cntrl+A), right-click somewhere on the selected track and select "Audio Effects ..." and "Pitch Shift" as shown in the image below.



Regards,
Noel

Thanks. I'll give Audio Effects in RB a try. I totally agree about 1 or 2 semitonses. I changed a couple of songs in Mixcraft. One was okay, but the 2nd one sounded a little "watery". I did see a software program claiming to change by plus or minus 12 semitones. I'm going to take a look at it, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I would much rather just change the key than try to use pitch changes in terms of semitones because after I make the change, I have to determine the new key all over again. Does that make sense?

Sure, and that's my experience, too.

Stan, what is the name of the software you just referenced?

Hi Matt. It's Song Galaxy MP3 Key Changer. There's a :"free" demo version, but it has limits, I'm sure. I'm going to check out the demo just out of curiosity.

Stan

Update: I just gave the demo a try. It only plays around 8 bars. I tried it on a vocal. The 1st try I went down 4 semitones and the female voice became a male voice--very interesting. The 2nd try I just went down 2 semitones and it seemed to sound okay. The quality out will depend on the quality of your mp3 file though. For now, I'll just try with RB and Mixcraft. The Sound Galaxy pgm just uses semitones and there is no mention about changing say from the key of E to Eb. That's a feature that I was hoping for. A

Final Update: I just did a pitch change in RB per Noel's suggestion. This was easier than doing it in Mixcraft (DAW). Really not a big deal to get used to semitones either--From B to Bb = -1 semitone. You have to use the Merge to .wav per the Audio Tracks menu though.

One thing that makes learning music notation difficult is all of the jargon. Interval = half-step = semitone. Measure = Bar, etc..IMO

Stan

Interval can mean a half step, if the Interval is a minor 2nd, but the term can also be applied to *any* interval between two notes within one and a half octaves.

Thus an Interval could be a minor 3rd (4 semitones) or a Perfect 4th (5 emitones) or a Major 6th (9 semitones) etc. etc.

--Mac

No problem with what you say, Mac. Thanks for helping me make my point. I should probably keep quiet about music theory given my competence level.