ahhh, yeah its a big problem for the 'jamming' style artist. we get into a groove, feet float up off the floor, eyes roll back..
then someone says "what key are you in"

hahaha, what key am I in.. umm.. key..

my hats off to you for capturing those moments, awesome stuff. very laborious to adapt to song after-the-matter though.
a couple of tools I use are:
FL studios detect score scale. found under piano roll > helpers > (several functions here) detect score scale. ghost note. note grid. and ghost channels. ghost channels is really useful for working your midi file that you dropped into this channel, several ways. youtube it if this function looks like what you want, because the youtube instruction will be better than my description. this one if you like working in piano roll format

another one is power tabs. PTB 1.7 had a built in score checker that was top shelf. and very light weight. at this point you've converted midi to score sheet, treble and bass clef if you like working in this format. which brings up scoring programs. which there are several great scoring programs, and they all will read your midi file

best luck with those jam sessions
Graf

 

I also think such an app would be useful, and I have a music background. The concept of "cheating" has become somewhat irrelevant. One could argue that using the internet and this forum is the "easy" way. Instead, I could sign up for additional music theory classes at the local college, buy all the textbooks, attend classes, study for the exams, and visit the professor during office hours.

 

in logic pro x highlight the chord(s) in the piano roll and it will tell you the key in the top left hand corner of the piano roll.

 

Actually I realized that I was getting into the same problem with midi AND audio files, so I decided to name my files and projects with the chord sequence included e.g. Blah-Blah-G-D-Em-C which I found helpful. I also keep a notebook now with relevant song data, motif tabs, obscure chord diagrams etc.

 

Last edited: Sep 28, 2015

Bumping this thread in case anyone's found an answer in the last 7 years!

Unfortunately it (still) doesn't. I've requested it, and it would be simple compared to audio, but most DJs aren't using MIDI so they probably don't see much demand for it.

This is the best thing I've found. Very customizable but it's not free. Ideally there'd be a standalone app, but users of other DAWs could just install the non-expiring trial of Reaper to use the script.
https://www.extremraym.com/en/downloads/reascripts-midi-key-finder/

 

Scaler2 (Drag Midi into Scaler2) or Autotune Auto-Key (Put it on Mixertrack and let it Listen to the Midi then it will show you the Scale)

 

im going to plus 1 this with some support. Ive been looking for this for a while as well. It would be such a dope tool to have in our daw to go through midi packs and find chords or melodies that fit like we were choosing samples.

its still clunky but what sexyman said is the best work around. You can have EZkey auto play the midi in key.

The other workaround is loopcloud does add a key tag next to your midi files and also shows you what you need to transpose them to but there is not midi preview yet.

I have been using chatGPT to help me code a solution.

I will keep an eye on this thread with some optimism.

 

My Midi file White Whale is where you can audition files like we do with samples; but using (current selected daw) VST plugin and whatever its current sound is to playback files without dragging them around.

 

'member when musicians used to practice & study several hours a day to get good?
If you're too lazy to figure this basic step, idk, pick a new hobby?

 

can you link to this please?

 

there are many ways to skin a cat in the music making game. Even if we know the boomer ways to make music its fun and creative to get inspired in other ways and methods.

 

Remember when people used to read entire threads so they knew what the fuck they were commenting about?
If you're too lazy to figure this basic step, idk, pick a new forum?

 

Have you tried KeyFinder ?

 

With over 1000 midi files the easiest method is probably the following:

1. Render all midi files to audio (each audio file needs the same name as the corresponding midi file).
2. Analyze all audio files with KeyFinder and let KeyFinder write the results as metadata tag.
3. Use a batch-rename program to generate the new names of the midi files from the metadata of the audio files.

 

you could possible do this with applescript.. here is a rough start on the code.. feel free to elaborate:

Code:

tell application "Finder"
    set selectedFiles to selection
    set midiFiles to {}
    repeat with aFile in selectedFiles
        if (kind of aFile) is "MIDI" then
            set end of midiFiles to aFile
        end if
    end repeat

    if midiFiles is not {} then
        -- Render midi files to audio
        tell application "QuickTime Player"
            repeat with midiFile in midiFiles
                set midiFileName to name of midiFile
                set audioFile to export midiFile to audioFile with properties {file name:midiFileName & ".m4a"}
            end repeat
        end tell

        -- Analyze audio files with KeyFinder
        tell application "KeyFinder"
            set audioFiles to {}
            repeat with midiFile in midiFiles
                set midiFileName to name of midiFile
                set audioFile to (midiFileName & ".m4a") as alias
                set end of audioFiles to audioFile
            end repeat

            repeat with audioFile in audioFiles
                analyze audioFile
                set key of audioFile to result of analysis
            end repeat
        end tell

        -- Batch-rename midi files using metadata from audio files
        tell application "BatchRename"
            repeat with midiFile in midiFiles
                set midiFileName to name of midiFile
                set audioFile to (midiFileName & ".m4a") as alias
                set newName to key of audioFile & " - " & midiFileName
                rename midiFile to newName
            end repeat
        end tell
    else
        display dialog "No MIDI files selected. Please select at least one MIDI file." buttons {"OK"} default button 1
    end if
end tell

 

I don't know how v2 compares since it's only on Mac, but when I originally tried it I already had MixedInKey which was more user friendly.

Plenty of programs can batch detect the key of audio, but the main point here is to avoid the whole converting to audio first part. Also, it's not hard to do individual files manually, but we're talking about thousands or tens of thousands of files.

I might eventually just buy the Reaper script, but I hoped something might've popped up in the years since the thread was last active.

 

Well no, a lot in notation is about intention. which is missing in a midi file.

 

bumping this because EZKeys 2 dropped and it has a wayyy better browser in it.

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezkeys-2/

 

Try Fyler from Musicdevelopments
https://www.musicdevelopments.com/fyler.html

 

I tested this bandmate function with a relatively complex audio file (with multiple mixed parts), and it worked great. I was very surprised by the results.