What is your favorite key?

no more a stranger, nor a guest, but as a child at home

A little inside joke about the banality of D dorian. On a personal note and not the theory stuff. I could expand if you'd like :thumbsup:

No, I meant why did you say Dorian C, D, :O, and E?

The one that opens my car door.

c minor

S major.

Obviously regardless of temperament the key matters because at least in varied ensembles the key you choose will like influence the timbre in varying ways. Also the pure waveforms will be in a different spectrum even if the temperament is absolutely equal. It isn't as simple as saying this question doesn't matter or is pointless. People will apply their thoughts in tandem with pieces they have heard that already exist in the keys they stated. But this point is very obvious and clear, of course.

Or is it.

Obviously regardless of temperament the key matters because at least in varied ensembles the key you choose will like influence the timbre in varying ways. Also the pure waveforms will be in a different spectrum even if the temperament is absolutely equal. It isn't as simple as saying this question doesn't matter or is pointless. People will apply their thoughts in tandem with pieces they have heard that already exist in the keys they stated. But this point is very obvious and clear, of course.

That instruments sound different in different registers has nothing to do with keys at all.

And that keys are relevant to some people in some situations, well sure. But then again this could be said of anything. You may attach whatever meaning you want to C major, but this has nothing to do with the sound itself but with your attachment to the CONCEPT of the key. It's a symbol.

It's important to separate what are symbols and what is actual physical phenomena. Saying C major sounds different from C# major relies not on the key but in many aspects beyond of what a "key" is, such as register, usage, bla bla bla. After all you can call a piece to be written in "c major" but the music itself may be entirely in Dbb minor. Hell you get something similar by Wagner already and the like, things being in A minor yet an actual A minor chord almost never shows up.

Keys are if anything purely theoretical, and theoretically they're all the same. In practice that's not the case, but HOW it's not the case varies wildly and has nothing to do with the theory at all, but with practical implications.

That instruments sound different in different registers has nothing to do with keys at all.

And that keys are relevant to some people in some situations, well sure. But then again this could be said of anything. You may attach whatever meaning you want to C major, but this has nothing to do with the sound itself but with your attachment to the CONCEPT of the key. It's a symbol.

It's important to separate what are symbols and what is actual physical phenomena. Saying C major sounds different from C# major relies not on the key but in many aspects beyond of what a "key" is, such as register, usage, bla bla bla. After all you can call a piece to be written in "c major" but the music itself may be entirely in Dbb minor. Hell you get something similar by Wagner already and the like, things being in A minor yet an actual A minor chord almost never shows up.

Keys are if anything purely theoretical, and theoretically they're all the same. In practice that's not the case, but HOW it's not the case varies wildly and has nothing to do with the theory at all, but with practical implications.

Exactly. In other words, when people talk about their favourite key, it will NOT just be treated in terms of its purest sound phenomena. Factually, different keys do lead to different writing for instruments and different qualities of timbres, it justifies having 'favourite' keys. However, if this thread wasn't specifically about somebody's favourite key which will inevitably be influenced by these aspects, but instead was more about the natural phenomena of sound in its purest cerebral form, then my response would have been entirely different.

These aspects are simply unescapable given the circumstantial nature that will surround and influence peoples perspective on key.

To try and compartmentalize it so specifically while hypothetically removing external factors is utterly pointless in this thread, and should be discussed as a separate issue in another thread, which could then be allied with a thread like this in due course after productive discourse on the matter has passed.

EDIT. On the first point in your post: The way in which pitch is manipulated (and other aspects) in many instruments will be influenced in different ways by the key it is being written in. Keys will encourage tendencies that relate to very specific technical caveats for a multitude of instruments. Seeing as when many composers write in keys, they truly do write in the key in a strict way, then how chords are spread through different instruments may change, and the actual bottom and top frequencies of those chords would change and likely produce a timbre that is in the very least not identical. A really basic example would just be taking x piece and transposing the entire thing up a perfect 5th. The timbre will obviously change, but then obviously the writing would most likely be poor, so notes will have to be rearranged, resulting in a different configuration of the music altogether which would again have different sound qualities to the original.

This specific aspect though should also probably be discussed in a separate thread. The main point of talking about it briefly here is that it is nigh on impossible to not attach key to other elements that are processed holistically in deciding on an answer to such a question. In short then, with regard to the question asked in this thread, practice can't be separated from the theory (unless you could successfully radically alter the way this question is perceived and what it alludes to for the vast majority).

In short then, with regard to the question asked in this thread, practice can't be separated from the theory (unless you could successfully radical alter the way this question is perceived and what it alludes to for the vast majority).

It would indeed be very hard to radically alter the way the question is percieved, as long as instruments and our music notation support the different look and feel of different keys. It would require a change in both instrumentation and notation that directly supported the real case where the only difference between keys or "starting points" is in the timbre changes of the instruments performing them, and not the theory behind the music.

So, while trying not to sound like a car salesman...

ISMORIPHIC INSTRUMENTS!!! :D :)

.: | Thumtronics - The new shape of music | :.

(Not commercially available, but a great example of isomorphism. Others are out there.)

ALTERNATIVE NOTATIONS! :toothygrin: :cool:

The Music Notation Project | Exploring Alternative Music Notations

(Best on in my opinion: http://thummer.com/ThumMusic.pdf )

c minor

S major.

K minor and Z major are close, eh?

From a composing perspective, I'm a fan of the F Major / D Minor combination quite a lot, as well as G Major and D Major. I don't tend to write much music based in a minor key, I usually stick to majors (and modulate to the minor if wanted).

From a playing perspective, I like Ab Major, F Major, and G Major.

No, I meant why did you say Dorian C, D, :O, and E?

I was gasping at the fact that I like D dorian. :blush:

I was gasping at the fact that I like D dorian. :blush:

Oh. lol.

^ It should be noted that historically, if you're talking about "church modes", dorian always implies "D dorian" anyways. There was no such thing as "C dorian" in Gregorian chant or a Palestrina motet etc. These mode transpositions are a much later invention. So there's really nothing wrong in liking D dorian!

^ It should be noted that historically, if you're talking about "church modes", dorian always implies "D dorian" anyways. There was no such thing as "C dorian" in Gregorian chant or a Palestrina motet etc. These mode transpositions are a much later invention. So there's really nothing wrong in liking D dorian!

OK. Very interesting.

As a little addendum to that: Actually, for the Gregorian "modes", this starting tone (in this case D) was much more important than the intervallic structure we today assign to the term "dorian". In dorian you could for example relatively freely use a Bb (like in our D minor) and it would still be "dorian", and in (F) lydian you could likewise use a Bb, making it sound like our F major. In fact, -most- uses of lydian in these times constantly used a Bb to avoid the tritone F-B, so it generally just used to be what we today call F major.

to avoid the tritone F-B,

'cos that "used to be" the Devil's interval ...

'cos that "used to be" the Devil's interval ...

Why is "used to be" put in quotation marks? Seems like "Devil's interval" should in quotations for what you're trying to say. Or are you trying to imply that the tritone is still the "Devil's interval"?

My favorite key is SPACE.

(Multi-meaning intended.)

I'm a huge fan of Eb-Major.

I love E Major. It always puts me in a good mood. :D

I don't understand the ridiculousness of people on this site.

P.S. - JLMoriart, thanks again for repeating the same BS about isomorphic instruments, etc. You've really made a strong argument for it by copying and pasting the same idiotic paragraph about an impractical and useless idea. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Why is "used to be" put in quotation marks? Seems like "Devil's interval" should in quotations for what you're trying to say. Or are you trying to imply that the tritone is still the "Devil's interval"?

No, for me, the Tritone is not longer a devil suggested matter, I was trying to say that was called and treated as an evil thing but not anymore.

I don't have a favorite key sound wise (as they all sound the same... duh) but I enjoy playing and improvising mostly in F, Eb or Bb, constantly alienating between those three. Perhaps Ab added there too.

I don't have a favorite key sound wise (as they all sound the same... duh)

No, they don't. :whistling: