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Key format

Camelot vs Open Key, same wheel.

Camelot and Open Key label the same 24 keys and only start counting in a different place: Camelot 8A and Open Key 1m are both A minor, the two numbering schemes offset by five. The mixing rules are identical in either notation, so the only thing that changes is which label your software prints, and rekordbox, Serato, Traktor and Engine DJ each keep that setting somewhere different.

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Vibes library list with the key column next to BPM for every track

The key column, in the notation you picked. Hover it for the other one.

How it works.

Step 01Pick your notation

Open Settings, General, Track Appearance, and set Key format to Harmonic for 8A, Musical for Am, or Open Key for 1m. The whole library redraws at once, track cards and the key editor included.

Step 02Hover for the other one

Every key carries its cross-reference. Hover one and it flips to the musical name, or to Camelot when musical is already what you picked, so a notation you do not read fluently is never a dead end.

Step 03Import what you already have

8A, A8, 1m and A minor all read as the same key. Vibes normalizes whichever notation your rekordbox, Serato, Traktor or Engine DJ library was tagged in, so one collection never ends up in three dialects.

One setting, and nothing underneath it moves.

Where each DJ app keeps its notation switch, and what stays on the wheel whichever label you read.

Track 001 by Artist A

Track 001

Artist A

128
3A
Afterhours
Mysterious
Introspective
Track 002 by Artist B

Track 002

Artist B

124
5B
Cozy Floor
Peaceful
Home
Track 003 by Artist C

Track 003

Artist C

132
8A
Rave
Aggressive
Festival
Build & Release

In your DJ app

Every app hides the switch somewhere else.

rekordbox: Preferences, View, Key display format, where Classic shows Abm and Alphanumeric shows 1A. Serato: Setup, Library + Display, Show Key As. Traktor: Preferences, Analyze Options, where the wheel notation on offer is Open Key and Camelot is not there at all. Engine DJ: Preferences, Library, Analysis, Key Notation, with Sharps, Flats, Open Key or Camelot.

Find compatible12B12A1B1A2B2A3B3A4B4A5B5A6B6A7B7A8B8A9B9A10B10A11B11A
8A120-136 BPM

Display only

The label changes, the wheel does not.

Switching notation in Vibes is a display choice and nothing else. Filtering, key sorting and Find Compatible keep computing on Camelot underneath, so picking a track still gives you the same key, one step either way, the relative major or minor, and a BPM window of six percent on each side.

See DJ Library
Energy
Drums
Lead
Low
Mid
High

Beyond the label

Key narrows the list, it does not pick the track.

Four compatible keys can still be four wrong records. Vibes traces an energy curve across every track, marks the sections from intro to drop to outro, and builds a sound profile alongside BPM and key, with a 1 to 10 energy value on each track you set yourself. Once the wheel has cut the list down, you choose on how the track actually sounds.

See Track Analysis

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

Because it turns music theory into counting. Every key becomes a number from 1 to 12 plus a letter, A for minor and B for major, and the keys that blend in tune are the ones next door: the same code, one number up, one number down, or the same number with the other letter. Nobody has to remember that F sharp minor sits beside B minor.
A code for a key you already know, not a new key. It relabels one of the 24 musical keys as a number plus a letter, so A minor becomes 8A and C major becomes 8B. The wheel is the circle of fifths with the theory names stripped off, built by Mixed In Key for harmonic mixing. The rules behind it are on our Camelot wheel guide.
9B is G major. Its relative minor is 9A, E minor, and its neighbors on the wheel are 8B, C major, and 10B, D major. So a 9B track blends in tune with 9B, 9A, 8B and 10B. The same key is written 2d in Open Key. All 24 keys in all three notations sit in our harmonic mixing chart.
Four, from wherever you start: the same code, one number up, one number down, and the same number with the other letter. From 8A that is 8A, 9A, 7A and 8B. rekordbox builds the same rings into its Traffic Light setting, where Related key 1 for a 2A track is 2A and 2B, Related key 2 adds 1A and 3A, and Related key 3 adds 1B and 3B.
The letters and the starting number, nothing else. Camelot uses A for minor and B for major. Open Key uses m for minor and d for major. The numbers sit five apart, so Camelot 8A is Open Key 1m and Camelot 1A is Open Key 6m. Open Key vs Camelot is a labeling choice: the set of compatible keys is identical either way.
No. In Vibes the setting is display only: the key column, the track cards and the key editor redraw, while filtering, sorting and compatibility keep computing on Camelot. Treat Open Key notation vs Camelot as a preference for your eyes, not a mixing decision. Traktor's manual says the same of its own switch, that it can be changed at any time and only changes how keys are displayed. The switch itself sits under a different menu in rekordbox, Serato and Engine DJ.
Yes. Exporting back to rekordbox, Serato, Traktor or Engine DJ can subdivide each playlist into sub-folders by Camelot key, labeled with both modes and the musical names, like 8A-8B (Am-C). BPM ranges work the same way. Leave subdivision off and the playlists arrive flat, exactly as they are in export.

From a Vibes customer

The import worked perfectly. Have created several sets now and my life is so much easier
Danny

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Methodology

How we keep this honest.

Verified against the app

Key Format is described from the shipping version of Vibes, not a roadmap.

We own our bias

Vibes is our product. We call out where a feature has limits or where another tool does something differently.

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The Vibes price shown comes straight from our checkout, never a hardcoded marketing number.

Kept current

Last reviewed June 2026.

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