Question on pitch detection and shifting

I'm new to the MPC world. I’m considering purchasing an MPC Key 37 or MPC Studio 2. Something I'm trying to understand:

When chopping a sample to the pads, does an MPC or the DAW software do any pitch detection on the chopped samples? I’m wondering how I can get the new chops to be able to fit into the key of the song I’m creating and chords of the individual phrases in the song, but I would need the MPC to detect the pitch of the chops and perhaps do some pitch shifting.

I appreciate any help. I’m just trying to figure out how easy it is to glue seemingly random clips and chops that are triggered via the pads into a song that has a certain chord progression.

It does rudimentary pitch detection, yes, every sample layer shows a detected 'key' value. It's then up to you do do something with that info (e.g. manually pitch it to the desired key). It's not perfect, but there is also a tuner, which again is a bit hit and miss. Either way, tuning by ear is almost certainly a skill worth learning (play a 'known' note from a synth and simultaneously adjust the pitch of your sample accordingly)

Thank you for the reply! So, when a chop has a phrase of music and not just a single note, does it do a decent job of detection? I guess I'm trying to figure out if it will get me a good part of the way toward using the chops in an existing song that already has a key and progression.

Also, is there anything special that needs to be done or is it somewhat automatic after chopping a piece of audio?

When it chops a musical phrase it tends to give all the chops the same key even if some of the individual chops represent a different chord. I've just chopped a 4 bar piano piece which is shown as being in 'C', but it's most likely in E phrygian (same notes, but very different feel). Regardless, all chops show as 'C', even though there's clearly at least two distinct chords in the loop, (Em & Am).

Also, is there anything special that needs to be done or is it somewhat automatic after chopping a piece of audio?

After you chop audio you convert it any way you wish, usually directly to a track with the slices mapped to the pads; that conversion is automated for you.