how to remix

[totalcult]

Originally Posted by lizard

1. To remix, get the accapella of the song you wan't to remix.
2. Then use google to get a MIDI version of the song you want to remix.
3. Get them going in the sequencer at the same speeds (so the vocals lay over the midi).
4. Send the MIDI to a synth rather than the wavetable default
5. Get drums/other instruments going in there that you wan't
6. Change any MIDI slightly (if required)
7. Mixdown! Master!

No. Just no. For so many reasons, no.

If you have every listened to any of the great remixes of our time, you will realise they have not been done this way.

When Mickie Finn & Aphrodite remixed Jungle Brother by the Jungle Brothers, they did not simply take the vocal and use a shitty internet MIDI file. When Coldcut rinsed the hell out of Paid in Full they didn't find the MIDI file to the Eric B and Rakim original.

When Chemical Brothers ripped the Charlatans a new hole in Nine Acre Dust, they used stems from almost every instrument and f*cked them almost beyond recognition.

Remixing is not about taking a vocal. Remixing is about, as Delphine so sagely put it, taking the essence and 'soul' of the track, then applying your own personal musical stamp on it.

Make it your own, but retain the things you loved about the original. And if you didn't love the original, you are not qualified to remix it.

[rerave]

To learn remixing you might wanna try remix contests as you get to use the remix parts which is obviously a great help to have, here's a free pdf ebook too that you might find useful

Guide to Remixing