MusicRadar

View in gallery

1. In order to fully capitalise on the potentially mind-blowing shock value of jamming two incongruent tracks together, there's got to be some kind of contrast between them. For example, The Prodigy and Rage Against the Machine may seem like ideal candidates for a mash-up, but surely The Prodigy vs Katie Melua is a more cunning partnership? Also, avoid using overused tracks, such as Public Enemy's Rebel Without a Pause, for example.

2. Though it's possible to create bootlegs and mash-ups with any sequencer, some have particular features that make them ideal for the task. In particular, Ableton Live and Sony Acid Pro are perfect for syncing tracks that need to be timestretched in order to work at the same tempo. If your sequencer doesn't have any audio warping features, you'll find syncing tracks a tedious undertaking: check out the Live demo at the Ableton website for a less time-consuming alternative.

3. Try to think outside the box (or DJ booth) when looking for source material - many club smashes take non dance-based material (eg, Gary Numan's Cars sampled on Armand Van Helden's Koochy). See what old gems you can dig up in local charity shops - the seven-inches you pick up may be in poor condition, but if a track works particularly well and an individual element requires re-sampling, you should be able to find a CD of the required track.

4. Even with these labour-saving software packages, getting each track properly beat-mapped can take a while. If you're doing a lot of mash-ups, you may find it's easier to Acidize or save Live information for a selection of tracks before you begin the audition process. This will enable you to quickly see which tracks work together, without having to go through the beat-mapping process between each one.

5. In order to get the best sound quality possible, consider ripping tracks from CD directly, rather than downloading MP3s (or other compressed formats) from the internet. CD quality audio is preferable to MP3 as it hasn't been compressed, a process which can distort a track's top-end, and muddy up its bottom.

6. Records are another viable sound source, though samples taken from vinyl can suffer from tempo drift. When this occurs it confuses automatic tempo detection tools, which don't compensate for the uneven speed of the turntable. One way to circumvent this problem is to chop your track into several sections of the same number of bars in length, then load them into Acid to set them to exactly the same tempo. When exported, this will create a single file with a more reliable tempo.

7. If you have a large collection of instrumentals and acappellas, organise them in folders by key and tempo to make auditioning new elements a piece of cake.