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September 29, 2009 at 5:54 am #551245
alixbdParticipantOK guys. TOTAL TOTAL newbie here, but I"m just wondering how many of you DJ and how many actually create song remixes?
For those that create remixes, do you have any advice for me? Just a basic outline of your process? Also, which audio editor is good for a beginner? Will Audacity do just fine?
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
AdSense 336x280September 29, 2009 at 5:54 am #672408
alixbdParticipantOK guys. TOTAL TOTAL newbie here, but I"m just wondering how many of you DJ and how many actually create song remixes?
For those that create remixes, do you have any advice for me? Just a basic outline of your process? Also, which audio editor is good for a beginner? Will Audacity do just fine?
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
AdSense 336x280September 29, 2009 at 7:30 am #672411
Too IntegratedParticipantI ‘create’ music. Click my sigg to hear some of my ish and my remixes..
I use FL Studio 9
And the way I handle a remix is the following.
1. I search an acapella of the song I want to remix.
2. Find the full original version of the track I want to remix.
3. I open up FL and load up the original song in there.First step is finding the BPM. I do so using the ‘tap’ function. To use the tap function in FL you can right click on the BPM meter and choose the ‘tap’ option. To tap just click your mouse on the little icon.
Now you have your song loaded in your playlist and you can just start to play it. Just listen closely to either the kick or snares (or both) and start tapping the 4/4 signature. If done right after a half a min. or so to tempo should stick on one value. Then you found your BPM.
Next up create a blank pattern and toss in a Kick/Snare/Kick/Snare. Just a basic loop. Now. Match your song in the playlist (remember set the snap to ‘non’) and start draggin’ it so that the claps and kicks of the song match the one of your loop.
Last step, load up your acapella and match it with the original song you have in your playlist. Once you’ve done that you can delete the original song you loaded up and you can start remixing!
Hope this clears things up for ya:)!
AdSense 336x280September 29, 2009 at 11:18 am #672417
ajtmexParticipantI do both. I DJ every now n then at small venues and get togethers.
I also produce. Some originals, some remixes. Audacity isn’t really a program for remixing. It’s more like an editing program you can also use to arrange different sounds. Like say if you need mix 2 songs together or need to take out some extra noise. However it’s great freeware though. I like it.
I use FL9 though because with this, rather than just rearranging sounds, you pretty much have a whole sound studio at the tips of your fingers and can recreate a song with the programs own sounds. My process begins much like integrateds.
I start off looking for the acapella as well as the original song.
Find the BPM and load the acapella in there. But by this time I usually have a general idea of how my remix is going to sound as far as what goes where, how the intro happens, what the breakdowns will sound like. But if you stuck on that, listen to other peoples work to get ideas.
Sometimes I’ll start off with just a drum pattern, sometimes I’ll listen to the original and figure out what key it’s in so I can get a good bassline going. Sometimes I’ll just dive right in with whatever idea comes into my head first and work around it like a good melody or something. You can either make this your own by coming up with your own melodies and such, or you can listen closely to the song, and base it off of that with a few alterations. Your call.
I usually do a rough sketch of it and put everything where it should be within say the first quarter of the song. The drums will go here, make a good melody or bassline and stick it in. Then I’ll look for sounds that make it sound good and interesting, like say this should be a saw and this should be strings and so on. If I have the idea before hand on what it’ll sound like, I’ll find the sounds first, but either way is good. Then I’ll lay it out for the rest of the song. After that, I’ll go back over it with a more refined bassline and more complex melody. I’ll add a couple of sound effects here and there. A couple of samples. All along the way I’ll do some regular volume leveling, but I’ll finish up with some equalizing. For instance, if I have a bassy bassline, and my kicks are interfering, I’ll pull up the parametric equalizers, find the frequency my drums work best at, and raise that part up just a tad. I’ll then go to the EQ for my bassline instrument, and dip it down the same amount on that same exact frequency, that way they can both live in the same place with out too much going against eachother.
After everything is done and sounds about right, I’ll get my ceremonial robe, dim the lights, light a candle and render my song out as a wav & mp3. Once it finishes I’ll pop open a bottle of my favorite drink and turn the lights on in celebration of my newly finished remix or OG.
It’s like a drawing a picture, where you lay out the structure, color it in, and add details and shading. Or like pottery, the more you shape it, the better it looks. You can get by with just a simple, straight pot, or you can add different complex curves and intricacies to it, as long as it doesn’t come out looking all wobbly.
AdSense 336x280September 29, 2009 at 11:27 am #672418
sammiejoeParticipant[quote:1752yxh1]After everything is done and sounds about right, I’ll get my ceremonial robe, dim the lights, light a candle and render my song out as a wav & mp3.[/quote:1752yxh1]
i thought i was the only one that did that! haha.oh and i never knew about the tap fuction on fl.
cheers 4 that sweetAdSense 336x280September 29, 2009 at 12:04 pm #672420
HiBeats ProductionsParticipantIf I were you I’d get an entry level Digital Audio Workstation and begin to make your own little songs before you try to remix stuff. Baby steps mate.
AdSense 336x280September 29, 2009 at 12:42 pm #672421
Too IntegratedParticipant^ I’m afraid I don’t really agree with you here. If you start to remix you have some advantages and some disadvantages..
When you’re just starting out, you’ll learn alot about arranging, composing in key and creating a mix generally that’s destined for vocals, because creating a track and preserving a spot in your mix for your vocals can still be fairly difficult. Most people tend to ‘overproduce’ the stereo field.
These are just a few things to think about..
But first it start at what you wanna do with music..
AdSense 336x280September 29, 2009 at 4:08 pm #672424
alixbdParticipantThanks everyone! So no one crops their originals into different sections and manipulates them separately?
AdSense 336x280September 30, 2009 at 1:48 am #672450
HiBeats ProductionsParticipant[quote quote="Too Integrated":3eml4a24]^ I’m afraid I don’t really agree with you here. If you start to remix you have some advantages and some disadvantages..
When you’re just starting out, you’ll learn alot about arranging, composing in key and creating a mix generally that’s destined for vocals, because creating a track and preserving a spot in your mix for your vocals can still be fairly difficult. Most people tend to ‘overproduce’ the stereo field.
These are just a few things to think about..
But first it start at what you wanna do with music..[/quote:3eml4a24]
That is true but what makes you think he’s gunna be slapping vocals on top of his first productions if they’re not remixes.If you want to remix, won’t you be better off knowing what you’re doing and knowing your way around your DAW before attempting it. I mean in an ideal world I would have everyone that’s beginning to learn how to arrange in a DAW study music theory first. But in saying that, I was lucky to know a bit of theory beforehand because I wouldn’t have seen the importance of it later on.
AdSense 336x280September 30, 2009 at 6:26 am #672454
Too IntegratedParticipant^ Hehehehe I see your point..
I’m glad I can show you that I’m the perfect example of the fact that you don’t *need* music theory before starting out..I don’t know how to play the keys
I never had any music theory at all, ever
I don’t have a MIDI keyboard and I can’t read notes..There are more ways to Rome ya digg…. He just gotta find his way..
AdSense 336x280November 5, 2009 at 5:08 pm #673784
sim2fanParticipanthaha, guess what ?
For my remixes, i use Sony Vegas xD
And it’s awesome what you can do with a movie making program XDAdSense 336x280November 16, 2009 at 11:31 am #674104
Player ZeroParticipantTry not to listen to the original. It helps sometimes, as some people can get influenced by the original track and end up almost copying it. There are some cases where this can actually be a good thing…but try it anyway.
AdSense 336x280November 17, 2009 at 6:52 am #674119
ajtmexParticipantPlayer Zero wrote:Try not to listen to the original. It helps sometimes, as some people can get influenced by the original track and end up almost copying it. There are some cases where this can actually be a good thing…but try it anyway.Yea, it also depends on what your going for. For me, sometimes I listen to the original, just to get a feel of the key it’s in and the kind of mood it sets, then I’ll go off and do my own thing. Sometimes If I have a deadline or so, I’ll go back to the original for inspiration and ideas. Sometimes I’ll take a melody line and modify it, adding some notes and taking away some, changing stuff up and what not just to speed things up a little.
AdSense 336x280November 22, 2009 at 8:40 pm #674329
syrus1ParticipantI just use the tracks 4 remixing.. I don’t dj:)
AdSense 336x280November 25, 2009 at 8:46 pm #674501
yessirvankayParticipanthow i do it is i just make a beat first, then just try different acapellas to see what fits the beat best. it can be time consuming but its fun being able to hear all the possible outcomes
AdSense 336x280November 26, 2009 at 11:39 pm #674534
ChicagoCheerFXParticipantPlayer Zero wrote:Try not to listen to the original. It helps sometimes, as some people can get influenced by the original track and end up almost copying it. There are some cases where this can actually be a good thing…but try it anyway.It depends on what you want to do. A remix will have a good portion of the original melody/bass line in it, because that’s what it is…a re-mix of the original. A mashup will put 2 totally seperate portion of music together. If you’re doing a remix, listen to the original and pull from there.
AdSense 336x280December 5, 2009 at 5:15 pm #674755
toddkreuzParticipant[quote quote="Too Integrated":s81f746d]^ Hehehehe I see your point..
I’m glad I can show you that I’m the perfect example of the fact that you don’t *need* music theory before starting out..I don’t know how to play the keys
I never had any music theory at all, ever
I don’t have a MIDI keyboard and I can’t read notes..There are more ways to Rome ya digg…. He just gotta find his way..[/quote:s81f746d]
Im sure your mom and your friends like your stuff. But the reality is, you’re not a musician.
You are a great example that you DO need to know music theory, and need to be a musician to create music.
The stuff on your site , you call "music" is pretty much played out RnB drivel, that has no originality, inventive melody, interesting chord changes, Nothing. Its obvious you dont play keys, cant read notes, dont really know shit about making music, etc.
AdSense 336x280January 20, 2010 at 8:38 pm #676329
tabramoffParticipantI’ve never DJed a large venue, but I do DJ on occasion and I make my own mixes. Everyone, no matter which program, has almost the same first couple of steps. Finding the BPM is key, without that you’ve got nothing. Some programs do that for you, like Ableton, but it’s not always perfect. I’d suggest Ableton to anyone, but that’s just my preference. I do everything with Ableton Live and a Launchpad or Akai APC40. After I’ve picked out my songs and found each of their bpm, I then break them into pieces, the vocals are in by each verse and chorus, then the I break the beat apart into whichever sections sound good, next step after making sure all the samples sound good is organizing them on the launchpad or APC40 and adding effects.
This is all fairly Ableton/Launchpad specific, but for $200 I think it’s the best beginner set up you can find.
AdSense 336x280January 23, 2010 at 2:01 pm #676520
ryackyParticipantI have DJed for over 10 years and played a wide variety of venues. Over the last couple of years I have moved into music production and song remixing. I have used many DAWs over the yaers including (but not limited to) Audacity, Sony ACID, Sony Vegas, Protools, Propellerhead Reason, Ableton Live, Fruity Loops (now FL Studio) etc and so forth. So I’ve learned a thing or two over the years.
If you are looking for a program that is good for DJing and Producing, Ableton Live is DEFINATELY what you want. I love that program and I know Deadmau5 uses it religiously as well. It’s really easy to learn how to use it for DJ stuff, however, it is not nearly as intuitive for music production. The strengths of ableton live are:
1) it makes it REALLY easy to time stretch and manipulate pre-recorded sounds
2) It is easy to work with the sequencing view
3) It is the ONLY program out there with the session view (which can be very handy).But like I said, if you’re not worried about DJing with it, it’s not really the easiest program to learn how to produce with.
If you’re just learning how to produce, I would HIGHLY recommend that you learn how to produce using Propellerhead Reason (don’t worry about buying RECORD). This program is a really good place to learn how studio equipment and daws work. In addition, there are about a billion youtube videos that can teach you how it all works. Plus there are billions of quality refills out there to help you get the sound you’re looking for. Plus, if you ever graduate from reason and upgrade to Ableton live (or some other better DAW), you will still be able to rewire into those programs with Reason, so you won’t lose any of your old stuff that you’re used to. The two MAJOR drawbacks with Reason is that it is horrendously bad for working with vocals and there is no VST support (but you probably won’t care about that until you’ve graduated to a better program anyway).
So my bottom line recommendation is that you start with Reason and after mastering Reason you move on to another better DAW (I recommend Ableton Live, but that’s just me).
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, otherwise, best of luck to you!
P.S. Here are some links to some remixes I made last year (and by the way, I wouldn’t consider these my better productions, they’re just my remixes of pop tracks).
Keri Hilson – Knock you down [Done completely in REASON]
http://www.djflash.org/mixes/mixshop/tr … u_down.zipSean Kingston – Face Drop [Done completely in Ableton Live]
http://www8.zippyshare.com/v/76218832/file.htmlAdSense 336x280February 9, 2010 at 6:54 am #677104
DJ_BobbleheadboyParticipanthttp://www.myspace.com/bobbleheadboy
I use FL7, tons of free and uh, other free plugins.
AdSense 336x280February 10, 2010 at 11:20 pm #677140
rfuraiParticipant[quote quote="toddkreuz":2wnwkvyz][quote quote="Too Integrated":2wnwkvyz]^ Hehehehe I see your point..
I’m glad I can show you that I’m the perfect example of the fact that you don’t *need* music theory before starting out..I don’t know how to play the keys
I never had any music theory at all, ever
I don’t have a MIDI keyboard and I can’t read notes..There are more ways to Rome ya digg…. He just gotta find his way..[/quote:2wnwkvyz]
Im sure your mom and your friends like your stuff. But the reality is, you’re not a musician.
You are a great example that you DO need to know music theory, and need to be a musician to create music.
The stuff on your site , you call "music" is pretty much played out RnB drivel, that has no originality, inventive melody, interesting chord changes, Nothing. Its obvious you dont play keys, cant read notes, dont really know s**t about making music, etc.[/quote:2wnwkvyz]
What the hell are you talking about man? I know TI from another site (warbeats) and I think some of his stuff isn’t bad. He’s producing what he likes and for someone who claims to not know any music theory, he’s got some tight sounding tracks.He may not be Theselonious Monk with his chord changes, but you don’t necessarily need to to write good tracks. I mean, this thread is about remixes, so you’re already throwing some level of originality out the window.
AdSense 336x280February 15, 2010 at 4:33 pm #677248
silvershadowParticipantremixing:)
one way i do it is, i listen to an original song. sometimes i like the lyrics but i dont like the beat, or sometimes its the other way around.
or sometimes i just like both and i dont do anything, just play the original song.i would either get the acapella of the song and then put it on another beat (instrumental of another song) that it sounds better on, or what other people like to do is make an instrumental of their own (more creativity involved).
however, if like the beat, i would use that beat and put other acapellas on it.
and sometimes if im in the mood, i would take out some of the verses of the original artist, and sing my own verses. usually when i do this, i also end up putting the song on a different beat, or in my case, a different riddim because i usually deal with dancehall/reggae songs.
the tools i use are adobe audition for any acapella tweaking or cleaning. then i will use acid pro for mixing the tracks (acid pro 7d).
when i first started getting into music, what i used to always do was i used to remix rather than just blending from song to song. i would pitch bend the acapella (live) as i needed to to make it stay on beat:)
AdSense 336x280February 27, 2010 at 3:56 am #677627
ChicagoCheerFXParticipantSony has a new update out now. The new version is Acid Pro 7e
AdSense 336x280March 8, 2010 at 3:35 pm #677951
dankruguerParticipantableton live 8 .. the best
AdSense 336x280April 20, 2010 at 1:56 am #679013
noahkipperParticipantjust produce until your eyes bleed and then produce some more.
AdSense 336x280June 2, 2010 at 8:34 pm #679934
crashb23ParticipantI remix, but I’m not good!
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