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TBA
02-06-2012, 09:43 PM
Recently, I just started getting into production. I am having a little bit of creative writers block with coming up with my own material so I want to try remixing first and go from there.
My question is: How do you create a boot leg or remix to songs that you don't have the original stems to?
Do I just take the song I want to remix out of iTunes and try to layer my own sounds over it?
What are the best way to cut out certain sounds/take a part and original song to remix?

Thanks for the help!

Rek_Aviles
02-06-2012, 09:47 PM
yup.

Layering, EQ tweaking, Chopping up the tracks to rearrange, add efxs if when when needed.

mr_ragz
02-06-2012, 10:23 PM
You can also go to a site like www.remixcomps.com and find midi files and clip/vocals to do a remix

Rek_Aviles
02-06-2012, 10:32 PM
You can also go to a site like www.remixcomps.com and find midi files and clip/vocals to do a remix

if not a whole remix, at least mess around with the clips then jump on youtube for some efx tutorials.

Tektonix
02-06-2012, 10:39 PM
Hey man, Without the stem's its easier for some tracks than others. Usually with some songs your able to sample some of the sounds raw by themselves others...not so much. However for the sounds you cannot sample, Youtube and forums have allot of great tutorials on how to make them (ei: Youtube David guetta sexy bitch lead tutorial and it will teach you to make it). Aswell as allot of chopping, re-sampling, eq'ing and tweeking. Or just taking the breakdown of a track, using the buildup and make your own drop around it is another thing i see allot aswell C:

DJ ArmanB
02-06-2012, 10:46 PM
I myself am interested in learning this, subscribed.

TBA
02-06-2012, 11:50 PM
thanks for all the input! will try to get some material on here for feedback

NPC
02-07-2012, 12:32 AM
There is no real right or wrong way to remix something from a technical standpoint. Rather, there is a right and a wrong way to remix something from an artistic standpoint. The key being that you hear something in the song that is missing. Remixes have really... well... gotten out of hand these days. Remixes are dime a dozen and there's possibly some politics behind it. Just know that remixes are supposed to be driven by the need to contribute what you think is missing. It can be percussion, melody, tempo, the mix itself, or something else entirely. I personally think it's important to preserve the integrity of the original song while you make a remix and this comes easier the more inspired you are by the original.

Living by this has helped me produce better remixes. I have some real stinkers I could never finish becuase the whole thing was just way too forced -- and the world is better off becuase of it. ;)

BigLoopDuke
04-01-2012, 10:39 AM
I think it really depends on the style of music. Completely agree with NPC on remixing to preserve integrity, but I've found a lot of very interesting results in hip-hop and industrial by completely overhauling songs. A complete re-envisioning of what the track could be. Case in point, if you take some of the stuff Reznor's done with NIN's remixes, many times, the final product is something very, very different than the original, with vocal withstanding. REMIX means a lot of different things to different people in different arenas of music. The only wrong way is to do something very weak and not cleaver at all, or to completely misjudge the original samplings and end up with a monstrosity of a final product.

thehadgi
04-01-2012, 10:58 AM
One way to think about it is try rewriting a musical riff from the song and use a competely different instrument. Or tempo. Or genre. I get a lot of ideas for chrd progressions for my tracks from older rock and alternative songs I was a fan of.

And orchestral stuff too... surprising amount of stuff in every genre you can use. You can make it into a remix, or just take a musical idea and use it for an original track. An example of what I mean is this


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhQjdwlguE4

I took the progression from this song, rewrote the piano and added in my own elements, and made this -->
http://soundcloud.com/alanhadgis/dont-leave-just-yet

And then, yesterday I was in a mood and whipped out my controller and started funkin around, and landed on the same progression I used from the above song, but this time for a chill progressive house song
http://soundcloud.com/alanhadgis/keys

So you can see how just using one simple melody or progression from a song you like in a different context can open up a world of remixes and originals. so fun!

Spangled
04-01-2012, 11:00 AM
Yeah definitely easier on some songs than others. Look out for vocals or synths without background noises/drums/perc going on. Then make sure you know what key the original is before layering new sounds n synths over the top. A recent bootleg i made took me 2 months to finish, longest I've ever spent on a tune! Easier to finish an original track sometimes as you get obsessed with not doing the original an injustice. Well fun though :)

Here's my effort at a bootleg btw:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hvLsxOQ1dk

ezelkow1
04-01-2012, 02:46 PM
There is no real right or wrong way to remix something from a technical standpoint. Rather, there is a right and a wrong way to remix something from an artistic standpoint. The key being that you hear something in the song that is missing. Remixes have really... well... gotten out of hand these days. Remixes are dime a dozen and there's possibly some politics behind it. Just know that remixes are supposed to be driven by the need to contribute what you think is missing. It can be percussion, melody, tempo, the mix itself, or something else entirely. I personally think it's important to preserve the integrity of the original song while you make a remix and this comes easier the more inspired you are by the original.

Living by this has helped me produce better remixes. I have some real stinkers I could never finish becuase the whole thing was just way too forced -- and the world is better off becuase of it. ;)

+1

I love me a good remix, but that vast vast majority of them that I hear these days are basically a little snippet, vocal, what have you from an original track, that just promptly switches over to some new beat that the remixer liked. No layering with the original, no using any parts from the original except for very sporadically and to make it even noticable as a remix. It just feels like an extreme cop out to me and doesnt even do the original justice if your not going to somehow incorporate the original so that it becomes a prominent element in the remix.

Sedna
04-01-2012, 03:32 PM
Remixing 101: Intro to the Philosophy of Remixing


Rule of thumb is only remix a song that you feel needs remixing. If you hear a track that has an awesome break or build or something, but you feel like the rest of the track could be improved if done a different way, then have at it. However, I agree with the posts above saying remixes have gotten WAYYY out of hand.

Take, for instance, Alesso's remix of "Pressure" (using this as an example because it's popular and a perfect example of my perspective on remixes): The original track was decent. Just your average vocal house track. Then Alesso took the vocals and produced a steaming pile of cheese to put them over. That's not a remix. That's a new (cheesy) song with vocals from a different song over it. You see a lot of "remixes" like that these days, and I think they're completely ridiculous.




Here's a good example of what I would consider legitamate remixes.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXKG69yBvCE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e65wxxdwnB0


Notice that while the tracks are totally different (Original Mix is 140 bpm and the ReLaunch remix is 129) the main melody and progression of the track remains the same. ReLaunch took a track that was pretty solid and put their own spin on it [I]while keeping the same essence of the original track. That is the main lesson here. Listen to the og/remix above and then listen to the og/remix of Pressure and note the difference in remixing methods.




Also, note that sometimes if you feel a track is missing just a LITTLE something (a percussion noise, slightly longer buildup, an extra synth) then your best bet is probably to "edit" it rather than remix it. Kinda like what Markus Schulz does with his "Big Room Reconstructions." They're not exactly remixes, but more so just expansions on the original song.