Hey guys
i finally finished my first track, and am very excited to move onto the next project. I have been wanting to do a remix for a very long time now, but am unsure on the process one goes through to complete one.
As in, are they guidelines when picking a song to remix? (do’s and dont’s, genres?) Also would it be better to just buy an instrumental of a song id like to remix or are there downloads of instrumentals for free? I know there are audio editor programs and what not but i am not familiar with them and would have no idea where to start.
Any advice on the process would be greatly appreciated, it’s been a fun ride so far.
I hate remixes , but i know who Loves them . Slender .
he might give you some good advice as long is not related to returns . lol
I started doing remixes for a number of reasons - mostly to get exposure - it worked
I basically am pretty cheeky and just asked if i could do a remix of a track I liked - no one has ever said no to me but then they were not total strangers to my productions, which may be a little more difficult for someone starting out
There are remix comps too - just google and you will find them - another good way to get exposure - but I would not get your hopes up of winning
As for the actual process of how to remix is really up to the individual, track, or genre - I have a remix template set up in live - throw all the samples, loops which were sent to me and i manipulate them with all sorts of fx and decide what i like and what i don’t and then start from there
Rules for me are:
- Pick something you like to remix
- Don’t listen to the original while your remixing (actually for me I only ever listen to the original once
- Don’t send your remix to the original producer till you have finished it
Hope that helps a little and feel free to ask anything else
One thing you need to understand when your doing a remix is what is the purpose of the remix.
Are you just wanting to do it for fun, are you wanting to send it to a label aor the original artist and get it released? etc etc.
If you wanna just do it for fun then there are no rules, pick a song you like, look for the acapellas and the midi and crack on.
If your doing a remix that you wish to send to a label or mabey something you wanna enter in a remix comp there are a few guidelines that will help you.
You need to check the style of the original artist and the label the track was released on. By this i mean say you wanna remix a track that was released on A state of Trance. It probably isnt a very good idea to do a tech house remix of the track and send it to them. A label usually has a certain style and you need to try and fit into that style. So theres no point wasting your time making an awesome techy remix of a trance track and sending it to a trance label and expecting them to snap it up. No matter how good it is, they usually wont want it cos it moves away from the style that they wish to represent.
The same goes for remix comps. Think logically about who is going to be judging it or listening to it. If its a House producer, hes probably going to be a bit biased towards the housier sounds and he probably wont appreciate a happy hardcore remix of his track. This also goes for the label whos hosting the remix comp, look at their releases and look at previouse remixes that have been done.
[quote]jjdejong0 (02/09/2011)[hr]One thing you need to understand when your doing a remix is what is the purpose of the remix.
Are you just wanting to do it for fun, are you wanting to send it to a label aor the original artist and get it released? etc etc.
If you wanna just do it for fun then there are no rules, pick a song you like, look for the acapellas and the midi and crack on.
If your doing a remix that you wish to send to a label or mabey something you wanna enter in a remix comp there are a few guidelines that will help you.
You need to check the style of the original artist and the label the track was released on. By this i mean say you wanna remix a track that was released on A state of Trance. It probably isnt a very good idea to do a tech house remix of the track and send it to them. A label usually has a certain style and you need to try and fit into that style. So theres no point wasting your time making an awesome techy remix of a trance track and sending it to a trance label and expecting them to snap it up. No matter how good it is, they usually wont want it cos it moves away from the style that they wish to represent.
The same goes for remix comps. Think logically about who is going to be judging it or listening to it. If its a House producer, hes probably going to be a bit biased towards the housier sounds and he probably wont appreciate a happy hardcore remix of his track. This also goes for the label whos hosting the remix comp, look at their releases and look at previouse remixes that have been done.[/quote]
How many commercial remixes have you had out Jan?
The great thing about doing a remix is that you can do whatever the hell you like!
Unless you are commissioned by a label to do something specific. Lol
I’ve asked a few producers if I can remix their tracks and they agreed:) the only problem is they haven’t sent me the stems yet! Lol:hehe:
[quote]Mussi81 (02/09/2011)[hr]
I’ve asked a few producers if I can remix their tracks and they agreed:) the only problem is they haven’t sent me the stems yet! Lol:hehe:[/quote]
LOL - I wonder which bstd that was 
Ofcourse I have the opposite problem I’ve been sent packs and still not even looked at them 
One. Why?
I completely agree, the great thing about remixing is you can take a song you like but it might not be in your style and you can remix it to fit into your own DJ sets.
Also dom how many commercial releases have you had period.
Lolz
[quote]slender (02/09/2011)[hr][quote]Mussi81 (02/09/2011)[hr]
I’ve asked a few producers if I can remix their tracks and they agreed:) the only problem is they haven’t sent me the stems yet! Lol:hehe:[/quote]
LOL - I wonder which bstd that was
Ofcourse I have the opposite problem I’ve been sent packs and still not even looked at them ;)[/quote]
lol be nice slender and send him the stems heheh
[quote]alinenunez (02/09/2011)[hr][quote]slender (02/09/2011)[hr][quote]Mussi81 (02/09/2011)[hr]
I’ve asked a few producers if I can remix their tracks and they agreed:) the only problem is they haven’t sent me the stems yet! Lol:hehe:[/quote]
LOL - I wonder which bstd that was
Ofcourse I have the opposite problem I’ve been sent packs and still not even looked at them ;)[/quote]
lol be nice slender and send him the stems heheh[/quote]
Be nice, you must be mistaking me with someone who cares :w00t:
[quote]slender (02/09/2011)[hr][quote]Mussi81 (02/09/2011)[hr]
I’ve asked a few producers if I can remix their tracks and they agreed:) the only problem is they haven’t sent me the stems yet! Lol:hehe:[/quote]
LOL - I wonder which bstd that was
Ofcourse I have the opposite problem I’ve been sent packs and still not even looked at them ;)[/quote]
:w00t:;):hehe:
[quote]alinenunez (02/09/2011)[hr][quote]slender (02/09/2011)[hr][quote]Mussi81 (02/09/2011)[hr]
I’ve asked a few producers if I can remix their tracks and they agreed:) the only problem is they haven’t sent me the stems yet! Lol:hehe:[/quote]
LOL - I wonder which bstd that was
Ofcourse I have the opposite problem I’ve been sent packs and still not even looked at them ;)[/quote]
lol be nice slender and send him the stems heheh[/quote]
Yeah:P
[quote]jjdejong0 (02/09/2011)[hr]One. Why?[/quote]
Well, the reason I ask is that you seem to know a lot about remixing from the content of your posts. If you’ve worked on only one I wouldn’t feel confident you could write the book on the subject.
Well, the things i talk about havent been made up by me its just the way it is unfortunately…
As a side note: I don’t send stems and never receive them
I usually just send 4 bar loops unless its a wet sample then it may carry on
I have an example kinda for you dom. A friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous once took an acapella from a house track and made a full flying trance remix from it. Now the remix got some big support in the trance world here in Holland. The guy who did the remix is actually a pretty big name in the trance world. He sent the remix the the original artist and label who are both very much dutch house based and you know what happenned dom?? The label didnt even reply to him. Neither did the original artist…
Now were both the label and the OA being ****s? No. They just didnt want anything to do with trance… Why? Because they were a House label and the OA a House producer/dj.
I’d say search for remix competitions which you like, knock yourself out on it 
And who knows you might win!
[quote]jjdejong0 (04/09/2011)[hr]I have an example kinda for you dom. A friend of mine who wishes to remain anonymous once took an acapella from a house track and made a full flying trance remix from it. Now the remix got some big support in the trance world here in Holland. The guy who did the remix is actually a pretty big name in the trance world. He sent the remix the the original artist and label who are both very much dutch house based and you know what happenned dom?? The label didnt even reply to him. Neither did the original artist…
Now were both the label and the OA being ****s? No. They just didnt want anything to do with trance… Why? Because they were a House label and the OA a House producer/dj.[/quote]
In my experience (I did my first paid remix in 1995 and have been doing them for money until fairly recently) the labels want diversity. In my mind the aim of most remixes is to reach a different market - thus increasing the financial return for the label from the single they have invested in. This is not to challenge your scenario at all - I’m sure the smaller labels are just as narrow minded as the one mentioned above.