How do remixes work

In many modern-day remixes, the main vocal the "hook" is often the only part of the track that remains the same. Very commonly, the lead melodies or basslines are retained and reused alternatively, but most of the other layers are removed.

The term "remix" typically implies the remixer has chosen the elements of the original track they liked and discarded the rest. Now the remixer goes ahead and adds their own set of layers, with new beat elements, often in different tempos, and ends up with a totally new track, but with some vocal or melodic similarities.

What is An Acapella? Stems are highly guarded, especially vocals with no beats under them, known as "acapellas. These are still out there on sample CDs, for purchase on Beatport, and readily available all over the internet on BitTorrent and sites like Acapellas 4 U.

With the huge flood of digital producers and widespread viral sharing and pirating of vocals, artists rarely release clean acapellas anymore, in an effort to make sure no bootleg remixes are done. On the other hand, up-and-coming or lesser-known vocalists still purposely release their acapellas, in the hopes that producers will use the vocals and provide them with a new avenue of publicity. Bottom line: modern pop artists do not release their acapella stems, handing them only to authorized remixers for official remixes But, if you know the right people or you're a great internet sleuth you can find them.

Or you can make your own see below. What is A Bootleg? Most remixes you have heard, downloaded, or made are bootlegs—that is, using audio layers of any song without express approval from the artist. Typically a bootleg uses a vocal acapella of a known song and a chunk of the original track's melody. The game is to find that moment in the original track where all the beats and musical components drop out for a while and the vocal or lead melodies are on their own—usually in the intro, outro, or bridge.

Here the bootlegger has grabbed a chunk of acapella audio and is duplicating in a syncopated fashion to create a whole new experience; this is common to the "trap" formula.

In the internet age, everything is a moving game, so this is my take as of today, and I may change my opinion as soon as tomorrow What Is A Remake? Are they looking for a club friendly remix, or something more radio friendly? Keeping these in mind will increase your chance of success.

Listening to other remixes is a great way to spark some thought and creativity. I might, for example, take out the intro, outro, and choruses of an original track and only use the breakdown which contains a vocal, then build upon that. Note: some songs have very little going on, e.

These tracks are a joy to bootleg as a lot of the content can be used. This is why working with the material given to you instead of against it is essential. Respect the original and work with the content given to you. Tip: Listen through the stems and find ones that inspire you.

Delete the rest, and build upon those. Just like building a game plan, the arrangement gives you a sense of direction and allows you to step back to look at how your remix is developing as a whole. As soon as you have ideas down, sketch out a basic arrangement. You should have it down quicker than you would normally when working on an original, because you already have a few ideas handed to you. This way, I have the arrangement in place from the start.

I may change the arrangement later on in the production process, but I benefit from building on a solid foundation. Want tips on how to write and arrange better music? Check out Songwriting For Producers. You can hear it at 7 seconds in :. Sometimes you might just want to add a little extra to the original, or expand on ideas. Skip to content. But, what should you do to do so without getting sued? Who are the owners of them? Or, you can ask them to get permission from the other owners of the song for you.

Since if you do, he might find you as unprofessional and decline your request. You should know that no matter how popular or successful this artist s is, he is still human. My name is Itai Haroosh, and I have been writing, producing, and mixing music for 9 years now.

Hopefully, this article has served as a good primer on how to remix tracks legally. Enjoy our blog? Follow us on Instagram. Share this article:.