| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Remixing by Sarah R

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 3 months ago

 What is a remix? As far as music goes, Webster describes it as "a variant of an original recording (as of a song) made by rearranging or adding to the original."1. Basically, a remix is a way to express your own view on something. The history of remixing started in the late 19th century. By using easily editable magnetic tape, music lovers of the 1940s and 1950s were able to rearrange the songs to fit what they liked to listen to. Modern remixing started to become popular in the late 1960s and early 1070s in Jamaica. Jamaican DJs would mix reggae with disco, creating "dub music" for people to dance to. Jamaican DJs also formed other genres of music using remixing, such as ska, reggae, and rocksteady. Popular DJs of this time period included King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Ruddy Redwood, who made instrumental versions of reggae tunes popular among music lovers. A popular figure in the remix culture is Tom Moulton. Moulton is known for creating the dance remix that we refer to today, even though he's not a DJ. He became really popular in New York, eventually specializing in remixing on the dance floor. Walter Gibbson is also an influential person in remix history. His first commercial song called "Ten Percent" by Double Exposure. Most people don't know this, but Moulton didn't mix the song, he actually just re-edited the track. Gibbson, Moulton, and their fellow contributers became very influential to remixing during the disco era. During the mid 1970s, key DJs like Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc were leaders in the Jamaican and Bronx remix movement, using methods such as cutting (switching between two different copies of the same record) and scratching. Remixing goes past hip hop, and into all genres of music, including artists such as Depeche Mode (which is the most remixed band, with about 10,000 remixes), Duran Duran, Madonna during the 80s, and Bjork, Nine Inch Nails, and Public Enemy during the 90s. Remixing has recently become the best way to extend the life of a song. More specificallSampling involves taking parts of a song and reusing as an instrument or sound in a different recording. Sometimes, it's a s simple as just taking a beat from a song, and just changing the concept of the song.

 

Artists such as the Beastie Boys and Dr. Dre have both used the drum introduction from Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks." DJ Shadow, who is an innovative sampling DJ,  feels that "Cutting and pasting is the essence of what hip-hop culture is all about for me. It's about drawing from what's around you, and subverting it and de-contextualizing it." There are different forms of sampling. You can loop a track by repeating it. Basically, you're taking a small portion of a song, and repeating it over and over to form the instrumental for a possible song. Another great example of sampling would be when rap artists T.I. used the phrase "Bring em out, Bring em out" from a Jay Z song titled "What More Can I Say" from The Black Album, as a vocal loop for the hook to his song "Bring Em Out." You can sample recordings, like how MC Hammer sampled "Super Freak" from Rick James. A more recent looped remix would be how T.I. looped a line from M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" for his song "Swagger Like Us."

 

An interesting sample example is actually a three generation sample. R&B singer Ashanti sampled The Notorious BIG's song "One More Chance Remix" for her song "Foolish." Well, it just so happens that The Notorious BIG sampled DeBarge's 1983 hit "Stay With Me". Later, the remix of Ashanti's "Foolish" (titled "Unfooolish") features The Notorious BIG (haven't found any evidence as to where his rap is sampled from). Another three way remix is of a song by the rapper Plies called "Bust It Baby." The original is a slow song that's very raunchy and sexual. The remix to the song, called "Bust It Baby Pt. 2" features R&B singer Ne-Yo, and is an upbeat song that can be played in a night club, and is also less raunchy and sexual. This remix sampled  Janet Jackson's 1990 single "Come Back To Me." Now, in addition the the first remix of the song, there was an underground release of a third remix called "Bust It Baby Pt. 3" featuring a verse by Janet Jackson herself. Sampling is an amazing form of remixing that can not onlhy extend the longevity of a song, but maybe bring in a new fan base to the song.

 

 

1. "Remix (noun)" Merriam-Webster Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/remix%5B2%5D

2. History of remixing found at WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.