How can remix a song

Your only hope is to receive permission from the copyright holder to create an official remix. How to find songs to remix Despite all that, there are still ways to create remixes legally. The other easy option is to participate in remix contests. Ableton automatically detects the tempo of a clip using the warp feature. Decide what to keep The point of a remix is to put your own stamp on a track—not create something completely unrecognizable.

Decide what to leave out The elements you decide to cut say just as much as what you keep. You can be picky, or make broad sweeping gestures for effect. Adding your own original elements is how you put your own stamp on your remix. Use the opportunity to showcase your creativity. A freshly mastered version will help polish the elements you added or took.

Remix and mingle Remixes are here to stay. While nothing is as good as having the original, separate tracks, Audacity and Ableton both offer tools that let you remove vocals from a mix as is done for karaoke , or remove everything but the vocals. Add your own sounds. This is where you stamp the track with your contribution. This can range from changing the feel, by adding new rhythm tracks, to total destruction. Remember to pay attention to copyright laws in your area if you plan on selling or performing your music live.

Unauthorized use of an author's tracks can get you in trouble with the law. Think about what sections you like best——what would you keep intact, and what will you change? If necessary, listen to the track a few more times to help refine your vision for the final remix.

Dissect the track. To make the remix job easier, you want to isolate not just the melodic elements, but the rhythmic elements as well. These apps make it easy to cut loops. Cutting loops is a fairly simple process. First, listen to your file, and identify the sections you'd like to cut. Then, select the phrase you'd like in your audio editing software, making sure to grab complete measures. A way to test your cut is to loop playback on the selection. If it sounds jumpy at the loop point, you may be selecting too much, or too little.

If your software lets you play your loop and adjust the endpoints at the same time, start playback on the loop, and adjust the beginning first—make sure it's starting exactly where you want it to start. Once that's set, go to the end of the loop, and make small changes in the loop length until the sounds seamless, natural, and most importantly, in-tempo. Watch out for loops that include reverb tails or cymbal crashes, since these will often extend past the end of a phrase.

Conversely, chopping a reverberation like that can be a really interesting effect. Making sure your loops are cut precisely will make tempo correction within your looping software more accurate.

In programs like Sonar and Acid, which use nearly the same correction methods, this is imperative. Time correction is achieved by either specifying the BPM of the loop often detected automatically , or by inserting markers in the loop inspection window, to indicate where each beat falls. All of this will accomplish the same result as cutting and looping, while still preserving the original file. You can also take this time to do some processing on your loops. If you only have the full mixdown, you can bring out vocals or individual instruments somewhat with EQ.

Keep in mind that there is no way to completely isolate a single instrument or voice after a mixdown. For example, you can lighten up the lower register kick, toms and bass lines by rolling off the low end. This will keep things from getting muddy, if you use the vocals from that loop over a new bassline, or new drums.

For example a boost at khz will brighten a sound up a lot more whereas increasing a frequency in the low range will bring out more of a muddy, bass mix. There are plenty of things to choose from, including delay, phaser, chorus, flanger, filters and other EQ, reverb, amplitude modulation, ring modulation, frequency modulation, time stretching, pitch shifting or correction, vocoder and more.

Playing around with these styles will help you figure out what you like, as well as training your ear a bit. Always remember that an under produced track is always better than an overproduced one, make it simple but have fun. Reconstruct the track. Next, import your loops. Once they are imported and time corrected, you should be able to choose any tempo you like, with very little loss of quality.

The majority of the time, remix competitions will provide this information. However, if you're making bootleg remixes, you might have to figure it out on your own. Knowing the key can help you work much faster, in that you'll be able to find samples and chord progressions that mesh well with the hook on the original song. An easy way to ruin a great remix is by using sounds that aren't in the right key.

TuneBat is a great place to find information regarding the key and BPM of an original song. The stems are the individual pieces of the original song that are usually supplied to a music producer for a remix. These stems are separate files that you can chop, mangle, and mix to your liking to create a unique sound. Typically, stems are broken down into several categories, including bass, drums, vocals, keys, guitars, FX, etc.

Start by arranging the stems in your DAW and line them up so that you can see what you have to work with. In organizing your stems, you'll be able to see which of the elements you should use in your remix, as well as which elements you can scrap. Once you have your stems organized, you will want to put some thought into which stems you should use.

You will have more freedom to get creative with your track the fewer stems you decide to use. This can be great if you want to impart your own sense of musicality and creativity on the tra. Of course, you don't want to get rid of the original too much, as it can lose the sense of being a 'remix. First, you'll want to decide which of the stems must stay in the remix. For example, if you decide that the original vocal is a necessary component of your remix, keep that stem in your session.

You can and maybe should process, chop, and rearrange this vocal in the future, but just make sure that it is there and remains recognizable. Next, figure out which of your signature sounds you want to use, whether it is a synth lead, a synth bass, or a few drum samples, to see how they fit withsome of the original stems.

Lastly, get rid of the unnecessary parts that don't fit with your signature sound. For example, if your signature sound is funk guitar and the song has some washy, reverb-drenched guitars, you might consider removing those stems. The way in which music producers remix a song will differ from producer to producer. However, for those just starting out, we figured we'd provide you with a few ideas as to how you can begin crafting a quality, creative remix.

You could start by taking the existing melody and using a different instrument to represent it, keeping the same notes while changing the order that they are played in. If it is a four-bar melody, maybe consider looping the first bar three times, reversing the second bar, and letting the fourth bar turn it around back to the beginning. You might even consider keeping the original melody, though heavily processing it so that it gives the listener something fresh.

Vocal chops are great for this, as you can simply maintain the original melody while altering the rhythm or sonic characteristics. One incredibly unique way to remix a song is by building your own chord progression under the existing melody.

Of course, you might need some basic knowledge of music theory to alter the chord progression, though you can also try and work by ear, as many music producers do. You could even change the way that the chord progression is played underneath the melody. For example, the original song might have a sustained bassline acting as the foundation.

You could take the same notes and use your own bass or synth bass to give it a funky, syncopated vibe. You might consider focusing on the rhythm of the drums first if you plan on remixing your song with a different BPM altogether. In doing so, you'll be able to build melodic ideas on top of it based on the rhythm.

By placing your own drum samples underneath a melody, you can figure out the energy level and groove to help you envision the rest of your remix. Plus, you can use your drums to put your own sonic stamp on the remix.

You might be able to make an incredible remix, though if you can't present it in a polished manner, then it won't stand up with other remixes out there.

You need to mix and master your track. Labels will often master all of the remixes they receive together so that they have a similar sound from one to the next. However, you must still provide them with a polished mix. If your remix isn't for the label, them you'll have to make sure you get it mastered on your own.

You can either choose to mix and master on your own or send it to professionals to get it done. We highly recommend sending your tracks to professionals, as they can look at it from an objective standpoint, using tools like EQ and compression to help all of the individual parts feel cohesive.

There are no golden elements of a great remix that we can give you, as remixes are often very different. What we can provide you with, however, is examples of great remixes that can give you ideas of where to go. Ronson even throws listeners a curveball with a doom-like wall of synths during one passage. In another instance, St. Vincent remixed one of the lead singles off of the new Beck album, Hyperspace. Annie Clark, the lead singer of St.

Neither option is necessarily better than the other, and the best remixes tend to feature a balance of the two throughout the song. If the drop in your remix is almost entirely different and unrecognisable from the original song, it may be worth keeping some more of the original stems in during the verse.

Begin with the most important elements of the track, and work your way down the list of the remaining stems. That said, here are some additional tips to help you rise to the top:. But this concept applies beyond this individual song. This means: be wary of genre trends, and try to stand out from the crowd by being different. Of course, this applies to any genre. If there are any magical moments or sounds in the original song, do your best to not only use them, but to draw attention to them in your arrangement.

It also gives your song a guaranteed moment of success that will temporarily suck the listener back into the magic of the original. The reality of most competitions is that to a certain degree, the judges are going to pay the most attention to the songs with the most public support.

If you can get your followers, friends, and family to jump in and vote, you can significantly increase your chances of getting heard and reasonably considered.

While public posts can help bring in a few votes, your best bet at ramping up your vote count is to individually reach out to friends and people you know. Lastly, be excited about your remix when promoting it. This last piece of advice is the best one we can ever give - be resilient, keep practicing, and keep trying. With each one, you should receive a degree of feedback from other listeners, and perhaps even the judges.

You can do it. For the fastest way to get your production skills to a professional standard, check out our EDM Accelerator Program , and let us know if you've found this guide useful in the comments below!

He has a passion for helping others and promoting positivity, and is the EDM Tips head coach.