Remixing tracks - unoriginal and a cop-out?

I can't say that I care who makes money out of the remix market.

Guys like Tiesto, PvD & BK are to trance what 2Unlimited were to techno. By the time you reach that level of cheesy commercialisation the music has already lost it's artistic integrity.

You just have a hook with a techno beat, and any real groove that might have been in an original track has been lost a long time ago.

I disagree with the statement on progressive. There are loads of fantastic progressive tracks being released at the moment. You just shouldn't try and buy it from the top-end remix market. Of course the sound will be diluted if you look for it there.

One major problem is also the insistance of DJ's sticking to their vinyl. By the time the whole Vinyl-DJ circle have caught on to a progressive track, its old news. And a lot of labels that are serious about sound quality don't bother to press them anymore, because it just detracts from the crisp perfection the producers where going for.

Prog also just lends itsself well to live performance, so you can catch a lot of live acts (if you're in the right place) and hear music that you'll never find... even on CD.

There is also a lot of confusion on what prog is at the moment.
Because you get prog house... prog trance (related more to the bubblegum trance scene... Tiesto & co), and then you get true progressive which runs parallel with real trance (psy trance), but is more spaceous & groovy and uses less of the cliche's of full on psycehdelic.
 
example

A good example of creative remixing is The ogenki clinic remix of
ashtrax digital reason. Remixing can be cool sometimes and really outshine the original.
 
I've done a fair amount of remixes. My first one was for Depeche Mode, some AcidPlanet contest, though I didn't use Acid to re-do it. It was borne out of a love for their music and all they've contributed thus far and the chance to take a crack at re-working something of theirs. It actually went pretty far in the contest being in the "top 10 out of 1100 remixes entered", as their label rep told me anyways. From there I did several others for New Order, Garbage, Lenny Kravitz, and lastly, Frou Frou. It's taught me a lot about my tools in that I try to go for a different take in my own style and not just do the "make money" ballad remix that you hear so often in every other clothing store these days, consisting of some tripe "house" beat and an obvious pseudo-trance progression that my dead grandma could write. I try to take the good elements of the track and rework them/replay them by ear with new sounds and only keep the vocals. It can be "easier" than making your own tune from scratch, sure, as you have the basic song structure already laid out for you (verses, chorus, bridge, etc), but it can also be frustrating if you really want to do something different to it and you sit there for weeks trying to figure out what "different" might be. For the most part I think I've done a good job with them. The people that have heard my re-work of Frou Frou say it's better than the original and any remixes they've heard so far. I'm never satisfied with 'em though and always end up finding this or that that could be a bit better.

I'm rambling a bit as I'm not totally awake here yet, but I guess I'm saying that I don't think remixing is meritless. The only copout tunes are the obvious ones, remix or not. Meaning that if you could guess what comes next without really listening, then the remixer//composer hasn't really done their job. If you can pull a rabbit out of the proverbial hat and bring the song some new life, then go for it. But if you're just going to throw an Acid loop and some boring "hoover" trance (duh nuh nuh nuh) lead behind it, don't bother.

My .02 :D
 
Carnage said:


Even Fatboy Slim remixes?
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especially fatboy slim remixes ;)

i just dont like remixes by people other than the original artist because i dont really care about how other people want to play with the song.
 
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Have you everthough....

The artist might like the remixes...Somebody, I would think, who wrote the song would have to "approve" it. I had people remix my track, and I enjoy hearing what they come up with. Plus it is an Alternate version if it ever get to vinyl. Seems a little "narrow minded" in a Producers scope. Alot of producers started out Remixing tracks, how do you think they got in.? Gotta start somewhere and remixing is just another producers skill.
 
thats your opinion. personally i would hate to see my tracks get remixed because i made it a certain way for a reason. it was to be enjoyed as is, not as what someone else thinks it should be.

i didnt and wont make a remix now or ever. its just not true to what i want to do and what i believe in.
 
Basically, REMIXING is just PRODUCING after the song already came out.

Think of it this way: You have an artist, say, Bjork (for lack of a better example) who wrote songs for her album. She has to decide who she wants to produce the album. Let's say she is trying to decide between Matmos and Nellee Hooper. She ultimately chooses Matmos. She still likes Nelle Hooper's production style so asks Nellee to do a Nellee Hooper remix of a track. This is still the artists "vision" and it might have come very close to being on the record in the first place, too.

EXAMPLE 2: An artist has multiple producers on a record. The artist has 2 different producers take a crack at producing a particular track. The artist likes both versions but has to choose one. The artist chooses version A but still likes version B. The artist releases version B as a remix for a single.

EXAMPLE 3: A traditional brazilian artist does a record in a traditional style. This artist would like to have his song produced in a loungy electronic style but does not know how to do that style of music. The artist asks Kruder&Dorfmeister to remix it. This is still the artists "vision". And from the producer's side, this is no different that him having produced the Brazilian artist in the first place... the only difference is that it is being done after the album came out.

EXAMPLE 4: An artist is a big fan of a producer and would like to have a version with that producers style on it.

EXAMPLE 5: A producer really loves a song on someone's album. This producer is really inspired by the song and has some really good ideas for things he could do to that track.



I don't think any of these example's show a lack of creativity or a 'cop out' on anyone's part. Plus, any remix you see released on a commercially available record/compilation/single has been authorized/commissioned by the artist/label and there is no stealing going on.
 
Listen up...

Amen, dvyce....there it is!
Hey any known remixer want to do my tracks, I'd be flattered and in awe.:D
 
I'd let anyone, famous or otherwise, mix any of my tracks. Just as long as I get credit and if they make money off it, I want my share.

Exc
 
again this is all personal decisions. personally i dont like remixes...if thats your thing do it though.

also i cant see why anyone would want to remix my stuff in the first place so my producing future wont be that adversely affected by a lack of remixing.
 
MRT1212 said:

also i cant see why anyone would want to remix my stuff in the first place so my producing future wont be that adversely affected by a lack of remixing.
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I can relate to that. I don't think Fatboy will be calling me anytime soon. Most of my original stuff is not really your typical dance floor type of thing.
 
which leads me to my next point infradead...slapping on remix to something and using another persons name recognition for popularity...
 
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