How to Create a Remix Song

This guide explains how to record a remix song using only Sound Recorder on your PC. Sound Recorder is a free program and though it can be a bit crude and blunt to use, it can also create some surprising results using only a handful of options, and it makes a good starting place for potential remixers. Other available remixing programs include the powerful but expensive Fruity Loops for PC and Ableton Live for Apple.

Things You'll Need

• A copy of the song you wish to remix.
• A microphone (this can be the microphone on your computer)
• Sound Recorder software

Instructions

Think Ahead and Plan

1. A song remix is a creative deconstruction and re-creation of a piece of music. A remix will often focus on one element of a song, such as a three-second drum part, and use it as a basis for a reimagining of the song. Often remixers will slow down or speed up these elements to create a different feel for the song. Usually other elements from the song will be layered on top of each other. By using these familiar elements in unfamiliar ways, a song can be entirely reimagined.

   Before starting, it is best to plan. Choose a song and ask yourself what parts of the song really capture your interest. Is it a guitar riff? A bass solo? A simple yet interesting drum part? Maybe it's some strange vocal noise the singer makes. It doesn't matter. The important part is to be able to make an interesting and fun remix. Write down the parts you wish to use in the remix while listening to the song. Note the time on the song in which they appear. This will be helpful later.

2. Open up your Sound Recorder. This is a free program that will comes with every PC. This will be in the "entertainment" folder in your start menu. This is the program you will use to record your music. You can use either the microphone on your computer, or have the sound record directly to the Sound Recorder without a microphone. Using a microphone is easy, but there will be a lot of residual noise in the background, so it might be best to record directly off the computer. To do this, open up your volume options. Go to your start menu and scroll over to "control panel." Scroll down in that sub-menu till you get to "sounds and audio devices." Once there, click the "advanced" button. This will open up your volume control. From this menu, go to "options" and click "properties." There will be an option to choose "recording." Choose "recording" and click "okay." Once here the "microphone" option will probably be checked. Click "stereo mix" instead. Close your volume control.

3. Listen through to the song one last time. Pay attention to the cues you want to use. Think of fun and interesting ways to combine them to create your own unique song.

Record Your Cues

1. This will be the most tedious part of the process. Start playing your song. When you get to your cue, hit the record button on the Sound Recorder. It will be the button with the big red circle in it all the way to the left. It will begin recording. When your cue is finished, hit the stop button. The stop button is the square right next to record.

2. Push play to hear your cue. Is it exactly what you wanted? Perfect start and end point? Chances are it won't be. If necessary, rerecord it to get it right. You will have to do this if you start late or if you end too soon. If it starts in the right place but ends too late, you still have a chance to edit the ending.

3. To edit the ending, position the indicator where you would like to cut. This indicator is the small bar that moved left to right during recording. It is directly above all the buttons. Listen through your cue and hit the "stop" button where you want to cut. Make sure you save first, in case of any mistakes in editing. You can't get back what you edit without saving. Once you have the exact position, go to the edit option. Then, click "delete after current position." This will cut off the rest of the recording after the position on the indicator. Repeat if necessary.

4. Record the rest of your cues in this fashion. Save them under appropriate and easy-to-remember names. Now you're ready to remix.

Remix

1. Open up the first cue you wish to work with. Go to the "effects" folder. This will have a series of sound options, including increase volume, decrease volume, increase speed, decrease speed, add echo and, reverse. Use these options in whatever way you've designed.

2. Edit all your cues in this fashion. Alternatively, if you want to create a sequence from your current cue, go to the next step.

3. If you want to create a sequence of your cue, go to the "edit" menu and select "insert file." This will place this file wherever you have your indicator placed. Repeat this as many times as you like. Save your sequence under a different name

4. Once you have prepared all your cues, you can use the insert option to arrange them any way you like, or you can use the mix option. The mix option is very powerful. This will lay the file you select on top of the current file wherever your indicator is set. This will create a mix of sequences and sounds. To do this, go to "options" and select "mix file." You will then select the file you wish to mix. Do this as often as you like.

5. Repeat all the steps in this section in whatever manner you like until you are done. You can even record new cues if you like. Listen back and decide if it was what you wanted. It may not be, but you'll have fun making your remix anyway, and next time you try it you will be more proficient.

   If sound recorder doesn't fit your needs, there are other programs available for remixing. Fruity Loops is a very popular PC electronic music program that allows the use of samples and the manipulation of their speed and arrangement. A similar program for Apple users is Ableton Live. These programs can be expensive, and run into the hundreds of dollars. Free demos are available for download from http://flstudio.image-line.com/ and http://www.ableton.com/.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to create a rhythmic section first, then overlay melody. This helps keep a structure to your remix. Try not to get too wild with the mix option. Things can get very hectic, and you can't take it back. Watch out for inserting in the middle of a cue. If you insert in the middle, it will insert your file directly where your indicator is placed, cutting your cue in two. Increase your cue's speed several times and then decrease it back to the original speed. This creates strange effects to the original cue. This can be done by decreasing the speed as well.

References

• How to Remix in Ableton Live
• How to Remix