A presentation to accompany a music remixing workshop

1. Remixing music
A very very very short introduction

2. What is a remix?
A music remix, in general, is a reinterpretation of a pre-
existing song, meaning that the “aura” of the original will
be dominant in the remixed version.

3. – Jim Jarmusch
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that
resonates with inspiration or fuels your
imagination … Authenticity is invaluable;
originality is non-existent. And don’t bother
concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel
like it.”

4. Pick your remix - two choices
Sheezus by Lily Allen
OR
Breathing The Bass by
Stangeztep

5. Garage Band
A tool for working with audio recordings and
synthesised music

6. How Garage Band
works
!
!
A quick look at its features

7. Setting up the project
Create a new empty project in
Garage Band
Set the tempo to the correct
tempo for your chosen remix
Sheezus is at 130 bpm
Breathing The Bass is at
174 bpm
Drag audio files in from Finder
to Garage Band workspace

8. First things to do
Lower the volume on all tracks
BEFORE you first play the track,
they will be up too high by
default
Listen to each track individually
first to hear them in isolation

9. Basic approach to
remixing

10. “Artistic” techniques of
remixing
Arrangement: Moving audio around the timeline
Leave some parts out at certain points
This is especially effective with drums and vocals
Effects: Changing the sound of audio clips
Add new material: Compose new musical parts

11. Mixing!: Setting the volume levels of each track so
that…
The overall volume shouldn’t be too high, to avoid
distortion
The listener can hear the important aspects of the
music
Generally, the vocalist or soloist will have preference
over backing instruments
Small embellishments should not be very loud

12. –Dr. Seuss
“Think left and think right and
think low and think high. Oh, the
thinks you can think up if only
you try!”