Remix Methodology
By Paul Dakeyne
| Posted in Writer's Block
Remixing: How do you do it? There are no doubt a plethora of different approaches used by DJ/producers, whether in the pro, semi-pro or home studio enthusiast areas. Obviously there’s many a combination of differing DAW’s, the use (or non-use) of hardware, peripherals, controllers, plug-ins and instruments, but this all falls into the ‘gear’ category – what I’m looking at today are the methods behind the programming, structure, arrangement and mastering of a ‘remix’. I teach at Universities and Colleges periodically and the usual and most requested lecture topic is my ‘Anatomy of a Remix’ session. Based on this, but updated and rewritten, here’s my way of approaching such a remix project.
1. A Basic Drum pattern
Most of my stuff is basically four to the floor dance music with synthetic rhythms – I tailor the production primarily for a dancefloor, secondly for radio. The track I get to remix usually has a vocal, whether it’s a hook line, basic lead and bv’s or full on layers of harmonies. Also included may be the original song’s instrumental parts. The aforementioned vocal may need to be time-stretched from a faster tempo to a lower one, or of course the reverse – it depends on what direction/style I would take the remix on.
Once any time stretching is done, I’ll keep that file to one side, create a four or eight bar cycle area, and start to work on a basic groove. I’d start with a kick drum I like which has the flavour, intensity, and clarity I want and lay down a basic four-four beat. Then I’d add some simple hi-hats just to get a bit more movement following that with a snare or clap to add emphasis or just pick up the groove. At this point, I’d perhaps introduce a snippet of the lead vocal, either verse or chorus hook which will provide more of a foundation to start building additional ‘parts’.
2. Bassline and additional percussion
With the above elements already created, I’d source a bass preset that has the right sound, ADSR content, dynamic feel, power and presence. This needs to be both ‘felt’ in a club, and ‘heard’ on the radio. With the test vocal running with a basic groove, I’d get a clearer initial indication of how busy, or indeed minimal, the bassline should be. I’d call this basic, simple bassline, a ‘carrier’ line which will be the one that the track ‘returns’ to after the more musical content has passed (of course, further bass parts may be written later on if the track musically demands it).
As the track will have an arrangement content in which parts develop over the timeline, this is where the programming of additional rhythm parts would come in. At this point I’d copy the entire midi and/or audio parts to another four or eight bar cycle area where I would inject other ‘groove’ elements, loops or flavours to be used as enhancement to either the general rhythm track or as ‘lifts’ or sectional dividers while the remix gains momentum.
3. Musical part and full vocal placement
If as mentioned earlier, I have a musical hook or performance on which to hang this whole remix, then that’s a great help. If, however, I have a song that in its original version is good but has nothing that could be called a killer riff, then perhaps this is where I’d look to create one, alongside other supporting parts, which will ‘bed’ underneath or suggest sections of a ‘departure’ flavour. These new parts could for example be staccato chords, dreamy pads, gated synth beds, percussive piano stabs, filtered sweeps, anything that I feel will be beneficial to the track. Great care must be taken though to actually know when to stop - that is, not to layer riff after riff and layer after layer. Usually, less is indeed more!
4. The Arrangement
At this point, I may have some cool parts programmed which when looped or cycled are sounding great. But most of this effort could be in vain if the arrangement within the timeline isn’t doin’ it! Although most DJ targeted ‘extended’ remixes would kick off with some sort of gradually intensifying percussion or rhythm vibe, let’s ignore that for a moment and look at ‘the meat’ of the track. Here’s a non-definitive example of how a track might be structured:
INSTRUMENTAL INTRO: VERSE 1: CHORUS 1: BREAK (for a few bars?): VERSE 2: CHORUS 2: REFRAIN: MIDDLE 8/INST.BREAKDOWN ..then CHORUS REPEAT X 2/3 to DEAD STOP OR FADE ..or VERSE 2 Repeat (or VERSE 3) and CHORUS REPEATS TO DEAD STOP OR FADE
5. FX, hits and swooshes
With the full arrangement now on my DAW’s arrange page, I would start to look at the ‘fairy dusting’, which could include such elements as crash cymbals or filtered effects to sweep over and accent new sections as they appear in the developing track. This sort of stuff adds subliminal content to the piece.
6. The Mix and Mastering
I’m an advocate of getting the balance right from ‘the off’. I will take the time to effect, process and manipulate just about every element to ‘work’ within the overall balance of the mix as it progresses and grows. This philosophy developed the more I got used to mixing ‘in the box’, and moving away from ‘flattening’ the faders of a physical mixing desk after days of programming to then put my ‘mixing’ head on. By using Logic’s powerful automation functionality I would then add volume rides, filter manipulation or in fact any form of instant or gradual parameter adjustment.
As for mastering, there aretwo scenarios I would work to: Firstly, if the track is going to be commercially available, it will go to a professional mastering engineer, so I would just delicately EQ the two track output, possibly dialing in some gentle compression, and that would be it. Secondly, if it’s destined for playback on radio, in clubs or on CD players (bypassing the commercial release stage), I will most likely use the mastering plug-ins I have available to do the best job possible at their ability level. Importantly, I always try and maintain good dynamic range, therefore allowing the track to ‘breathe’ properly.
So the above is a general guide as to how I approach a remix. The intricacies of detailed programming, sound design, automation, mixing and creative expression are all individual topics in themselves, and how you express/perform them will doubtless be uniquely yours!
Tags: arrangement, automation, DJ Gear, mastering, mixing, Producer, programming, remix