What's your opinion on remixes?

[MRPPony]

Obviously, like any other forms of art, you can't really teach someone how to make a song, you can only teach them the tools, formulas, blah blah and what the common uses for them are. With that said, one of the first things that's done when it comes to teaching someone (or yourself) is to make someone else's song exactly the same or remix it.

However remixes is now being seen as lazy, unimaginative, and something, "real musicians would not do." My question is what is your personal opinion on it? Obviously this may seem as a silly question to ask on MyLittleRemix but its amazing how many musicians on here and even outside the forums would sort of "look down" on remixers; not bluntly but subtly. Basically do you think remixing is necessary or is something that lacks talent and should be shunned at?



Anyway my opinion is I love remixes (obviously) just because its like critiquing someone's work. "I like this but I think it should sound more like this." With me personally, I can only really be creative and hit my actual goal in music via remixing. I have been doing original shere and there but never upload any because they all sound terrible. If I'm working with vocals or not, never seems to come together unlike it does when I remix something.

Anyway I'm genuinely interested (because I don't do much in life besides work and go on my computer) in all of your opinions on this.

[Nine Volt]

anyone who remixes anything, has remixed anything, plans to remix anything, or wants to remix anything should be condemned to a slow, gooey death by force-feeding of cupcakes created from the remains of their immediate family members.



srs mode activated:
No, I have no problems with remixes, as long as they're not the same song with different synths. I think it's interesting to see a good artist's reimagining of a familiar song, be it the oft-remixed ones like Rainbow Factory or Beyond Her Garden, or some obscure piece of work with few people aware of it's existence, much like Verisimilitude (as in, it was a relatively unknown song remixed by a popular musician, which interestingly resulted in Glaze's remix being a good several thousand views ahead of the Svix's original. I suppose the same thing kind of happened with Discord).

EDIT: I suppose I should clarify:
I have no problems with occasional remixes, but I can understand why some don't like them. They're good in small doses, but it gets bad when an artist's work consists entirely of remixes (*cough*simgretinatombstone*cough*)

[Motivfs]

The way I remix, I'm not too sure how others do (Because I seldom listen to remixes), but I make the song much more different, I don't like using stems for the most part, I do because, well obviously you'd have to for a remix, I like vocal remixes though, because that's where you can change it up completely, and avoid using synth/FX stems at all. I notice lots of people use stems though in the remix, sometimes at points where they overuse it. That's what I dislike, as well as using the same melody from the original with a different synth that the remixer created.

Honestly, in the end, I like remixing, but I also like originals. I won't just live off of remixing stuff, however, in the world of music, unless your music is as unique as Kyoga's for example, then you won't get far with originals. (This baring in mind if you're trying to one day become famous).

[itroitnyah]

Remixes are very important to musicians. Because, not all musicians have top quality condenser microphones (or a microphone in general) to record with, and if they do, they might not have the best singing voice. So if all a dubstep producer did was made great lead melodies followed by a buildup and a bass drop, there wouldn't be a whole lot of creativity, as that would all grow very cliche. It would be like listening to rock songs, but all the songs were instrumentals. So remixing allows producers to get something they might not always have access to - vocals, among other things. Krewella tends to be remixed a lot, and I'm guessing that a lot of the producers who do remix Krewella don't have much in the way of a voice to sing with, or no microphone, and Krewella does some great vocals.

But yeah, I could honestly care less who the song is made by, or if it's original, remix, mashup, mix, whatever else, if I like it, I'll listen to it. Simple as that. I'm not sure why people would that that remixes "aren't what real musicians do". I'm sure that those people have never tried remixing a song before. It's actually harder than making an original in some cases.

[Freewave]

Remixes are always a mix of the original artist and the remixer so i can see where some may say that it misses out on creating truly original work. That said remixes are an essential part of EDM and especially for brony music. If MLP didn't have music in the show we wouldn't all be adapting Daniel Ingram's songs in a variety of ways, over and over again. We also wouldn't have a site called my little REMIX or have the 6th leg of the REMIX wars. Of course if it's rock music then we'd just call it a cover tune, right? So to look down on remixes is to look down at brony music and EDM which i think is a bit silly tbh. There are times that tracks should have been remixed MORE then they are and that may often be due to what we are given as remixers. Stems, acapellas, project, and midi files are what are the tools so if they're lacking then it limits what you get as a remix. Sometimes it's the imagination that may be lacking as we're making them just 20% cooler instead of 40% different. We also likely also don't NEED 60 remixes of Bad Seed or 30 versions of Rainbow Factory. But anyone who think that remixes are simply a bad thing are just a tad full of their own "originality". Make music how you want and how you might do it best.

[Navron]

They're good in small doses, but it gets bad when an artist's work consists entirely of remixes

That's a very good point.

I've got no problems with remixes, although in my personal opinion, the only thing provided should be vocals. MIDI stems makes it too easy for somebody to be extremely lazy.

Like, I'm not sure why Glaze even provided MIDI stems for Rainbow Factory, because any musician with any semblance of hearing ability can figuring out the main motif and work from there.

Some songs are more complicated than others (pfft, you think I know how to play the ENTIRE Toccata and Fugue by Bach?), so in that case, stems can help out.

Most EDM isn't very complicated though, so I don't see why people need MIDI stems.

[itroitnyah]

Most EDM isn't very complicated though, so I don't see why people need MIDI stems.

Quickly! Let us travel back to the time of when you were a beginner! It may be easy for you, but for beginners it isn't. I suppose it gets easier as you get to know everything better though.

[Twy]

I don't really like remixes in general. I certainly don't mind their existence or anything, but I think most of them tend to, well, lack their own identity.
It's really hard for a remix to be done right, in my opinion. You've got to find that perfect balance of changing it up from the original so that you're not just the same song with a different synth, but not being so different that it might as well be its own track.

Remixes can also be annoying for me to listen to, personally, because while I don't necessarily decide how much I enjoy the song based off of it, I DO decide how much I respect or admire an artist based on the creative, original or unique qualities of their work. While a remix can have these aspects absolutely, it does mean that I can't give the remix credit for anything until I become familiar with the original so I know that part I thought was so cool wasn't just borrowed from there.

It's very rare for a remix to just completely surpass the original, so in most cases even if I like a remix or two I'll pay much more attention to the original instead because that's the guy who came up with the base for the remixes and most likely the most memorable melodies as well, so chances are if I like that song or even the remix, that's the guy I'll want to keep tabs on for more music like it in the future.

Also, I think it's gotten to a point in EDM where most remixes exist just because the artist doing the remix wants to piggyback on the original's success. Either that, or it's just kind of a friendly "hey bro I made this cool track do you wanna do a remix for the EP so I can pad out the length?!" Not saying every one is like that, but I do feel like there aren't nearly as many that exist out of a legitimate desire to tamper with and possibly improve the original as there should be.

Also also, I just want to say that those dance remixes you see of popular, non electronic, songs that just add a kick drum over the song and call it a day; I wouldn't mind if those all disappeared from the world like those Anjikuni dudes did.

[Navron]

Most EDM isn't very complicated though, so I don't see why people need MIDI stems.

Quickly! Let us travel back to the time of when you were a beginner! It may be easy for you, but for beginners it isn't. I suppose it gets easier as you get to know everything better though.

Not harping on beginners that use MIDI stems. Just saying in general, EDM is relatively simple when it comes to chord progressions, melodies, and motifs.

[itroitnyah]

Most EDM isn't very complicated though, so I don't see why people need MIDI stems.

Quickly! Let us travel back to the time of when you were a beginner! It may be easy for you, but for beginners it isn't. I suppose it gets easier as you get to know everything better though.

Not harping on beginners that use MIDI stems. Just saying in general, EDM is relatively simple when it comes to chord progressions, melodies, and motifs.

I wasn't really trying to implying that a beginner would use stems because it's too hard to make the synths and melodies on their own, but meh.

Back on topic, I still hold firm to my opinion that I could care less whether it's a remix, original, mix, or who made it, if it's good, I like it.

[Freewave]

I've got no problems with remixes, although in my personal opinion, the only thing provided should be vocals. MIDI stems makes it too easy for somebody to be extremely lazy.

Like, I'm not sure why Glaze even provided MIDI stems for Rainbow Factory, because any musician with any semblance of hearing ability can figuring out the main motif and work from there.

Some songs are more complicated than others (pfft, you think I know how to play the ENTIRE Toccata and Fugue by Bach?), so in that case, stems can help out.

Most EDM isn't very complicated though, so I don't see why people need MIDI stems.

Honestly Navron i see a lot of "looking down on remixers (or EDM in general tbh)" in this post that i see indicative a bit of the community in general. What may seem easy to you may not be easy to others and to play, remake, or remix a song w/o knowing the notes or chords. It's a pretty ridiculous expectation for someone to be remixing a song with nothing but vocals stems.

When people do a cover tune they need to know the tabs or the chords. When it's a remix you expect a midi file to allow some synth variety, or synth stems if they wanna force it to be similar to the original. While I don't appreciate the sheer volume of Rainbow Factory remixes at least Glaze gave people the proper tools TO remix his track which is what is to be EXPECTED. There's no point saying you tolerate remixers (and i think it's important that people deserve a certain level of inate respect) when you also add that you add the caveat that you don't respect them as musicians due to laziness and the lack of ability to recreate by ear. One part of being on MLR and in this community is you accept that people are at different abilities (and time constraints too i might add). I would honestly expect that a mod would know this and reflect that belief. I don't think new musicians and remixers should feel a sense of shame in being who they are at this time or looked down if they don't quite yet match up to others.

Not trying to start a big argument but i do gotta comment on what's been said (and also reflected by other people at different points in prior conversations)

[MRPPony]

Also also, I just want to say that those dance remixes you see of popular, non electronic, songs that just add a kick drum over the song and call it a day; I wouldn't mind if those all disappeared from the world like those Anjikuni dudes did.

Those types of remixes annoys me the most and even SimGretina did tht bit with Smile Song. I do get what you mean because sometimes people remix just for the sake of getting popular. I'll admit that I have done it with my Winter Wrapup which is why it sucks so much ass.

A remix that shows the remixer's style and compliment the original source is pretty hard to do but those are always the best. That kind is usually easier with songs that has vocals since words tend to stick out more so than melody (sadly, but understandable).

[Twy]

Those types of remixes annoys me the most and even SimGretina did tht bit with Smile Song. I do get what you mean because sometimes people remix just for the sake of getting popular. I'll admit that I have done it with my Winter Wrapup which is why it sucks so much ass.

A remix that shows the remixer's style and compliment the original source is pretty hard to do but those are always the best. That kind is usually easier with songs that has vocals since words tend to stick out more so than melody (sadly, but understandable).

Those are really the only kinds of remixes that I inherently dislike, I think. Even in concept I don't mind the idea of turning a pop song into a hard house/dance track or whatever, but there are a lot of songs like that that really do feel like no effort went in at all, and usually sound pretty bad to me.

And to clarify, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting some popularity or exposure to your music, and remixing certainly seems to be a decent way to do that (and many popular EDM artists today got their start by remixing), but it does tend to lead to an overabundance of certain songs. Even that I don't mind too much when I think about it, though, as long as the artist doesn't focus on remixing for the sole reason of gaining a following. If they're remixing because they legitimately enjoy it, I don't have a problem with that or if it's just the occasional remix of something popular so that people might check out their other music that's fine too, but if it's just remix after remix after remix in an attempt to be popular, it seems like they're making music for all the wrong reasons at that point.

But yeah I agree it's hard to end up with those good remixes that, like you said, compliment the original while still successfully incorporating your own style. For that very reason, I'd say no doubt remixing can be more difficult than writing an original piece. I definitely respect those who can pull it off.

[colortwelve]

A good remix is like a book written in response to another - based on common ground (maybe the chords, maybe one instrument, maybe a catchy melody, maybe vocals, etc.) but a distinct piece of work.

Take, for example, a couple of tracks off of my new album with Vladnuke. He made a song called 'The Escape,' then gave me the project file and I made 'Stylish But Irrelevant' out of it. All it shares is the key and the sound of a cymbal with a cutoff LFO on it. Does that count as a remix? I think it does, because it's one work based on another. Without Vladnuke's original song, mine wouldn't exist.

Granted, there's such a thing as a lazy remix, but that's the fault of the remixer, not the remix format itself. All music is made within some set of boundaries, nebulous though they may become, and a remix is just a different set of boundaries to work within. And as in all art, the best works are the ones that do the most within those boundaries.

[Stu Beef]

All compositions are "remixes"; no one is working with original material.

What we call a remix is just another way of taking established elements and putting them into a different context. I didn't invent scales, rhythms, or melodies I just copy and paste from things that I heard. How do you make a pie from scratch? First you must create the universe. It's basically the same concept. I keep forgetting who to attribute this to, but some early 20th century composer said something along the lines of We [him and his peers] are merely arrangers of the [songs of the country/land/people or something]. Nobody can say they created the events that give our ears context to understand what we call music, so demeriting this practice at a conceptual level would be pretty arrogant in my eyes.


I will, however, GLADLY talk smack about any specific examples.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

I don't give a sh*t. Actually, wait, I do. Why the hell are people suddenly hating on remixes when people have been sampling without credit for... forever! When you remix, sure, you're not making some of the track, but you also have to worry about building the track around those parts!

Seriously, this pisses me off! What the hell!

[Navron]

Honestly Navron i see a lot of "looking down on remixers (or EDM in general tbh)" in this post that i see indicative a bit of the community in general. What may seem easy to you may not be easy to others and to play, remake, or remix a song w/o knowing the notes or chords. It's a pretty ridiculous expectation for someone to be remixing a song with nothing but vocals stems.

You've been around here for as long as I have. How many topics have been made in the past from different people trying to utilize MLR as a, "Get big in the community," type of resource? I can recall at least 3 that created a lot of drama with it too. Balloon Party was probably the biggest recruitment for MLR, but how many people out of the flood that came here, are still here? A LOT less than there were back when BP was still going.

I get that everybody's trying to start somewhere, but that somewhere isn't, "Insert new instrument presets into MIDI stems of Rainbow Factory," or, "Insert Fluttershy yay into a non-mixed dubstep track."

There's like, races to see who can remix a new show song first, sometimes popping up within 2-3 hours after the episode airs, and the bulk coming in over the next few days. Many people spent months working on their songs for Balloon Party, and the quality showed. Sorry, but getting a remix in 3 hours after the episode air doesn't seem to me like, "Doing your best."

There's no point saying you tolerate remixers (and i think it's important that people deserve a certain level of inate respect) when you also add that you add the caveat that you don't respect them as musicians due to laziness and the lack of ability to recreate by ear.

Here's something you should know about me personally in regards to that...

An instructor at BUD/S (SEAL training) once said to my class:
"Everything I do and have today I earned. I didn't want, nor expect life to give me any handouts."

I dislike any form of entitlement, and what I see are new musicians latching onto ways they see as, "Fast tickets to success." A means to get as popular as they can with the least amount of effort on their part.

What that ends up doing is create more hardships for the community. The entire reason we created pre-listeners in the first place, wasn't for a means to judge a song's quality or determine its, "poniness." It was because people were throwing pony samples on copyrighted music, or trying to get more views for their struggling music career by taking advantage of the traffic on EqD, which in the end created hardships for every single musician in the entire community.

I am by no means near being a good musician. I still suck. Guess what? Music is hard. You're going to suck at the beginning. It's the whole reason we repost that Ira Glass quote for people who are new or struggling. The only thing I ask people to do, is give themselves a little extra challenge, or at least to not choose the easiest route. That's my musical advice. Hell, that's my life advice. If people choose to ignore that advice, then fine, but don't expect me to show them any sign of respect or sympathy when they create forum threads about how they're frustrated about not improving, and ask for help. Bonus points for the ones that say they deserve to be popular.

In regards to EDM, I'm not saying it's not challenging to make. I'm just saying it's less complicated in its structure, and easier to determine the chord progression and different notes than performance or art based music. I enjoy listening to EDM a lot btw, so I'm not harping on those that make it, or wish to make it. Just saying there's reasons why they've come up with terms like, "4-chord rock."

Now, to round it up and bring it back on-topic:

My opinion on remixes: Just because somebody has already created a song, or given you the tools to remix it, does not mean it should be any easier. You should be putting as much (if not more) effort into making a solid remix, as you would to an original piece.

[DusK]

My perspective on remixes is largely shaped by OC ReMix and my involvement with VGM remixing, so I see remixes as a way (in my opinion, the BEST way) for an artist to honor another artist's work through creative interpretation and artistic expression, often more in line with the arranger's musical style. This is the primary reason why I stick to remixing source material that I think is good from people I respect to a pretty good degree.

[CaptainFluffatun]

Remixes are perfectly fine as long as they're well-thought out. Sometimes you just want to hear a song done in another style, and if you have the means to achieve that, that's perfectly fine.

[Freewave]

Honestly Navron i see a lot of "looking down on remixers (or EDM in general tbh)" in this post that i see indicative a bit of the community in general. What may seem easy to you may not be easy to others and to play, remake, or remix a song w/o knowing the notes or chords. It's a pretty ridiculous expectation for someone to be remixing a song with nothing but vocals stems.

You've been around here for as long as I have. How many topics have been made in the past from different people trying to utilize MLR as a, "Get big in the community," type of resource? I can recall at least 3 that created a lot of drama with it too. Balloon Party was probably the biggest recruitment for MLR, but how many people out of the flood that came here, are still here? A LOT less than there were back when BP was still going.

I get that everybody's trying to start somewhere, but that somewhere isn't, "Insert new instrument presets into MIDI stems of Rainbow Factory," or, "Insert Fluttershy yay into a non-mixed dubstep track."

There's like, races to see who can remix a new show song first, sometimes popping up within 2-3 hours after the episode airs, and the bulk coming in over the next few days. Many people spent months working on their songs for Balloon Party, and the quality showed. Sorry, but getting a remix in 3 hours after the episode air doesn't seem to me like, "Doing your best."

I agree with this completely. But I see this as systematic of remixing FOR popularity and speed. I agree its unimaginative and a pony pox on the community. I don't see this as a universal "remixes are bad" problem though. What i see this as is that people are all remixing the same tracks and not being individuals and going with herd-like instincts. Again any music can miss the mark when it doesn't fit a real need or isn't done well (same with bad and lazy sampling or instrumentals that try into mlp but don't have any real link).

There's no point saying you tolerate remixers (and i think it's important that people deserve a certain level of inate respect) when you also add that you add the caveat that you don't respect them as musicians due to laziness and the lack of ability to recreate by ear.

Here's something you should know about me personally in regards to that...

An instructor at BUD/S (SEAL training) once said to my class:
"Everything I do and have today I earned. I didn't want, nor expect life to give me any handouts."

I dislike any form of entitlement, and what I see are new musicians latching onto ways they see as, "Fast tickets to success." A means to get as popular as they can with the least amount of effort on their part.

What that ends up doing is create more hardships for the community. The entire reason we created pre-listeners in the first place, wasn't for a means to judge a song's quality or determine its, "poniness." It was because people were throwing pony samples on copyrighted music, or trying to get more views for their struggling music career by taking advantage of the traffic on EqD, which in the end created hardships for every single musician in the entire community.

I am by no means near being a good musician. I still suck. Guess what? Music is hard. You're going to suck at the beginning. It's the whole reason we repost that Ira Glass quote for people who are new or struggling. The only thing I ask people to do, is give themselves a little extra challenge, or at least to not choose the easiest route. That's my musical advice. Hell, that's my life advice. If people choose to ignore that advice, then fine, but don't expect me to show them any sign of respect or sympathy when they create forum threads about how they're frustrated about not improving, and ask for help. Bonus points for the ones that say they deserve to be popular.

In regards to EDM, I'm not saying it's not challenging to make. I'm just saying it's less complicated in its structure, and easier to determine the chord progression and different notes than performance or art based music. I enjoy listening to EDM a lot btw, so I'm not harping on those that make it, or wish to make it. Just saying there's reasons why they've come up with terms like, "4-chord rock."

Now, to round it up and bring it back on-topic:

My opinion on remixes: Just because somebody has already created a song, or given you the tools to remix it, does not mean it should be any easier. You should be putting as much (if not more) effort into making a solid remix, as you would to an original piece.

Amen. Again I just want people to realize that remixing is it's own art (balancing between the old original and the new ideas), should require a lot of work, and should bring something new to the table. The only way i could remix something like a Makkon track is with that awesome midi file (not by ear as it IS complicated musically). So that's where midi files or stems are vital. If people aren't doing something correctly that it's important to identify WHAT they are doing wrong. Biggest problem is when people label all remixers part of the same scourge. If people see that a remix has been done 4-5 times and are trying yet another one then that's a bit of a shame. Find a track that hasn't been done to death. All I'm saying is that let's be specific about how to do things well and that includes remixing which really hasn't been discussed that much on mlr to be frank.

[Navron]

I think I worded my first post a little too open to interpretation. I'm glad my reply cleared some of that up.

I don't hold anything against remixers in general. The biggest problem, is that herd mentality. If a musician gets a super fast remix done, then the next time more musicians are racing to be the first one done, and sooner or later it becomes the accepted standard that show songs must be remixed as fast as possible.

It's not just with music either. We've seen it in art, with wet manes, milkshake bobbin, santa hat winks, lip bites, recolors, etc.

For every new thing somebody creates, there are hundreds of people that attempt to piggyback on that success, and it's very prevalent in the music community as well, which is why I don't hold a large majority of remix-only artists in very high esteem, especially considering there's an abundance of high-quality songs out there, begging for a remix.

[vladnuke]

Idk, ever since tomby started doing same day remixes, people have tried to pull that shit off ever since. I just remix songs I like, and so far I've only done a couple. Now mash-ups, those are pure art (see:Truxton) that kinda shit makes me happy. Its like anything, if you put effort into it, only good will come out of it.

[Matthew N.]

I usually begin with an original project that later turns out that can use a great vocal pack from a different user, automatically shelving it as a remix - despite the fact that the track, aside of the vocals, has completely nothing in common with the original.

But on topic: opinion on remixes? Ummm... do it, please do. MLP songs and us making remixes of them are reasons most of us are here in the first place.

[Pickslide1992]

As a mainly cover artist talking, I like remixes if they add something new to the party. In other words, if they did a note-for-note remake of a song, then that's lazy.

If you mix it up a bit (Like do an alternate chord progression that makes sense harmonically) you can make it into a different song, at least an arrangement. It's like if I took a song like Loyalty, but did a thrash metal cover, I would make the guitars heavier, downtune them to Eb standard, change up the solo and vocals, and redo the drum fills. That would be a different arrangement, though technically a remix.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Personally, I'm picky with what remixes I listen to. As a rule, rushed remixes of [X song from the new MLP episode] aren't something I really see a point in. Sure, they have a place, among people who actually want to see Babs Seed dubstep.

Some remixes can be pretty good though, adding a whole new spin on an already good track etc. Some can be utter shit. Really depends on the producer and the person listening to it. And honestly, I'd LOVE to remix something, but that's not something within my skillset. Inspiration just doesn't come to me when it comes to remixing. So I'd rather see if left to someone who can actually do a remix.