MashupCiti

Really cool guide for the visually and musically inclined from the website Harmonic Mixing.

One of the more popular questions we get here at MashupCiti, other than requests to mash two songs for a wedding, is this, “What do I need to make a mashup?” Well quit simply you need an idea. Like all of us, we hear one song and may make a connection with another. Probably due to the constant sampling or the very popular (for now) re-envisioning of 80′s and 90′s tracks. Did I imagine Flo-Rida re-purposing a Dead or Alive track. So let’s say you have an idea, song A and song B. The next step is to start working that into reality.

We have several mashup tutorials here, each using different software suites. Some free, some you have to pay for. Each are excellent in their own right and each really will cater to your music style. So to get you started, here are a few tutorials;

• How to make a mashup by imranarif
• DJ Flashard Multitrack Recorder review (for the iPad!)
• Removing vocals from MP3s
• Ableton live mashup

So there you go. This should get you started and on your way to creating some sweet mashups! Once you get done, be sure to share them in mashup communities like GYBO, Mashuptown, Global DJ Network or Sound Unsound. Once you’re ready, send them here to MashupCiti and we may post them!

Here is a pretty cool video that should give your lots of ideas, inspiration, and knowledge on how to make your very own mashup song! This video uses some pretty sweet tools and services;

[checklist]

• To download Instrumentals/Acapellas
  http://www.jamglue.com
• To download Virtual DJ Decks
  http://djdecks.be/
• To Download Adobe Audition
  http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/
• To Download Power Audio Converter
  http://www.mp3-audio-recorder.com/audioconverter/

[/checklist]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZFOnZQ8m-Y

Received an iPad 2 for a rather special birthday (lucky me!), and wanted to use it for mashing tracks on the move – like whilst being on holiday, on the train, long car journeys, etc. On initial views, there didn’t seem to be an App out there by one of the normal software houses that you would associate with mashing (ie. Sony, Ableton, etc.), so had to look a little further. Eventually, I stubbled on an App called Meteor Multitrack Recorder by 4Pockets.com which seemed to advertise capabilities that I was looking for. At £12, it wasn’t cheap for an App, but eventually decided to take the plunge and separate with my hard earned cash.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vocfH79ID38

For my initial trial, I decided to try a simple A+B mash from two tracks that were relatively similar – the BPM were quite close and I still had to run them through Mixed In Key on my PC to ensure the keys were compatible. On uploading the sources to the iPad, importing them into the App was pretty easy. The mental went first to set the pace, then the pella. This needed time stretching a little as it was too fast to start with, but the App has a tool which helps with this, and the metronome helped too. After a little trial and error, the timing on each track matched, so it was just a matter of matching up the chorus and verse, cutting and pasting some of the vocals to make the mash sound more interesting, and adding a little reverb here and there to help blend Annie’s vocals into the backing track.

OHAI Meteor Multitrack Recorder!

The tool lets you save your work into Wav format, so I then copied the pre-production mash back to my PC to finalize it and convert to mp3. The App itself is very good, but takes some getting used to the touchscreen controls.

The worst part is the lack of accuracy your finger gives you (compared with the pointer of a mouse). I kind of got round this by investing in a stylus which has improved things a little. Overall, well worth the £12 investment, and I hope 4Pockets keep developing the App from feedback from users. I’m off to find some more sources that I can mash together. Will post how [once] I get on to Mashupciti and my blog.

Cheers.

You can find more from DJ Flashard;

Here is a pretty video tutorial on how to rip vocals from an instrumental using Audacity by jimmyrcom.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqXiKYG3J7M

Sue Teller keeps it real and gives you a great introduction on how to make a mashup!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4uyN5rQbbU

Okay, here is something super fantastic! From Fred Dancekowski comes this great tutorial on how to make your very own mashup! Blending two or more songs together to create something completely new! Once done, SEND THEM TO US! We’d love to hear what you have created!