How to remix in Ableton live

[HesitationMarksjagged]

One of the things that interest me is doing remixes of some songs from my favourite artists. But how? I'm not interest in those remix where you take a small piece of a song, loop it than take another and mix stuff with no brain. I would like to take a song and then do things like former NIne Inch Nails keyboardist Charlie Clouser did for Rob Zombie or Marilyn Manson so: taking a song, putting effects on it, creating a parallel drum track with different sounds that the one from the song so you make it bigger stronger and unique, tweaking vocals by putting effects on it without compromising the rest of the instrumental track. So not really a Remix more like a "Deconstruction Mix" keeping the vibe of the song but adding cool personal features. is it possible to do in Live and How? How can i take a song from a CD putting in a project and then separate the groove from vocals and so on?

Thanks for the tips.

[tdmusic_]

Not (usually) possible. The remixers will have been given the individual elements of the song (vocals, bass, drums etc.) as separate audio files, so they don't need to deconstruct it like that.

Sometimes songs include an acapella version you can use, or have online remix competitions, and there is also Native Instruments "Stems" format (aimed at dance music mainly), but usually you won't be able to access the separate audio files.

The best you can do is to try and process the audio and build your remix around it in such a way that you don't notice the original bits (either because you reduced them in volume with EQ or noise reduction, or because you recontextualized them). I've heard some pretty successful remixes done in this way, but it does depend on the source material and the style of the remix.

[Tagor]

just try to know the scale, speed, harmonics and listen carefully to the charateristic sound-meshup.
if the sound have orchestric elements like big drums and trumpets, the best would be to work with same
sounding elements to achieve the same atmosphere..

this recreation needs quite a bit knowledge about production and it will also need musical knowledge..

after you achieved the intro and the first 2-3 minutes, you will be so deep into it, that you can do
nearly anything you want, and then the Remix will be unique and your own ideas start to flow in and fit.

a good way to practise thos job would be to take a quite normal piece of art, like "no woman no cry"
or anything else what is simple enaugh, and you may get easy your hands on some midi...

if you choose a track you have absolutly no midi-data, abletons audio-to-midi tools comes quite handy..
start with melody or with percussion

slow it down if neccessary to get into the details the tools may not recover..

take your time, and you will make progress


if you have absulute no idea where to start to practise

try the acapella from DIE ANTWOORD http://stoneyroads.com/2012/09/die-antw ... e-to-remix
and deconstruct the melodie & beats from original

good luck!

[Stromkraft]

tweaking vocals by putting effects on it without compromising the rest of the instrumental track. So not really a Remix more like a "Deconstruction Mix" keeping the vibe of the song but adding cool personal features.

To really break apart the original into re-usable parts: Celemony Melodyne. A deconstruction mix can of course be more like a remake, but some original parts can be left.

[Tarekith]

You can do that with Live's audio to MIDI feature too.

[jestermgee]

Remixing is actually a great way to learn the software because you don't have to focus on actually creating something from scratch but it does require an "ear" for it as others have said, though you need not get too concerned about having to know much of the theory, just how to match melodies.

Having created dozens and dozens of remixes for myself and competitions (I'm currently submitting a remix of the playschool theme for Triple J radio here in Australia) if you don't have stem files you will need to be creative. Pick a song that has some simple parts that are clear to loop. You can use some EQ and filtering to tune down the parts you don't want (such as removing the bassline to leave the lead instrument in place) then loop it. If you need, slow it down and then load up a instrument and play along until you can match the melody. Track that and keep building.

There is no rule book and I have created remixes in DOS back in 1996 using just samples and fasttracker so Live is more than capable of doing it, just need to spend time experimenting.