Techno Remix Reality

First of all, let’s try to understand what a techno remix really is.  The essentials of a techno remix are basically taking a pre-existing song or media clip, something that can be edited with editing software, and remixing, re-cutting, or mashing up the various elements that make it what it is.  A remix isn’t just a regurgitating of the original song or video, it’s actually a brand new version that has been re-imagined and assembled to capture some new element of the music or video.

There are a few different programs you can use to create amazing techno remixes.  The strictly audio-based programs are things like Fruity Loops, Audacity, or Ultramixer.  These allow you to load in a song – say you want to remix Celine Dion’s latest smash hit or some other trite garbage to make it way better—and the song is laid out in front of you in a visual way.  Usually you see blocks of sound and different rhythm sections stylized as individual tracks.

You can then isolate the good parts of the song or the silly lyrics and repeat them to create a new baseline beat.  Throw in some riffs and base drum hits to keep the tempo pumping, of course.  The goal is to find a brand new song hiding inside the original one.  Perhaps you’re going for humor or maybe you just want to make a song more badass for the club.

It’s like sculpture.  Michelangelo, the famous Renaissance artist responsible for the Statue of David once talked of sculpting like uncovering the hidden work of art inside the block of granite.  Rather than approach that huge stone as something to be shaped into art, he took the approach that there was already something amazing hidden inside and his job was simply to uncover it or let it out.

So see that song as a block of granite and find the hidden gems lurking inside.  Even Celine Dion’s songs can make a bang-up techno remix, thus saving them from SUCK.