R-R-R-Reeeemiiiix!

(make sure you're done Drop the Beat before you do this extra credit so that I'm sure you know how to use Mixcraft!)

You know what a remix is, right? It's when people take a song and make it sound different by adding different instruments, changing the tempo, and maybe even messing with the key of the song! They occur when a band gives what are called "stems" to a producer. These stems are actually all the different parts of the song split into different tracks: the drums, the guitar, etc. Then, the producer takes them and rearranges them or sets them to different music altogether.

We're going to use Mixcraft in order to remix a song of our own! The song in question is called 1901 by indie darling Phoenix. You can listen to the original song at this link, just to get acquainted with the song you're going to be modifying.

After you've listened to it a few times and become familiar with it, you can check out the stems for the song at this link. These are all the individual parts of the song: bass guitar, drum machine, shakers, drums, keyboard, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, two sets of synths, a siren noise, and two different cuts for the vocals. You are to take these pieces and construct them into something new using the loops and samples in Mixcraft. Place them in Mixcraft by downloading them, dragging them into your folder, and then dragging them into new Audio Tracks within Mixcraft.

This assignment is worth a possible 30 points, and there is no rubric for the project. In the end, all extra credit points will be judged by the ears of Mr. Alexander and may be subjective. Try to make things interesting and varied as you work and don't just fall into using the same sounds over and over again.  Again: think about the same things you did when working on Drop The Beat--use a small amount of instruments in a lot of cool ways!

Some useful pieces of information: This song's natural BPM is 144, and it is in the key of C. Here is where you can find a link to Mr Alexander's example in .mx7 format, and here's the same file in .mp3. To add a sound file to a project (like the element you've downloaded), click on "Sound" at the top, then "Add Sound File..."

If you're loading my .mx7 file, you may need to direct it toward your versions of the Voice.mp3 and Synth.mp3 that you've downloaded. I do encourage you to take a look at my .mx7 file to get a feel for how I've de/reconstructed the elements of the song.

Here's my one, biggest piece of advice to you: Go wild. I only used the voice from the original song (and a tiny bit of the synths at the end), and I changed literally everything else. Incorporate as few elements from the original song as you can while still keeping it somewhat recognizable! Most remixes go wild on the source material, and yours should, too! You should probably keep the original BPM of 144 to make sure the song sounds "of a piece" with your new instruments, but get silly beyond that!

Can I do this extra credit from home?: NO WAY, DUDE (unfortunately, Mixcraft is fairly expensive.)