Remixing facts for kids

In remixing, someone takes a song you know, breaks it into different parts called tracks, and then changes the music, instruments, or singing to make a brand new version of the same song. It's called remixing because "mixing" means putting all the song parts together, and "remixing" means putting them together in a different way than the original.

People who remix are often musicians. They use many tools, mostly electronic ones, to create these new song versions. Remixing can be as simple as moving parts of a song around. It can also mean creating completely new music for an old song's lyrics. There are two main types of remixing: production remixing and mashups. Production remixing uses new music with the old singing, while mashups mix two old songs together to make a new one.

Production Remixing: Making New Music

Production remixing needs more musical knowledge than mashups. This is because you have to create your own new music. This new music usually stays in the same key (the main set of notes) and has a similar rhythm or melody as the original song.

Many electronic music artists (who make music with computers or other electronic tools) use special computer software to create new music parts, called "tracks." These music parts contain notes that are arranged using a computer program called a sequencer. The actual notes are played by instruments, often synthesizers. A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that makes sounds by changing the shape of a sound wave. A remixer can also use a drum sample kit, which is a set of sounds from real or fake drums recorded for use on a computer.

Rendering Your Remix

Once the remixer has arranged the music correctly in the sequencer, they can then "render" the audio part, or track. Rendering means the sequencer tells the musical instrument which notes to play. This is often done using computer software or a special computer language called MIDI. The instrument plays the notes, and the sequencer saves these notes into a music file on the computer.

Mashups: Mixing Two Songs Together

A mashup is a remixing style where a remixer takes two different songs and cleverly mixes them together to create one new song. Usually, they take the singing part (called the vocal) from one song and mix it with the musical parts of another song.

Instead of using a sequencer and musical instruments, a mashup remixer might use record-playing turntables. They can also use a computer with an audio sequence editor, like a program called ACID Music. They also need an audio editor, which is a computer program that lets you record sounds into a computer and cut them into smaller pieces.

Often, a small piece of the old song is "cut" in an audio editor to make a loop. A loop is a piece of music that plays over and over without any skips or pauses. This loop is usually called a sample in remixing. This sample is then looped (played repeatedly) in a sequence to create a new sound. The remixer then mixes the singing part from another song over that loop.

Sometimes, a mashup remixer will take the entire music part of one song without the singing (called an instrumental). Then, they take the singing part from another song without the music (called an acapella). They put these two parts together to create a brand new song.

Images for kids

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  According to the Guinness World Records, Madonna is the most remixed and sampled act. Her remix album You Can Dance also played a pivotal role in popularizing the remix albums format

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  Jessica Simpson's "Irresistible" (So So Def Remix) featuring Lil' Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri had an incredible impact in 2001.

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  The main single of I Turn to You by Melanie C, was released as the "Hex Hector Radio Mix", for which Hex Hector won the 2001 Grammy as Remixer of the Year.