A couple of questions

[Gator]

Introduction : Hi. I'm new. I've decided to take a step up with things, and my interest are the arts. (Literature, Drawing/things related to that, and hopefully one day, musically.)

Where to begin.... I've been dealing with FL Studio ( for a few months now. I'm mostly good with 'remastering' as opposed to remixing. Though I haven't really thought of going all out/'pro', I don't have many skills and tend to cheat by extracting midis from roms since I can't compose/don't really have any means that aren't "costly". (A middle low class family, woo.) I originally started off using the ...well 'the ultimate genesis soundfont', I liked to feel some nostalgia. Also made Pokemon somewhat weird/interesting/nice.

I've read a few things on it, but I'd like to get a better understanding/some specifics on that. Well, that, and I've only really looked at the standard submission form. (Which I know cheating won't pass it, as there's "1. Your submission must be your own, original arrangement.")

I've got a few questions : 1 - what exactly counts as remixing? I'm wondering because I managed to screw around with "Ice Mountain Act 2" from Sonic Advance. (Not complete, and not a remix.) I don't think there's any hope with tinkering with something like a midi, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

2 - Does 'remastering' have any meaning? I'm just a tad bit curious on that. (I'm questioning what remastering is, and am not sure what I'm doing.)

Also wondering if it's "pointless'. (I mostly do this for personal enjoyment/for a friend, also for various projects of sorts.)

Here's a few samples - link, sample 2, sample 3, sample 4.

Though, most of the things on eSnips I have is pretty outdated/from when I was very inexperienced. I'm too lazy to upload some newer/fresher/'better' songs.

3 - Any advice on remixing/to dive into the remixing world? I know there's a FAQ about it, but I'm not prepared/ready for that, just wondering on early tips, just in case something happens. Maybe stuff about difficulty, I don't know.

Also expecting a few harsh things here 'n there. Oh well. If you've gotten to this sentence, thanks for reading/skimming. Chances are, I'll be lurking around these parts.

[Rozovian]

1. Remixing. There's three kinds of remixing, really. One is when you take the original audio and mix it again, thatis, set levels, eq, effects, etc.. Another is when you adapt, say, a 7-minute trance song for radio play, also using the same instruments. A third is when you write a whole new arrangement, often quite different from the original. Sometimes this means using a lot of audio from the original, sometimes none. What we do on this site we call ReMixing, to make it different enough from remixes. What it really is about is new arrangements.

ReMixing either requires you to record audio or work with midi (or something similar). You gotta make your own arrangement, with your own sound. Sounds difficult? Not really. See below.

2. Remastering. Everybody keeps using the word mastering wrong. Mastering is when you process one or several songs to make them sound good together, like for an album so the songs are the right volume and don't have too different sound. Remastering is something I've only seen with older albums that have been "digitally remastered", thatis, mastered again, with more modern tools. mastering/remastering is _not_ something ppl do a lot, even if they say they do. What they do when they say that is just applying some final effects on the "master" channel. The name confuses them.

Also, remastering is _not_ taking a midi and replacing the instruments.

3. Pick a piece of music, change it. If you're gonna remix as we do here, you should learn both how to make it sound good, and how to write it well; production and arrangement. Production is all the effects, all the sounds, the mixing, the levels. Arrangement is all the notes and instrument choices.

A good place to start is to either write original music (which will sound terrible at first) or to load midis and change the instruments. Originals will teach you arrangement, midi rips will teach you production. When you know one well enough, you can delve into working on the other.

Okay so, it's something that can take years to learn to do well enough to get posted on ocr, but it's a lot of fun once you know the basics and when you don't take it too seriously. I would suggest you read everything even if you don't understand it - when you need it it'll be a lot easier to learn then. Also, experiment with stuff. Being familiar with things makes them easier to learn when you read about them.

Put a song on our feedback boards, let ppl tell you what you're doing wrong. Understand why they're saying you're doing it wrong. Fix it/do it differently next time. If you don't agree wit them, try to understand why they'r saying it.

Also, if you have FL you've got everything you need. You've got instruments and effects, a tool to write with, and a tool to mix with. Aside from the know-how, that's all you really need. More instruments/effects can help, as do good speakers/headphones and a midi keyboard/controller, but you can make decent music with just what's in the box. And there's free stuff on the ent that you can supplement it with when you know what your tools can and can't do.

That should get you started. Welcome to ocr.

[Gator]

Thanks for the great info!

Though I'm wondering what exactly am I doing (a term?), it's mostly replacing, minor editing, etc. Does it count for anything? It fits in midi rips/producing (or is?), so I need to learn arrangement.

I'll take your advice and start reading stuff. Again, many thanks!

[Rozovian]

We'd call it sound replacement, remake, cover, midi rip, sound swap, stuff like that. What you learn from doing it is production, tho there's more to productiopn than just that. Production is selecting the right sounds, tweaking them to fit, making sure every track is the right volume and in the right space, and making sure the whole song sounds good, technically.

So if you know how to do that stuff well, you should do some originals, learn to put the notes together yourself, make your own rhythms, your own melodies, your own chord progressions, your own music. It's making sure your song sounds good musically.

When you possess both these skills, not just a passing familiarity with them, you're in business.