RedSans Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Hi everyone, I just wanted to ask for advice for my ReMixers like myself. I've been wanting to try my hand at remixing some of my favorite video game songs and was hoping to get some advice for how best to get started. Things that people wish that they would have known when they first started remixing. Thank you, RedSans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnStacy Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 SO For the most part, find out what you like. Go on a soul searching adventure to find out what you like, and why. A friend of mine was active at OCR, and several other communities as a metal guitarist. More recently, he learned that while he was okay with metal, he really loved and wanted to do other things - jazz, gospel, blues, classical, etc, but felt before this point that he had to play FOR other people. Find out what kind of music you like and why you like it so you can put yourself into what you produce. If you are making something because you think other people will like it, it will be hard to put yourself into it and the result may not be something you're proud of. Once you have an idea what you want to do, really dig into what makes that thing sound the way it does. If it's rock, is it a certain guitar tone? Is it a type of drum groove? If it's classical, is it a type of orchestration, is it a type of chord voicing? Etc. Once you find out what you like, really dig into it and find out what makes it tick so you can create things in that style authentically and effectively. Create, A LOT. Start a remix, and challenge yourself to finish it regardless of whether it's good or not. If you produce a finished thing, and it's bad, you can quickly find out what is good or bad about it, then start a new one. Use what you learned, avoid some mistakes, etc. Create as much as you can. You really won't make the same mistakes over and over again, right? Experiment with new things, find out if they speak to you. An important thing to note about that last point, it's easy to get caught in this insecurity of thinking that what you produce isn't good or people won't like it, then hide it, or not finish anything. Nothing will ever get better that way. Join the community. The forums are nice, but a lot of conversation and activity happens on the discord server, link at the top of the page. This is what I have off the top of my head. RedSans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSans Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 Thank you so much for the advice. I'll keep it in mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Welcome! I wrote a guide to remixing. Link in my sig. I want to say more but phone typing sucks. RedSans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorito Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 8 hours ago, RedSans said: Hi everyone, I just wanted to ask for advice for my ReMixers like myself. I've been wanting to try my hand at remixing some of my favorite video game songs and was hoping to get some advice for how best to get started. Things that people wish that they would have known when they first started remixing. Thank you, RedSans Not sure of your musical ability, but if you are starting out from scratch, expect it to take a while before things are starting to sound good. Just create a lot of tracks, try to finish them and learn as you go along. They won’t be master pieces initially, but keep in mind that this is a learning phase and just try to enjoy it. Expecting a lot of yourself will only cause frustration and disappointment, so go easy on yourself and give yourself time. Makes things a lot more enjoyable in the long run, and the journey is a very important part of learning a new skill anyway. On a less philosophical level, what style of music do you have in mind? Any musical abilities already? Any weaknesses/skills you would love to develop? Would be good to know so we can chip in with some practical tips. RedSans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSans Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 I've played piano since I was little. The other day I finally was able to get my MIDI keyboard to work with my computer and have started playing around with that just to find my footing. I haven't really made up my mind on a style yet, I've mostly been playing around with different ideas trying to figure out what might be an easy first thing to remix. For strengths, I'd say my piano skills are pretty good, but on the computer side, I haven't really figured out how to make it sound like I had envisioned it on LMMS. Thank you, ~RedSans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ad.mixx Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 (edited) Experiment as much as you can. This was a trap i fell into early as a Remixer, where i would keep repetitive beats and chord structures throughout the entire song because i was so focused on the crafting aspect of music, and not so much the creative side. Kind of like, "this is how a song is supposed to sound" as oppossed to, "what would happen if i did this?" So yeah. Experiment experiment experiment. Oh and also, make sure you refrain from soloing sounds as much as possible. It doesnt matter how good a synth sounds by itself as long as it sounds good in the mix. Edited July 6, 2019 by ad.mixx RedSans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSans Posted July 6, 2019 Author Share Posted July 6, 2019 Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorito Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 12 hours ago, RedSans said: I've played piano since I was little. The other day I finally was able to get my MIDI keyboard to work with my computer and have started playing around with that just to find my footing. I haven't really made up my mind on a style yet, I've mostly been playing around with different ideas trying to figure out what might be an easy first thing to remix. For strengths, I'd say my piano skills are pretty good, but on the computer side, I haven't really figured out how to make it sound like I had envisioned it on LMMS. If you have good piano skills, why not try your hand at some piano only arrangements first? Or maybe a sonata? That way, it’s easier to focus on the essentials of arrangement and composition without getting all distracted by technical stuff such as plugins, MIDI, controller data, etc. If you can make something sound good and complete on piano, it should be easier to translate it into something different and more fully fleshed out than doing it the other way around. After all, being limited to 10 notes max does kinda force you to get the essentials of the piece down. RedSans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorito Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 And yes, the ever important “What would it sound like if I did this?” question that ad.mixx mentions is a great way to keep your curiosity and creativity going and keep things interesting as you go along. RedSans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSans Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 Okay! I'll try that later today! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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