HOW to RE-MIX?

[Narroo]

I just listened to some neat Re-Mixes, so I'm trying my hand. 5 hours later...

How the HECK do I do this???? ARRRRRRRGH!

I wish someone would post an actual guide on how to Re-Mix, not just the programs for it.

Can someone help me.

If it helps, I downloaded REAPER, with a few plug-ins, including Synth1 (Which I have no Idea on how to use). Also, I have Anvil Studio, might be an old version though.

Help for a newbie.

[Fishy]

Posting a guide on how to remix would essential be how to make music, which is an horrendous question considering there are a million different ways to approach music, entirely dependant on what kind of music you want to make. Better questions to be asking:

1. I like X Remix, what sort of approach would best be used to learn to make this kind of music?

2. I'm having X problem, what can I do to improve in this area or what kind of work-arounds are there?

3. Where can I find good tutorials for X program?

Also, this forum is only for guides that you've written, not for asking unspecific questions or requesting an unspecific guide. If you've only spent 5 hours in reaper then you really haven't done any research whatsoever into general music-making, there are thousands of tutorials on the internet that you could be reading now.

[Rozovian]

How the HECK do I do this???? ARRRRRRRGH!

I think this calls for a guide on the basic principles behind remixing, or ReMixing. Or some sort of survey where remixers share their methods and views on how to go from hearing a Mario theme to making Angry Jumpin' Plummer or The Italian Hero.

Not having gotten a ReMix approved, I'm not gonna start telling ppl how to do it. That's what the WIP forums are for. ReMixers, if you wouldn't mind...

[Narroo]

Well, I haven't figured out how to make music in REAPER, if thats even possible. Can you make sounds in REAPER, or can you only edit previous tracks or songs you put in? Thats my first issue.

[AMT]

REAPER is great for recording audio like guitar and vocals, but it can be used as a sequencer too, which sounds like what you want. Insert a new track by going to "Track > Insert New Track", and click the FX button on the new track in your mixer. This will bring up a window where you can add effects to the track. Go to "Instruments" on the left, and put an instrument in (Like Synth1 or ReaSynth). It should show up on the left of the window in your FX chain. Go ahead and close this for now. Now go to "Insert > New MIDI Item" and a box should show up called "untitled MIDI event". Drag this so that it's in the track with the ReaSynth or Synth1, it might have made a new track when you inserted it. Double click the MIDI event to bring up the MIDI editor. This is where you can actually write music. Click on the piano keys to hear what note your mouse is over (Or look at the note name in the bottom right corner). You can double-click to place a note. Click and drag to move the note around, or drag near the edge of it to stretch it out. The "Velocity" on the bottom is essentially how hard the note is being hit. The play / pause / stop thing on the bottom should be pretty obvious. On the right side of the midi editor, inside the window where you place notes, there should be a large vertical bar that you can drag left and right. This bar sets where the end of your pattern is; if you drag a midi item in the main window (Where the tracks are, not the editor), you can extend it so it loops. This bar sets where it will start to loop. Keep it lined up with the numbers on the top for the most part (These show what measure you're on, that'll keep timing in sync). I'll polish this up and put it in the next segment of my REAPER tutorial, so post any more questions you'd like to have answered!

[Rozovian]

Looks to me like it can do most of what most programs can do... Tho I couldn't find that much on sequencing. Reaper seems to be a recording and mixing app, not a sequencer, despite some sequencer features.

Have a look at the documentation, it usually helps. Someone that knows Reaper should be able to actually answer and not just point you in the right direction. Search the manual until you know whether or not you sequence using this...

...unless you plan on recording everything from audio.

edit: never mind.

[Narroo]

Thanks DeathbySpoon! Do can you get a Staff on the sequencer? Or select instruments. I want to try putting in percusion. Oh, and how do you put MP3/MIDI songs in REAPER?

Thanks!

[Skrypnyk]

I know I'm a little late on this:

Step 1) Find the midi of the song you want remixed

Step 2) Import it to FLStudio and replace all the instruments with sytrus presets

Step 3) Take 2 or more default drumloops and have them loop through-out the entire song.

Step 4) Render.

I guess you could replace FLStudio for Reaper, or just look on your favourite torrent site.

[Narroo]

Well, I used "Insert Media File" to get an MIDI in, but it seems I need a plug-In to edit it...Most of those hours were figuring out how to get the plug-ins in...So I'm only getting to experiment with it now.

[AMT]

Thanks DeathbySpoon! Do can you get a Staff on the sequencer? Or select instruments. I want to try putting in percusion. Oh, and how do you put MP3/MIDI songs in REAPER?

Thanks!

Not sure on getting a staff. For selecting instruments, look in my guide on the guides and tutorials section to get the sfz plugin. Then you can get soundfonts from soundfonts.darkesword.com or Hammersound or the likes. One note; sfz doesn't like being loaded multiple times (It makes this hideous crackling noise), so you might want to use FontSF2! instead. Google it, shouldn't be hard to find. You can get all sorts of different instruments from soundfonts. Tgsfx or something on Darkesword's page is a great starting place. To import midis / mp3s, go to "Insert > Media Item". Careful with midis, it's gonna split them up across all of your tracks and it can get messy pretty quick.

[Narroo]

Didn't see anything in the guides about instrument selecting, but I did get some new sounds! On the effects plug-in I used Synth1 V1.07, selected something, then put the MIDI option. That was why I couldn't figure it out. So I'm play with drums for practice. But I gotta learn what all those knobs mean.

Also, DeathBySpoon, I did read your getting started with REAPER post, and I really liked it! But you didn't explain how to install the plug-ins, for the less tech-savy. Still can't figure out what I do with nskit7.

Though you are an awesome help! If you have any other guides can tell me where they are, I didn't see any others on the Tutorial page.

Thanks!

[Harmony]

sfz doesn't like being loaded multiple times (It makes this hideous crackling noise)

That's odd. Might be a problem specific to your setup, or possibly reaper. Does that happen with two instances of sfz with any (even small) soundfonts loaded?

[AMT]

That's odd. Might be a problem specific to your setup, or possibly reaper. Does that happen with two instances of sfz with any (even small) soundfonts loaded?

I'll have to play around with it and see, off the top of my head I want to say any, but I'm not positive.

Sorry, I should have clarified how to install the plugins.

VST Plugins:

-Make a folder somewhere where you're going to keep these. A lot of plugins default to C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins, but you can put it where ever you like.

-Put the dll files for the plugins to install in this folder. If the plugin uses an installer, install it into this directory.

-Open up REAPER. Go to "Options > Preferences > VST". Click the Add button on the top, and find the directory you made with the plugins in it.

-Press Rescan Directory. Now all of your plugins should show up in the FX browser.

NSKit7 is a soundfont. You need to use a plugin to load the soundfont, then it will work like an instrument. sfz works for doing this, as does FontSF2!. sfz is in my guide, I'll add a link to FontSF2! in just a bit.

[Narroo]

Ummm, once you put the .sfz in, how do you work it and use NSKit7?

Is it in the FX menu? It didn't see it.

[AMT]

Click the "File" box and select the .sf2 for NSKit. Then it'll work as a midi instrument.

[Narroo]

The File box on the main screen? I'm not sure I installed .sfz or .sf2 correctly then.

[AMT]

The File box in the sfz plugin. When you add it to your FX chain, you should see a gray box with the title "sfz". There's a box called "File" in there. That's the one you're looking for.

[Narroo]

I think I did it this time. I should be hearing a drum, right?

[Harmony]

Yes, NS7 is a drumkit. Congrats on producing your first sounds!

So DeathBySpoon, is that next reaper tutorial coming anytime soon or will this thread count as "part 2: soundfonts and sfz"

[AMT]

Ha, I'll write it later today or tomorrow, but I'll include everything I've said in this thread too, since it wound up being useful. I'll go into how to use the FX chain, ReaEQ, and recording audio, on top of what's in here.

[Yoozer]

Figure out how to just make music first, and during that process, find out how the program works. Not by posting questions every time you bump into a (minor) issue, but by just stubbornly trying to read the manual, search the Google, and experiment. Or get someone to hold your hand using remote desktop and instant messenger while using the program.

If you can't do it with Reaper, get something else for which they have a baby steps tutorial. When you're not entrenched in working with something for a year or more it doesn't hurt to switch around a bit, and eventually all is based on the same principles anyway.

[Narroo]

Thanks DeathBySpoon!

[shorelinetrance]

lol i'm at the same place you are.

i can play minimal piano, and compose my own electronic music.

but i just don't know how to remix.

[Yoozer]

Take the lead melody and play it but use a wildly different rhythm. Change the tempo if necessary.

Take the lead melody and study the chords. Find substitutions for those chords.

Take the style of the song (for instance, hiphop) and change it to something else (for instance, trance).

[Nicholestien]

I've never really got into the subject of music untill I visited this site and listened to the music on this site. 4 years ago about, i pretty much was inspired to get into music from listening to this music, lol, my fm page has nothing but oc remixers on it. And I've been trying to do it for 4 years now and made alot of stuff, but I still havn't had the nerve to submit any of it. I know it sucks, the point is, your not going to get a remix on this site unless your willing to get to know music a bit more in depth, The bigger picture of this entire thing is just started to hit me right now.