Remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The only characteristic of a remix is that it appropriates and changes other materials to create something new.
Most commonly, remixes are a subset of audio mixing in music and song recordings. Songs may be remixed for a large variety of reasons:
- to adapt or revise a song for radio or nightclub play
- to create a stereo or surround sound version of a song where none was previously available
- to improve the fidelity of an older song for which the original masterhas been lost or degraded
- to alter a song to suit a specific music genre or radio format
- to use some of the original song's materials in a new context, allowing the original song to reach a different audience
- to alter a song for artistic purposes
- to provide additional versions of a song for use as B-side, for example, in times when a CD single might carry a total of 4 tracks
- to create a connection between a smaller artist and a more successful one, as was the case with Fatboy Slim's remix of "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop
- to improve the first or demo mix of the song, generally to ensure a professional product.
- to improve a song from its original state
Remixes should not be confused with edits, which usually involve shortening a final stereo master for marketing or broadcasting purposes. Another distinction should be made between a remix, which recombines audio pieces from a recording to create an altered version of a song, and a cover: a re-recording of someone else's song.
While audio mixing is one of the most popular and recognized forms of remixing, this is not the only media form which is remixed in numerous examples. Literature, film, technology, and social systems can all be argued as a form of remix.[1]
Roots of the remixing of sounds
Since the beginnings of
Modern remixing had its roots in the dance hall culture of late-1960s/early-1970s
From the mid-1970s, DJs in early discothèques were performing similar tricks with
Contemporaneously to disco in the mid-1970s, the dub and disco
History
Early pop remixes were fairly simple; in the 1980s, "extended mixes" of songs were released to clubs and commercial outlets on vinyl
Art of Noise took the remix styles to an extreme—creating music entirely of samples. They were among the first popular groups to truly harness the potential that had been unleashed by the synthesizer-based compositions of electronic musicians such as Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Giorgio Moroder, and Jean-Michel Jarre. Contemporaneous to Art of Noise was the seminal body of work by Yello (composed, arranged and mixed by Boris Blank). Primarily because they featured sampled and synthesized sounds, Yello and Art of Noise would produce a great deal of influential work for the next phase. Others such as Cabaret Voltaire and the aforementioned Jarre (whose Zoolook was an epic usage of sampling and sequencing) were equally influential in this era.
After the
In the 1990s, with the rise of powerful home computers with audio capabilities came the
Remixing has become prevalent in heavily synthesized electronic and experimental music circles. Many of the people who create cutting-edge music in such genres as
Some industrial groups allow, and often encourage, their fans to remix their music, notably Nine Inch Nails, whose website contains a list of downloadable songs that can be remixed using Apple's GarageBand software. Some artists have started releasing their songs in the U-MYX format, which allows buyers to mix songs and share them on the U-MYX website.
Some radio stations, such as the UK's "Frisk Radio". {{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires |magazine=
(help) make extensive use of Remixes in their formats to create a hotter, more up-beat sound than their market rivals.
In popular music
Recent technology allows for easier remixing, leading to a rise in its use in the music industry.[10] It can be done legally, but there have been numerous disputes over rights to samples used in remixed songs. Many famous artists have been involved in remix disputes. In 2015, Jay-Z went to trial over a dispute about his use of a sample from "Khosara Khosara", a composition by Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdy in his song "Big Pimpin'". Osama Fahmy, a nephew of Hamdy, argued that while Jay-Z had the "economic rights" to use the song, he did not have the "moral rights".[11]
In 1988, Sinéad O'Connor's art-rock song "I Want Your (Hands On Me)" was remixed to emphasize the urban appeal of the composition (the original contains a tight, grinding bassline and a rhythm guitar not entirely unlike Chic's work). In 1989, the Cure's "Pictures of You" was remixed turning "the music on its head, twisted the beat completely, but at the same time left the essential heart of the song intact."[12]
Remixes have become the norm in contemporary dance music, giving one song the ability to appeal across many different musical genres or dance venues. Such remixes often include "featured" artists, adding new vocalists or musicians to the original mix. The remix is also widely used in hip hop and rap music. An R&B remix usually has the same music as the original song but has added or altered verses that are rapped or sung by the featured artists. It usually contains some if not all of the original verses of the song however they may be arranged in a different order than they originally were.
In the early 1990s, Mariah Carey became one of the first mainstream artists who re-recorded vocals for a dancefloor version, and by 1993 most of her major dance and urban-targeted versions had been re-sung, e.g. "Dreamlover". Some artists would contribute new or additional vocals for the different versions of their songs. These versions were not technically remixes, as entirely new productions of the material were undertaken (the songs were "re-cut", usually from the ground up). Carey worked with producer Puff Daddy to create the official Bad Boy remix of "Fantasy".[13] The Bad Boy remix features background vocals by Puff Daddy and rapping by Ol' Dirty Bastard, the latter being of concern to Columbia who feared the sudden change in style would affect sales negatively.[14] Some of the song's R&B elements were removed for the remix, while the bassline and "Genius of Love" sample were emphasized and the bridge from the original version was used as the chorus.[13] There is a version omitting Ol' Dirty Bastard's verses.[13] The "Bad Boy Fantasy Remix", combines the chorus from the original version and the chorus of the Bad Boy Remix together, removing Ol' Dirty Bastard's vocals from his second verse.[13] Carey re-recorded vocals for club remixes of the song by David Morales, titled "Daydream Interlude (Fantasy Sweet Dub Mix)".[15]
The Bad Boy remix garnered positive reviews from music critics. "Fantasy" exemplified how a music sample could be transformed "into a fully realized pop masterpiece".
Released on July 12, 1999, "
The main single of
Another well-known example is
In 2015, EDM artist Deadmau5, who worked with Jay-Z's Roc Nation, tried to sue his former manager for remixing his songs without permission, claiming that he gave his manager the go-ahead to use his work for some remixes, but not others. Deadmau5 wanted reimbursement for the remixes his manager made after they had severed ties, because he claimed it was his "moral right" to turn these future remixing opportunities away if he had wanted to. The two parties reached an agreement in 2016 that kept Play Records from making any new remixes.[28][29]
50 Cent tried to sue rapper Rick Ross in October 2018 for remixing his "In da Club" beat, due to their publicized feud. However, a judge threw out the lawsuit claiming that 50 Cent did not have copyright on the beat, but rather it belonged to Shady/Aftermath Records.[30]
Many hip-hop remixes arose either from the need for a pop/R&B singer to add more of an urban, rap edge to one of their slower songs, or from a rapper's desire to gain more pop appeal by collaborating with an R&B singer. Remixes can boost popularity of the original versions of songs.
Thanks to a combination of guest raps, re-sung or altered lyrics and alternative backing tracks, some hip-hop remixes can end up being almost entirely different songs from the originals. An example is the remix of "Ain't It Funny" by Jennifer Lopez, which has little in common with the original recording apart from the title.
Slow
Broader context
A remix may also refer to a non-linear re-interpretation of a given work or media other than audio such as a hybridizing process combining fragments of various works. The process of combining and re-contextualizing will often produce unique results independent of the intentions and vision of the original designer/artist. Thus the concept of a remix can be applied to visual or video arts, and even things farther afield. Mark Z. Danielewski's disjointed novel House of Leaves has been compared by some to the remix concept.
In literature
A remix in literature is an alternative version of a text.
"The Soft Machine" (1961) is a famous example of an early novel by Burroughs based on the cut-up technique. Remixing of literature and language is also apparent in Pixel Juice (2000) by Jeff Noon who later explained using different methods for this process with Cobralingus (2001).
In art
This section possibly contains original research. (April 2015) |
A remix in art often takes multiple perspectives upon the same theme. An artist takes an original work of art and adds their own take on the piece creating something completely different while still leaving traces of the original work. It is essentially a reworked abstraction of the original work while still holding remnants of the original piece while still letting the true meanings of the original piece shine through. Famous examples include The Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol (modifies colors and styles of one image), and The Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso, (merges various angles of perspective into one view). Some of Picasso's other famous paintings also incorporate parts of his life, such as his love affairs, into his paintings. For example, his painting Les Trois Danseuses, or The Three Dancers, is about a love triangle.
Other types of remixes in art are parodies. A parody in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or make fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation. They can be found all throughout art and culture from literature to animation. Famous song parody artists include "Weird Al" Yankovic and Allan Sherman. Several current television shows are filled with parodies, such as South Park, Family Guy, and The Simpsons.
The internet has allowed for art to be remixed quite easily, as evidenced by sites like memgenerator.net (provides pictorial template upon which any words may be written by various anonymous users), and Dan Walsh's Garfieldminusgarfield.net[32](removes the main character from various original strips by Garfield creator Jim Davis).
"A feminist remix is a creative resistance and cultural production that talks back to patriarchy by reworking patriarchal hierarchical systems privileging men.[33] Examples include Barbara Kruger's You are not yourself (1982), We are not what we seem (1988), and Your body is a battleground (1989) Barbara Kruger, Orlan's (1994) Self-Hybridizations Orlan, Evelin Stermitz's remix, Women at War (2010), and Distaff [Ain't I Redux] (2008) by artist Sian Amoy.
In media and consumer products
In recent years the concept of the remix has been applied analogously to other
In 1995, Sega released Virtua Fighter Remix (バーチャファイター リミックス/Bāchafaitā rimikkusu) as an update to, just months after the Virtua Fighter release on the Sega Saturn.
Virtua Fighter had been released on the Saturn in a less-than-impressive state. Sega had attempted to make an accurate port of the Sega Model 1 arcade version, and therefore chose to use untextured models and the soundtrack from the arcade machine. However, as the Saturn was incapable of rendering as many polygons on screen as Model 1 hardware, characters looked noticeably worse. Many claim it to be even worse than the Sega 32X version, thanks to the added CD loading time.
Virtua Fighter Remix was created to address many of these flaws. Models have a slightly higher polygon count (though still less than the Model 1 version); they are also texture-mapped, leading to a much more modern-looking game that could effectively compete with the PlayStation. The game also allows players to use the original flat-shaded models.
In the west, a CG Portrait Collection Disc was also included in the Saturn bundle. North American owners would get Virtua Fighter Remix for free if they registered their Saturns, while Japanese customers would later receive a SegaNet compatible version. Sega would also bring Virtua Fighter Remix to Sega Titan Video arcade hardware.[34]
Copyright implications
Because remixes may borrow heavily from an existing piece of music (possibly more than one), the issue of intellectual property becomes a concern. The most important question is whether a remixer is free to redistribute his or her work, or whether the remix falls under the category of a derivative work according to, for example, United States copyright law. Of note are open questions concerning the legality of visual works, like the art form of collage, which can be plagued with licensing issues.
There are two obvious extremes with regard to derivative works. If the song is substantively dissimilar in form (for example, it might only borrow a motif which is modified, and be completely different in all other respects), then it may not necessarily be a derivative work (depending on how heavily modified the melody and chord progressions were). On the other hand, if the remixer only changes a few things (for example, the instrument and tempo), then it is clearly a derivative work and subject to the copyrights of the original work's copyright holder.
The Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that allows the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools and explicitly aims for enabling a Remix culture.[35] They created a website that allows artists to share their work with other users, giving them the ability to share, use, or build upon their work, under the Creative Commons license. The artist can limit the copyright to specific users for specific purposes, while protecting the users and the artist.[36]
The exclusive rights of the copyright owner over acts such as reproduction/copying, communication, adaptation and performance – unless licensed openly – by their very nature reduce the ability to negotiate copyright material without permission.[37] Remixes will inevitably encounter legal problems when the whole or a substantial part of the original material has been reproduced, copied, communicated, adapted or performed – unless a permission has been given in advance through a voluntary open content license like a Creative Commons license, there is fair dealing involved (the scope of which is extraordinarily narrow), a statutory license exists, or permission has been sought and obtained from the copyright owner. Generally, the courts consider what will amount to a substantial part by reference to its quality, as opposed to quantity and the importance the part taken bears in relation to the work as whole.[38]
There are proposed theories of reform regarding the copyright law and remixes. Nicolas Suzor believes that copyright law should be reformed in such a manner as to allow certain reuses of copyright material without the permission of the copyright owner where those derivatives are highly transformative and do not impact upon the primary market of the copyright owner. There certainly appears to be a strong argument that non commercial derivatives, which do not compete with the market for the original material, should be afforded some defense to copyright actions.[39]
The
In 2012, Canada's Copyright Modernization Act explicitly added a new exemption which allows non-commercial remixing.[44]
In 2013, the US court ruling
In June 2015, a
See also
References
- ^ Everything is a Remix http://www.everythingisaremix.info/
- ^ Herrington, Tony (15 July 2019). ""This is a journey into sound…" The sample that made hip hop history". 909Originals.
- ^ Lynskey (14 October 2004). "Dorian". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2004.
- ISBN 978-0-313-33902-8. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 21, 2013. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 21, 2013. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Baker, Riley (August 16, 2018). "Madonna's career in 10 records as Queen of Pop turns 60". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
- ^ O'Brien, Jon (November 2, 2022). "How Madonna popularised the remix album". Reader's Digest. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ Mark Ronson, How sampling transformed music, archived from the original on 2021-11-07, retrieved 2020-02-12
- ^ ""Big Pimpin' " Trial: Jay Z Song Stirs International Copyright Law Debate". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 October 2015.
- the cure.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-312-19512-0.
- ISBN 978-1-55022-444-3.
- ^ Nickson 1998, p. 149.
- ^ "Best Singles of the 1990s | Music". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ a b c Frere-Jones, Sasha (2006-04-03). "Mariah Carey's record-breaking career". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
- ^ "Celebrities Praise Mariah Carey: Part 1". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ a b "Suite903: R&B, Rejected and Betrayed". Thefader.com. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
- ^ "Grimes Favorites". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
- ^ "Mariah Carey Casts "Rainbow" For Next LP; Taps Missy, Da Brat For Remix". MTV News. MTV. 1999-08-13. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
- Tribune Company. Archived from the originalon 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
- Viacom). Retrieved 2011-01-10.
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (2002-07-02). "This Product Contains Previously Released Material". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
- ^ Billboard Dance Club Play Songs (4 September 1999) Billboard.com. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ^ Boucher, Geoff (January 4, 2001). "Grammys Cast a Wider Net Than Usual". Los Angeles Times. p. 13. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
- ^ "The Confessions of R. Kelly". 20 January 2016.
- ^ "Deadmau5 Sues Over Remixes and Mashups". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 October 2015.
- ^ "Deadmau5 Reaches Settlement with Play Records over Unauthorized Remixes". exclaim.ca.
- ^ October 04, Robert Storace; PM, 2018 at 06:20. "Federal Judge Tosses Rapper 50 Cent's 'In Da Club' Remix Suit, Appeal Expected". Connecticut Law Tribune.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - USA. I felt I had been working toward the same goal; thus it was a major revelation to me when I actually saw it being done." Cf. Knickerbocker, Conrad, Williams S. Burroughs, 'The Paris Review Interview with William S. Burroughs' in A Williams Burroughs Reader, ed. John Calder (London: Picador, 1982), p. 263.
- ^ "garfield minus garfield". garfieldminusgarfield.net.
- ^ Keifer-Boyd, Karen; Liao, Christen (2018). Feminism. In Keywords in Remix Studies. New York:NY: Routledge. pp. 147–157.
- ^ "Virtua Fighter Remix". Sega Retro. 29 October 2021.
- ^ Penguin Press.
- ^ "What we do".
- ^ "Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 31": 85–88.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ Mashups, Remix, and Copyright Law
- ^ Nicolas Suzor (2006). "Transformative Use of Copyright Material". LLM Thesis. Queensland University of Technology.
- ^ "Mashups, Remix, and Copyright Law" (PDF).
- wired.com
- Bloomsbury Academic(2008, archived)
- ^ "Fair Use". U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. Copyright Office. Archived from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- WIPO. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
Canada is one of a few countries, if not the only one, to have introduced into its copyright law a new exception for non-commercial user-generated content. Article 29 of Canada's Copyright Modernization Act (2012) states that there is no infringement if: (i) the use is done solely for non-commercial purpose; (ii) the original source is mentioned; (iii) the individual has reasonable ground to believe that he or she is not infringing copyright; and (iv) the remix does not have a "substantial adverse effect" on the exploitation of the existing work.
- ^ WIPO. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
in 2013 a district court ruled that copyright owners do not have the right to simply take down content before undertaking a legal analysis to determine whether the remixed work could fall under fair use, a concept in US copyright law which permits limited use of copyrighted material without the need to obtain the right holder's permission (US District Court, Stephanie Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., Universal Music Publishing Inc., and Universal Music Publishing Group, Case No. 5:07-cv-03783-JF, January 24, 2013).[...] Given the emergence of today's "remix" culture, and the legal uncertainty surrounding remixes and mash-ups, the time would appear to be ripe for policy makers to take a new look at copyright law.
External links
- The dictionary definition of remix at Wiktionary