INTRODUCTION
This week I will be announcing and discussing a freelance project myself and two other team members have decided to take on. The purpose of the project will be to provide a Hip Hop remix of a Reggae/Dancehall track provided by our client.
A remix can be a great way of introducing and expanding one genre of music to a different audience. Especially when the remix is well produced. The team is enthusiastic and excited to start working and blending both genres together. This could provide our client with the possibility of expanding his audience.
TEAM PROGRESS & A LIST OF JOBS TO DO
The idea of working on a remix for our client/producer Belly Full was decided last week during a discussion with fellow students and team members for the project. We were all familiar and impressed with our clients work before making this proposal. The next day we got in contact with Belly Full to share our idea about remixing one of his tracks. He was excited and agreeable to the idea. In fact he has provided us with many tracks to choose from and will provide the stems for the song we choose to remix. The task for the team this week is to collect a bunch of ideas and decide which track to remix. We have two and a half weeks to complete the remix. This project will be a team collaboration making critical decisions and utilising the facilities at SAE.
Ableton Live will be used to write/produce the remix as we have found this a great DAW for creating remixes in the past. We will be taking full advantage of midi instruments and possibly using the EMP suite to make use and become more familiar with the fabulous outboard synths. Once we are satisfied with the production making sure we have enough elements to start the arrangement, we will bounce and import the files into a Pro Tools session. Pro Tools is great for organising, arranging, editing and mixing. When we are happy with the arrangement we will give Belly Full a listen to make sure he’s happy or has any final suggestions before we book the studio to further develop and start the mix process.
Although another alternative could be to have each team member work on their own mix separately, we feel this project will be a great opportunity for us to produce and mix as a team. It will also give us the chance to really experiment and make use of some great analogue processing equipment available at SAE. Personally I can’t wait to to try out the Fatso Stereo Compressor. I am also looking forward to the team getting into the large Audient, Neve or D-Command studio to use our creative and critical listening skills for the mixdown session.
Once Belly Full has approved the mix we will attempt to master the remix as best we can. The final handover of the remix will include a mastered and unmastered version incase our client would like to master it else where.
MY IDEAS/VIBES FOR THE REMIX
Below I have included a few Hip Hop remixes of Reggae/Dancehall tracks to inspire ideas for the project. The first example by Super Cat called Ghetto Red Hot was actually the first song that came to mind when the group began discussing remixing a Reggae/Dancehall track. It is also important to consider and compare the original tracks to the remix and make notes of the changes and similarities between the two versions.I have included the original tracks for both remix references on this blog.
Although Perfect Tree by Chronixx was produced and released years after Super Cats’ Ghetto Red Hot, both remix versions have a classic 90’s New York, Hip Hop feel about their production. Most likely because the remix version were produced in New York.
I think the 90’s Hip Hop vibe works well and will be perfect for this remix project. The third remix idea “Champion” by Buju Banton utilises a classic West Coast Hip Hop style which could also work for our remix. We will have to wait and see. To Be Continued….
ORIGINAL SUPER CAT GHETTO RED HOT (REGGAE VERSION)
SUPER CAT GHETTO RED HOT (HIP HOP REMIX)
CHRONIXX “PERFECT TREE” (REGGAE VERSION)
CHRONIXX “PERFECT TREE” (HIP HOP REMIX)
BUJU BANTON “CHAMPION” (DANCEHALL VERSION)
BUJU BANTON “CHAMPION” (WESTCOAST HIP HOP REMIX)
REFERENCES
BELLYFULL, C., BELLYFULL, B., BELLYFULL, B., BELLYFULL, B., & BELLYFULL, M. (2016). BELLYFULL. SoundCloud. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from https://soundcloud.com/bellyfull
Buju Banton – Champion (Original). (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD4SXQRaZr0
Chronixx – perfect tree – cannabis Ft Eesah (Root & Chalice) Official HD Video March 2016. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdQybP5ZDl8
Chronixx – Perfect Tree. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxO4h5ub6AY&list=RDKxO4h5ub6AY&index=1
EL7X, E. (2016). Empirical Labs Fatso EL7X –. Audiochocolate.com.au. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://www.audiochocolate.com.au/all-products/empirical-labs-fatso-el7x/
FATSO™ Jr. / Sr. Analog Tape Simulator & Compressor Plug-In | Universal Audio. (2016). Uaudio.com. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from http://www.uaudio.com/store/special-processing/fatso.html
SuperCat – Ghetto Red Hot (Hip Hop Mix). (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 1 August 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Eyh10gHSE
AUSTRAJAM PRODUCTIONS 2016
AustraJam Productions 