Remix as Art: Bon Iver Remixed

After presenting our group remix project on Monday, I felt it was important to discuss the process of creating our remixes further, as the process influence and shaped our finished remix products.

For me, the most significant part of the process of creating the first remix was sitting down and working with the producer who helped us and experiencing first hand some of the barriers that DJs and producers face on a regular basis. Initailly, Maddalen wanted to remix a classic rock artist, like Bob Dylan or The Beatles, only to find out that, unless we had the money to pay to access the separated tracks (drums, bass, vocals, harmony, etc.), which are also known as stems, we could not do so. As a musician, I knew that a song was made up of different layers, but I had never considered the resources you would need to access them, especially with the availability of digital music online. Our solution was for me to cover the vocals of the song we chose, and from that, the producer would build up an entirely new track from scratch using only my vocals. For me, this was the epitome of what we were trying to prove with our music remix, that DJs and producers are talented and creative musicians who create music, and do not just add a "tacky drum loop" to an existing song. We worked with the producer to try to decide what we wanted to remix to sound like which he interpreted and used to create an entirely new song, which only shared the lyrics with the original.

After deciding to remix "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver, which would provide a stark contrast between the original and our remix, as it featured female vocals, a new tempo and a different genre of music altogether. We wanted to turn it into a dubstep remix, because, not only does it create an entirely different emotional vibe and feeling, it has become increasingly popular with DJs and producers and in mainstream music, which presents the possibility of appealing to a new audience.

I am very proud of the music remixes we created and believe they strongly exemplify remix as a valued artistic and creative expression. Enjoy!

"Heavy Love (Bon Iver Remix)" by DJ ft. Kristine Lippett by kristinelippett

"Heavy Love(less) (Bon Iver Remix)" by Mix Master Matt ft. Kristine Lippett by kristinelippett

Remixing YouTube

When we talk about remix culture, we often talk about how remixes are created and shared, but we rarely talk about the media platforms upon which these remixes are produced and distributed. Programs such as Garageband, Final Cut Studio and Photoshop, as well as websites like MySpace, YouTube and Flickr allow users to create and share their remixes, yet we hardly ever consider the media we use to do so. You can go to a website like YouTube, which encourages users to create, upload, share and explore content, and see millions of instances of remixes. Although professionals also use YouTube to promote and share content, the majority of videos on YouTube are user-generated, from videos like stalking cat and David After Dentist, to Double Rainbow and Chat Roulette Piano Improv, most of the videos on YouTube are created and uploaded by everyday users. YouTube now hosts millions of user-generated videos, creating a network of content that I would argue constitutes a remix, because it brings content together in unexpected ways and allows users to make new and unintended connections between videos.

One YouTube user, kutiman, has made this remix more visible by actually remixing together user-generated music videos that he has come across on YouTube. His remix illustrates the variety of videos created by users and how we put them together in a cohesive narrative when we watch video after video on YouTube.



The website Yooouuutuuube.com also provides a remix of YouTube, but instead of remixing content, it remixes the website itself. You can go to http://yooouuutuuube.com/ and insert in any YouTube video URL, which allows you to manipulate the video by moving your mouse as you watch it.

I decided to remix Justin Bieber's "Baby" music video, which looked a little something like the picture to the right.

Yooouuutuuube.com allows users to interact with videos and YouTube as a media platform in new ways, creating a useful and valuable remix of YouTube, a popular platform used to produce and distribute different forms of remix.

Tool on many Koto

A friend of mine brought a really cool interpretation of this song, by Tool to my attention;



(I apologize for the fan video).

Before I show the really nifty interpretation of this song, I'd like to point out that this song plays a lot with the Fibonacci sequence, which harked back to a class a few weeks ago where paintings by Escher were shown with relations to Baudrillards simulacra and hyperreality. Both this song and the Escher paintings are very much based on mathematical patters.

Now I present a very impressive interpretation of the song;



I really love this interpretation of the song. What I find most intriguing about interpretations done on non-western instruments is that the Koto is usually tuned to the Pentatonic scale, while Western music is usually played on instruments that are tuned to classical scales. However, the instruments used here are easily tuned to many different scales, permitting an interesting interpretation and remix that injects new meaning that bridges cultural gaps in music, but that still maintains the original Fibonacci sequence and the changing 9/8, 8/8 to 7/8 time signature sequence, thereby maintaining Tool's original thoughtful placement mathematical meaning.

Bon Jovi vs. Steve Jobs

I heard an interesting blurb on the radio this morning about Bon Jovi accusing Steve Jobs of "killing music". I didn't actually read the original article because that would require a subscription, but a Google search of the topic brings up various sources that paint a pretty decent picture of the situation.
As interesting a topic this may be from all perspectives, I'm interested in discussing what these implications mean for the active participant and the remixer. On one hand, I understand Jovi's suggestion that being able to download music and take it with us everywhere we go on iPods has changed how we listen to music, but I'm not sure that his claim that we no longer put the time aside dedicated solely to listening to our new musical investment has changed the 'magicalness' of the musical experience holds water. I think the act of remix may prove a bit of a counter to his claim. Although the way we listen to music may have changed, in order to be able to remix and interpret music, there still needs to be active participation. The ease by which people may now remix and the vastly growing number of remixes out there, regardless of medium, would suggest that there is still a pretty decent amount of active participation. By no means am I suggesting that Steve Jobs has been the sole provider of this opportunity, but I certainly don't think that his empire has impeded this at all, either. The only thing is, that these modes of participation have changed, and this is what Bon Jovi seems to have a problem with. They have changed in the past, and they will continue to change well into the future.
I'm curious to know if anyone else has any thoughts about what iTunes and iPods have done for music. Has the way that we interact with our music changed so much that we are totally disconnected from what we're consuming? Or have these modes given us new ways of sharing and obtaining? Have they given us the potential to remix or have access to new music that we may have never otherwise had the opportunity to be exposed to? Is music really dead?

We Are Remix

"Look around you. Look at the posters on your wall. Look at your computer. Look at your clothes. Look at your hair. Everything we are surrounded by is remix. We are living within a whirlwind of reinvention, reinterpretation, and repurposing. Remix is a part of the way we speak, the way we think, the way we live and it has redefined pop culture in ways unimaginable. But is remix a powerful tool of innovation or has it stifled creativity and discouraged new, original ideas from thriving?"

- dividingnights on Tumblr

This post pretty much speaks for itself. I found this great little blurb by someone on Tumblr, and I thought that I would share it with you all and see what you thought. I definitely think that "dividingnights" has a point, and I never really thought of my hair or my computer as a form of remix. In relation to his last statement, I think that remix is a tool of innovation, and it has NOT discouraged new and/or original ideas from thriving. Thoughts?

Remixing Video Games: Viral Marketing Campaigns and Fan Culture

Before the release of Resident Evil 5 in 2009, the latest installment in the Resident Evil zombie video game franchise, Capcom started a viral marketing campaign to fuel the excitement and interest of fans. It was all centred around the fictional village in Africa where Resident Evil 5 takes place called Kijuju, which Chris Redfield, one of the main characters from first Resident Evil game, is having hallucinations about, brought on by traumatic stress of surviving the first outbreak of the zombie virus, the T-virus. Capcom made five viral videos called “Fear You Can’t Forget” and then contacted Resident Evil fans and fan sites and challenged them to find and the share videos online. The videos then directed fans to a Resident Evil website entitled “Kijuju”, which offered fans videos, screenshots, wallpapers and gameplay from the new RE5 to share with other fans. The official Resident Evil 5 website boasts that the Kijuju website was discovered by over half a million people, 190,000 of which were directed there by their friends, with an average of 24 shares per person. Capcom rewarded 100 of the top sharers by getting their name in the official RE5 instruction manual and some of the top sharers had their pictures transformed into a majini (zombie) and become part of the official Resident Evil 5 website. The viral campaign's mission is to get the RE5 community to come together to unlock exclusive RE5 assets including screenshots and videos which will ultimately flesh out some of the story.

Resident Evil 5 was one of the first video games to have a viral marketing campaign which directly involved fans and fan communities and depended on their participation to create new content. As a result, fans have become more invested in the Resident Evil universe, as they get to co-produce what they also consume. Fan culture and fan communities work as a collaboratively embodied knowledge base and a network for making new stories, which changes how they interact with the Resident Evil narrative and produces new forms of meaning-making.

The Resident Evil 5 viral marketing campaign gave fan communities the opportunity to not only create new content and narratives to support the Resident Evil universe, but also to change the game by being able to insert those narratives into the actual game itself. I would argue that the ability of fans to actively influence the Resident Evil 5 video game is a form of remix, as they are remixing the content of the game to include their own interpretations, narratives and meanings of the text. However, some would argue that the viral marketing campaign only serves to exploit the social energies of existing fan communities as a source of free marketing using rewards such as being included on the website or manual to motivate fans to share the videos with as many people as possible. While this is certainly true, does this make the remix of Resident Evil 5 any less meaningful for fans? Is the process of remix still significant for fan communities if Capcom is profiting from it? Being a Resident Evil 5 gamer myself, I can tell you, with certainty, that it definitely is.

Check out the fifth and final video, "Back" in the "Fear You Can't Forget" viral marketing campaign for Resident Evil 5 below.

Video Games | Resident Evil 5 | Viral Campaign Episode #5: Back

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

the REMIX project

In Toronto, ON, there is a place where high-school aged kids from disadvantaged and underprivileged communities can go to learn about remix culture and have the opportunity to access a 5,000 sq. ft. facility, with a full recording studio, photography studio, business development centre, creative arts lab, video editing suite & more. This place is called REMIX and enables these aspiring kids to learn more about the technologies surrounding the development of remix culture and to become more connected with the world at large.

One of the programs the center offers is called a Remix Project. The workshops involved in this program educate the kids on issues of copyright law, starting a small business, managing credit, and financial planning etc. By exposing these disadvantaged youth to the culture of remix, the participatory aspect of what remix is is strengthened. The high-tech, expensive aspect side of remix (having access to a computer, digital recording equipment, etc.) is no longer an obstacle and the voices of the disadvantaged can be heard.

Through the business and creative arts programs REMIX continues to create opportunities for youth to develop a path to success and accomplish their goals. REMIX has people that they look up to and use as examples for the youth that attend their programs. These people are called Remix Ambassadors and one of the more recent Ambassadors to the program is K'naan. Known for his song "Waving Flag," used as the Official Song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, K'naan has inspired many people in his fight for social justice and the leveling of the global playing field.

Once tragedy struck Haiti in 2010, K'naan came together with Young Artists for Haiti and using his song "Waving Flag," made an unforgettable musical collaboration which was used to educate people and to create awareness. With K'naan's version of "Waving Flag," used at the FIFA World Cup and the version of "Waving Flag" performed by the Young Artists for Haiti, it is evident that the same piece of music can be used for different purposes.

The transformative and participatory aspects of remix are present in what K'naan has been able to do with his music and what the Toronto-based REMIX center is doing with inner-city youth. Although it may seem that the sectors involved in remix culture such as music, video and graphic design are corporate-driven and not easily penetrable at times, sources are available in order to get new stories into circulation. REMIX and K'naan are helping to continue the development of convergence culture, where every story and image is circulated on multiple platforms. No longer do corporations have all the power as voices are being exposed from grassroots locations such as the streets of Toronto and other areas of Canada, not to mention the rest of the world.

Even The Biebs Remixes

I think its a sign of the times/demand for variations on music and culture that we have already consumed that Justin Bieber can release "Never Say Never, The Remixes" and likely still make a profit. I was walking through the mall today when the poster caught my attention. My first thoughts were how many albums can he release with the same freaking songs? Then, I realized that he, or whoever is managing him, is actually a genius. This is what he has to say about who is present on the album:



So, the concept is easy. Take songs that were already loved and adored by his screaming fans (from his movie of the same name) and then "remix" them by "singing" with other famous artists. However, from what I can gather, these remixes aren't "true remixes" because the songs are actually pretty much the same with the exception of the vocal overlays of the additional artist. As well, I feel that it is almost taking the fun away from fans when the "official" remix is released rather than something that fans created and did, but this seems to be the growing trend. A signal of the subculture being circumvented by capitalism? Or is it just the Biebs looking to make another dollar?

And yes, the album did indeed debut at number one the week it was released. Somehow.

"Alice" Continued: Disney and Pogo

When Maddalen wrote a blog entry a few weeks ago about how remix should be considered its own cultural entity and used the example of a remix of Alice in Wonderland called "Alice" to illustrate her point, I knew it was important that I follow up with a discussion about the struggles with copyright and Disney that the DJ who created the remix had encountered. Pogo, the VJ and producer who created the Alice remix, only recently re-emerged back on the remix scene, after being slapped with a gag order by Disney when he first released "Alice" in 2007. Disney put a gag order on all of his mixes and forced him to take them down, including his remix of Alice, which had gained over five million views on YouTube. At the same time, they also offered him a one year contract to produce music for Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios. His contract and the gag order were only just released this past November, which meant that Pogo was free to again upload his remixes, although he still faces the possibility of being sued for infringement by Disney. After the gag order was released, Pogo had the following to say about his experience with Disney and copyright:

"After a year producing professionally for Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios, my contract has finally come to an end. The gag order is released, and my classic Disney mixes are allowed back online.

I’d like to apologize to everyone for the secrecy that has so far been surrounding this issue. When one of the biggest, most powerful corporations in the world zipped my mouth shut with the hand of the law, there’s little I could do to communicate without deliberately breaching my contract. Alice, Expialidocious and White Magic had to be hidden because Disney considered them illegal. They otherwise would have engaged me as an ongoing infringer, an act that would understandably exceed the legal boundaries of any corporation. Folks, I long to release my Pirates Of The Caribbean mix on YouTube. I think it’s one of my best mixes yet, and it’s agonizing to imagine it rotting away in some filing cabinet instead of taking its rightful place in my body of work. All I’ve been told is that the producers at Jerry Bruckheimer Films want nothing to do with it. Whether that means they’re displeased or they’re just waiting for the right time is impossible for me to say. The sad reality is, Swashbuckle was contracted work. I’d literally have to start saving the money that Disney would sue me before making the decision to upload it. But who knows? It might just come to that. My music is my mark in this world."

And as if to prove his point, only four days after the gag order was up, he released "Wishery", which is a remix of the 1937 Disney classic Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Pogo has also released other remixes like "UPular" and "Expialidocious" since the gag order was released and continues to use Disney films to create new remixes. For a full list of all of his remixes to date, check out his website, where you can also name your price for any of the remixes he's create so far.

Hip Hop Culture Remixed?

Every different form of remix comes with a cultural history that informs how we understand and view the remix, whether we recognize its influence or not. For me, the process of music sampling is deeply embedded in the emergence of hip hop in New York in the 1970s and brings to mind artists such as Public Enemy, Run DMC, Dr. Dre and N.W.A. who have all used samples in their music. Even using the word "sample" instead of using terms such as remix or mashup changes how we think about certain instances of remix, because the words themselves have inherent cultural histories that they carry with them, even as concepts of remix expand.

Music sampling carries with it a history of African-American identity and culture, born out of issues of racism, class and violence. When I think sampling, one of the most obvious examples would be "Mo Money, Mo Problems" by Notorious B.I.G featuring Puffy Daddy and Mase, which uses a sample of Diana Ross singing "I'm Coming Out" repeated on loop throughout the whole song. There are millions of other examples, some with samples that are nowhere near as recognizable, but it is an example of a song where the sample is easily identifiable. It also serves as reference to the violent history of hip hop, as Notorious B.I.G was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997.

But what if that history is disrupted? Is it possible to remix the cultural history of hip hop?

In December 2010, Swedish band jj released the album Kills, a mixtape full of samples from popular hip hop and R&B songs. The track "New Work" samples the identifiable beat of "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, while "Angels" samples Notorious B.I.G's vocals from "Angels" by Diddy-Dirty Money featuring Notorious B.I.G. But the members of jj are not rappers, they are not R&B artists, they make music which can best be described as "dream pop", which combines electro, synth and alternative to make eerie, haunting music. (To hear some of their original music, check them out here)

However, it was the song "Still" off Kills that got me thinking about the possibility of remixing the history of hip hop, using the very same technique of sampling which helped to define it as it emerged in New York in the 1970s. "Still" samples the very distinct beat from "Still Dre" by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg which was released in 2001, with the haunting vocals of jj band member Elin Kastlander sung over top.

Does this change how the process of sampling is culturally understood if jj has used the very same cultural practice that defined hip hop culture in its beginnings? Is this an example of a historical remix, as well as a musical remix? Take a listen to both "Still Dre" by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg and "Still" by jj below.

(WARNING: Offensive Language)

Tabulous Keyboards

A while back I came across a blog where the creator observed that the 'tab' key on the standard Mac keyboard looked a lot like the word 'fab' due to the similarities between the 'f' and 't' in the font that is used. He suggested then for a novelty key replacement be sold so that the consumer may substitute their 'tab' key out for a 'fab' key at their will.
Knowing that the tab key actually read 'fab' would be a clever kind of inside joke between you and anyone observant enough to look close enough at a keyboard to notice one misplaced three millimeter tall letter. This would also be a means of remixing the otherwise very standard and common Qwerty keyboard. The observer and creator of the blog found a new way to participate with and change an aspect of culture that is otherwise taken for granted and overlooked, offering it new meaning and attention. It reminded me of the statement made in one of the articles that we read in class that stated that "without the ability to remix we simply cannot be human because culture becomes a passive rather than participatory interaction with the external world." As simple as it may seem to swap out a key on our keyboards, it is still a form of remix.
Remixes don't have to be huge undertakings created with the intent of having the world see, hear or experience it. A simple little remix of something, anything, is what I believe makes us 'human'. Ideally, culture asks that we be active participants, but active participation doesn't have be to a giant undertaking. Participating may be done with something as simple as re-inventing our keyboards.

Remix: a story of love and hate

So folks, I am currently listening to a remixes album of one of my favourite artists. I am left thinking about how entire albums of remixes can leave us with feelings of love or hate. To further this idea, I remembered the entire remix album brought forth by the artist Ciara which featured several remixes of the hit song 1-2 step. For those of you who don't recall the album, here's a link to youtube's version of one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBHNgV6_znU particular (probably the original) version.

The amount of disdain towards Ciara's entire remix album, contrasted with my own personal love of the Nine Inch Nails Year Zero Remixes (and APC's Remix album, both really good) is one experience of remix culture that I wanted to share. To break down the difference: the Nine Inch Nails album was released long after the artist was 'established', and all the remixes were created by 'established' Djs and other artists. The reason why I use the word 'established' in scare quotes is to show that establishing oneself as an artist is arbitrary. In this case it just means that they've been around for awhile, whereas Ciara had only recently debuted on the music scene.

So the question remains, for you as listeners/participants in remix culture: can a remix album make you love your chosen artist even more? Is there anything better to hear a great remix to your favourite song?

You can sometimes find new ways to enjoy particular songs: see here, two versions of A Perfect Circle's The Outsider. It's a little heavier than the aforeposted Florence and the Machine, but the remix is actually more popular than the original song (as it is in Residence Evil Apocalypse, hence the remix name)

The original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzyNWyZhUS0
The remix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrWETIc28M

Dance Remix

I was recently going through some old e-mails and I found a couple neat youtube videos from years ago. Both consist of remixes and both have the common theme of dance.

I'm sure many of you have experienced the first video, "The Evolution of Dance", which you can watch here. The video consists of a mashup of 20+ songs, starting with Elvis and in consecutive order, ends with Jay-Z. The dancer on stage, Judson Laipply, demonstrates the most relevant and recognizable dance that can be associated with the song and the era communicated through each song. Because this one mashup samples songs in a timely fashion, it tells a sort of story of not only the music that was popular throughout the years, but also of the way popular dance has evolved over time. Laipply does a fantastic job of demonstrating these dances, and what makes it so entertaining for us to watch (even though we did not live through the years in which most of the dances were popular), is that through repetition, we are able to recognize and identify with most of the dances. This particular mashup of song and dance acts as a quick look-back and we can gather a general idea of the musical changes that have happened over time.

The other remix I discovered is one with a similar theme. It it is a series of dance scenes from movies, complied together to one single song, 'Footloose'. You can watch the video here. This video is a compilation of scenes from films from the 1940's with Fred Astaire tapping, to Mary Poppins, to Sandy and Danny dancing in Grease, to Jessica Alba hip-hoppin' in the 2003 movie Honey. What is so interesting about it is that even though all of these scenes are from such different eras and are in such different styles of dance, they all work together to go with the very catchy song. The overall social commentary of this video is more about the last 80 years of dance coming together and successfully working together to create something very entertaining.

I thought that you would all enjoy these videos and that they could be a good basis for topic of discussion regarding remix and dance.