Commodore Remix

Hi guys,

I'm asking me how you everybody get an idea for a remix. Why do you want to make a remix of this? (which song ever it be)
How do you know what style it will be? Techno, trance, acoustic, melancholy piano, etc.
Or could it be, you're sitting around there and play some samples, you think it could be cool?
Sorry, but I can't imagine.

I usually remix SIDs that are familiar to me. That mean something to me. That wake some nostalgia, stir emotions. And those are mostly from C64 intros and demos.

Why do I do it? Why does anyone make music? Or listen to it?

I don't think of style beforehand (or try not to). I just play the main melody with different sounds and go with the new mood it created. Sometimes it's fun to take the tune completely out of the context. Make happy tune sad and vice versa. Uptempo tune chill, slow tune upbeat. Of coz, one needs to be prepared for facing bad votes and loosing some friends in the process, simply coz you're playing with someone else's emotions too.

The next day I usually redo everything from scratch, wondering what the heck I was thinking the day before.

I agree with you stormy, same with me

Usually when I come up with a remix I mostly doesn't have a special sid tune in my head so I start with some drums, finding the right ones depending on what mood I'm in, kick, snare, some loops etc...
Then I load a lead and play some random melodies and sometimes I come across a sid tune and starts play that one and record it...
The rest comes naturally... (If i'm lucky! ) or else I do like a loop of 30 seconds and save it and then it will just collect dust in my harddrive

With the remix I'm currently working on "ACE2" it totaly was a coincidence that I played the Kate Lesing vocals and then played thru some sids and come across ACE2 and it fitted just prefectly in cords, bass, etc
When stuff just flows and fitts it feels so great

I mostly "cheats" now a days and uses sid2midi, but a few years back when I used Fasttracker I played the sid in the background and played along til I learned the melodie and then recorded it

Sorry Wave' ,there is no ONE answer but it helps if you have some musical equipment/hardware or software that you are familiar with.Get used to the hardware/software up to your OWN understanding.Understand it as best you can,take those tunes you wanted to remix and the most memorible parts of the tune with you! The parts that you like and feel you can do something with will reveal themselves to you in that process.

What the hell was i talking about?

Yup its all trial and error, you either feel the tune or you don't.

When you dont it tends to make you feel inferior or trapped, musically you have no idea where to take it so best to take option 1 and take it outside and shoot it.

When you do feel it, its like having sex with the celebrity of your choice, its a nice happy achievement

Well, I tried to remix some tunes, but I can't really do that. I don't know why, I can whistle the most of the favorite tunes I like. I only wanted to know where you get the idea to make a remix.
When I'm sitting on my keyboard or on the computer and play some melodies or I'm composing it could happen I say "Hey, you know this melody!", but there's not enough to say "Ok, now it will be a remix".