WHAT IS A REMIX? a tutorial by Peter Carli

In my many years working as a club DJ, I've been asked numorous times, "What is a remix?" The best answer is that "a remix can be anything you want it to be." It can be described as part audio collage, part arrangement, and part mystical voo-doo. If exploted by a competent promoter, commissioning a remix in a style that is different from the original artist's recording can be an effective tool in reaching new audiences that would otherwise not be exposed to an act's music.

For most purposes, a remix is usually commissioned with the objective of getting an act's music played in a nightclub setting. Using nothing more than the original vocals, the remix producer creates a brand new arrangement in whatever style the musical act, their management, and their record company request.

An excellent example of a dance remix being effectively used to expose a country act to a nightclub audience was the Love To Infinity version of Faith Hill's "The Way You Love Me", commissioned by Warner Brothers Records and Faith Hill's management. What began it's life as a country/pop album track was turned into a major nightclub smash that was played by numorous DJs for many months and made the club play charts in several trade magazines. With that alternate version, thousands of people who would have otherwise never heard Faith Hill got a taste of her music via the nightclub DJ. And there is no question that nightclub exposure help cross her music over from country radio to top-40 stations, resulting in a significant boost in the sales of her CDs.

Remixed versions of songs can become hits in their own right. In 1996, Atlantic Records retained Armand Van Helden to rework the Tori Amos song "Professional Widow". Not only was it a hit with club DJs, as a single it sold four million copies across Europe and Asia.

Here at Radiation Room, the remix is one of our specialties. We have been doing custom mixes, both for DJs we know who used them as exclusives for their DJ sets as well as for use on our own Mix Attack Radio Network and DJ Carli's Studio 83 XM mixes. Now you can use our remix experitise to gain new audiences for your music.

For more information and ideas, please contact us.