Live Remix: A Brief Explanation
Imagine you've just watched a concert, and immediately afterward, another set of musicians step up and reinterpret everything you've just heard, using elements of the original performance as a foundation. This is the essence of a live remix.
1. What is a Live Remix? A live remix is essentially a live interpretation of a performance, created immediately after this «source concert» ends. Instead of the conventional remix approach, where artists take a previously recorded track and modify its elements in a studio, live remixers work instantly, on the spot, giving the audience a fresh perspective on what they've just heard.
2. The Source Material: The remixer has access to the separate instrument signals from the source concert. This means that every note, beat, and sound made during the source concert can be isolated, sampled, and repurposed.
3. The Preparation Process (one of several possibilities – every remixer has a different approach):
⦁ Sampling: During for instance the first half of the source concert, the remixer is in 'capture mode'. They listen intently, picking out key moments, sounds, melodies, or rhythms they want to incorporate into the remix. These bits are then sampled, to be used later. The equipment used can be Ableton Live, hardware samplers or similar.
⦁ Organizing & Preparing: The second half of the concert is usually when the remixer goes into composition/preparation mode. They organize the samples, and decide on how they'll reshape and arrange the original sounds. This can mean looping, adding effects, reversing, stretching, layering – essentially preparing a «sound palette» for the live remix performance.
4. The Live Remix performance: This is where the palette of treated and organized samples are used as a starting point for an improvised performance. The remix starts immediately after the source concert, and the duration tends to be around 20-25 minutes. The live remix can take place on the same stage as the source concert (in that case the live remixers have been situated side-stage while sampling from the source concert wearing headphones), or it can be in another room. The audience is the same as for the source concert.
5. The Collaboration: While the electronic remixer often is a central figure in this process, they often collaborate with musicians working with acoustic or amplified instruments, who've also listened to and assembled inspiration from the source concert. These musicians bring their own interpretations and instruments into the remix, enhancing the dynamism and adding organic elements.
6. The Aesthetic: There's no one-size-fits-all rule for how a live remix should sound. The beauty lies in the openness of the concept. The goal is to create new music, and the only limit is the artist's imagination. Nothing is «prohibited»: In addition to the samples from the source concert, the remixer may use additional material like field recordings, synthesizers, spoken word (live or pre-recorded) and collaborate with a large ensemble of electronic and acoustic performers. On the other extreme, a live remix may be done by a singer or instrumentalist using no samples at all, just mental inspiration from the source concert.
7. Summary:
A live remix is an on-the-spot reinterpretation of a concert, performed right after the source concert concludes.
1. Source Material: The remixer has access to separate instrument signals from the source concert.
2. Preparation:
⦁ Sampling: During the source concert's first half, the remixer samples key moments.
⦁ Organizing: In the source concert's second half, they arrange and modify these samples using electronic tools.
3. Live Remix performance: The palette of treated and organized samples are used as a starting point for an improvised performance of around 20-25 minutes.
4. Collaboration: Musicians working with acoustic or amplified instruments, also inspired by the source concert, often join electronic remixers for the live remix performance.
5. Aesthetic: Open-ended.
In essence, a live remix is a celebration of spontaneity, creativity, and collaboration. It's a testament to the infinite ways music can be perceived, received, and recreated. As a musician, diving into the world of live remixes is an opportunity to experiment, innovate, and give audiences a unique musical experience.