Bizarre Mashup Triangle - New mashup featuring Michael Jackson & New Order
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Does anybody actually listen to/enjoy these mash-ups other than the people who create them? If I hear another badly spliced vocal time-stretched to fuck and awkwardly stuck onto the intro of Blue Monday by some no-mark with a cheap laptop and a cracked version of Ableton Live I WILL COMMIT A FUCKING MURDER.
There, as Colin would say, I've said it. It's out there.
Well, this isn't one of those. Marvel at how well the synth lines of "Bizarre Love Triangle" and "Touched by the Hand of God" fit together
I've listened to a remix/mashup thingy of PSB's "Did you see me coming", with BLT in it on YouTube. (I think it's still on Youtube.)
It wasn't that bad, actually.
this one is pretty good actually. check it out!
(might have to do with me being a sucker for Touched video hilarity however...)
"Touched by the hand of God"
Is that what Wacko said to the little boys when he was plying them with 'Jesus Juice'?
mashupcreator wrote: Well, this isn't one of those. Marvel at how well the synth lines of "Bizarre Love Triangle" and "Touched by the Hand of God" fit together
Amazing. Would it not be a better use of your time building your own tracks? Creatively, doing these 'mash ups' seems like the most pointless waste of time to me. Your not 'creatively sampling'. Your not taking exciting elements from different sources to create something new and exciting. Your basically trying to glue together three tracks that aren't supposed to go together.
And for why exactly? The end result isn't 1% as good as the three originals, no DJ's gonna play it in a club and nobody would ever pay money to own it. At best people will listen to it once and think 'that's mildly amusing but I have heard it all before a million billion times since 2001'.
I'm not havin a dig at you mash up man but I'm genuinely confused as to why anyone who's lucky enough to have the time to 'get creative' with Ableton, Reason or whatever it is your using would choose to waste that time putting together these pointless mash ups that nobody likes when they could be getting immersed in the numerous creative possibilities that these DAW's offer.
And so, to bed...
Quite impressive. Good work on the video mash up too.
Personaly I get a big buzz out of making my own songs up on Reaper and Kristal Auditor Editor. You can do so much with a computer nowadays and so much software is free. Its pretty amazing.
I might even release an album end of 2009. well thats my dream.
GlasVegas wrote: tracks that aren't supposed to go together.
Obviously I don't agree with much you're saying, but you raise some interesting questions.
When New Order and Rod Temperton (Michael just came in to sing when the backing track was finished) made these songs, they had their intentions with them, they had their vision. Making music is a lot of trial and error. In the process of making these songs, the music sounded different. They tried things, they discarded things, they kept on until they liked what they heard enough. Musical ability is about hearing, hearing what is good and what is not. You can't actually say that "Touched by the Hand of God" or any other song is meant to sound this way or another. There's actually another quite different version on the Salvation Soundtrack album that New Order were happy about at one point. Probably they changed their mind a bit later, and also, there isn't one best way a song can be. There can be many equally good versions of a song. Just like there isn't one true love. How a song turns out has a random element to it.
All of this is of course subjective, it's a matter of taste, and there really is no truth to what good music is. A lot of people probably think New Order stinks, and you just have to accept that, just as some people will appreciate a well-made mashup.
When I made this one, I initially had "Touched" for the verse and "Bizarre" for the bridge and chorus. I wasn't totally happy because the bridge sounded a bit empty and it was too obvious that the sections were from different songs. So I tried to move in the "Touched" synths into the verse and chorus and blam! A new kind of beauty that wasn't present in the original songs appeared. I didn't know this beforehand, it was trial and error. If I choose to interpret your "supposed to go together" as "sounds good", then the synths of "Touched" are meant to be a part of "Bizarre". It's my opinion and it's of course not the absolute truth. I am also convinced that some parts of New Order would agree with this.
My mashup as a whole is probably not better than any of the three songs, but it's a different song, a different creation. A lot mashups stem from the fact that we need variety. You probably don't listen to just one New Order song, even though you like some songs better than others.
It's funny that you mention sampling. You criticism has been levelled against all kinds of sampling as well. It's understandable, because not all use of these techniques is as clever and purposeful. The Puff Daddy sampling of "Every Breath You Take" springs to mind as an example of bad sampling while De La Soul's entire "3 Feet High and Rising" album made clear the merit of sampling. It depends on the talent of the artist. The same goes for mashups. There's good ones and there's bad ones. Any use of "We Will Rock You" by Queen in a mashup lacks imagination and is a copout.
Mashups is an art form distict from traditional music making and it's the logical extention of sampling. You can spend time with both. I do, and they have their different and distinct charms. Making mashups is an example of the "less is more" principle. You limit yourself to use only these song elements and you try to make the best with them. You have an unlimited number of backing tracks to choose from but the number of acappellas available is quite limited. I can see a similarity to the dogma movement of film. They put a number of limitations on film making. Limitations that affects the end result and that can actually be liberating for the artist. I don't know if there's any consensus on the rules of mashup making, and if there is, they can, will and should be broken. My use of additional drums is probably a heresy to some.
As for paying for recorded music, it's clear that this is a thing of the past. No one today should make recorded music and expect to be payed for it. That would be plain stupid. And the best music was always made for different reasons than that.
noorder wrote: "Touched by the hand of God"
Is that what Wacko said to the little boys when he was plying them with 'Jesus Juice'?
As for paying for recorded music, it's clear that this is a thing of the past. No one today should make recorded music and expect to be payed for it. That would be plain stupid. And the best music was always made for different reasons than that.
Funny...I still am willing to pay for music that I really like and enjoy, and feel that it's worth it. (That being said, I can't spend all my income on music, but I'm willing to pay a reasonable price for the music I really love.) I doubt that in itself is a 'thing of the past'.
I believe professional musicians need to be paid to make a living. (Just a general statement.)
I don't mind mashups as long as they're good, but I think some people go overboard and try to mashup anything they can get their hands on.
leather_girl wrote:
Funny...I still am willing to pay for music that I really like and enjoy, and feel that it's worth it.
Yes, but you seem to be in a minority. I am speaking about how things are, not about how I want things to be. In a better universe New Order would be paid more than, say, Michael Jackson.
mashupcreator wrote:
leather_girl wrote:
Funny...I still am willing to pay for music that I really like and enjoy, and feel that it's worth it.
Yes, but you seem to be in a minority. I am speaking about how things are, not about how I want things to be. In a better universe New Order would be paid more than, say, Michael Jackson.
How much is to be paid is a different issue than what this thread is about, isn't it?
GlasVegas wrote: Does anybody actually listen to/enjoy these mash-ups other than the people who create them? If I hear another badly spliced vocal time-stretched to fuck and awkwardly stuck onto the intro of Blue Monday by some no-mark with a cheap laptop and a cracked version of Ableton Live I WILL COMMIT A FUCKING MURDER.
There, as Colin would say, I've said it. It's out there.
Processed Beats - Kasabian/The Stone Roses - genius!
mashupcreator wrote:
GlasVegas wrote: tracks that aren't supposed to go together.
Obviously I don't agree with much you're saying, but you raise some interesting questions.
All of this is of course subjective, it's a matter of taste, and there really is no truth to what good music is. A lot of people probably think New Order stinks, and you just have to accept that, just as some people will appreciate a well-made mashup.
When I made this one, I initially had "Touched" for the verse and "Bizarre" for the bridge and chorus. I wasn't totally happy because the bridge sounded a bit empty and it was too obvious that the sections were from different songs. So I tried to move in the "Touched" synths into the verse and chorus and blam! A new kind of beauty that wasn't present in the original songs appeared. I didn't know this beforehand, it was trial and error. If I choose to interpret your "supposed to go together" as "sounds good", then the synths of "Touched" are meant to be a part of "Bizarre". It's my opinion and it's of course not the absolute truth. I am also convinced that some parts of New Order would agree with this.
It's funny that you mention sampling. You criticism has been levelled against all kinds of sampling as well. It's understandable, because not all use of these techniques is as clever and purposeful. The Puff Daddy sampling of "Every Breath You Take" springs to mind as an example of bad sampling while De La Soul's entire "3 Feet High and Rising" album made clear the merit of sampling. It depends on the talent of the artist. The same goes for mashups. There's good ones and there's bad ones. Any use of "We Will Rock You" by Queen in a mashup lacks imagination and is a copout.
Mashups is an art form distict from traditional music making and it's the logical extention of sampling. You can spend time with both. I do, and they have their different and distinct charms. Making mashups is an example of the "less is more" principle. You limit yourself to use only these song elements and you try to make the best with them. You have an unlimited number of backing tracks to choose from but the number of acappellas available is quite limited. I can see a similarity to the dogma movement of film. They put a number of limitations on film making. Limitations that affects the end result and that can actually be liberating for the artist. I don't know if there's any consensus on the rules of mashup making, and if there is, they can, will and should be broken. My use of additional drums is probably a heresy to some.
great reply, "mashupcreator" - "gasvegan" just sounded like an old crabbity fart, the type who would have been about new order using samples back in the 1980s - "THAT ISNT REAL MUSIC - ONLY GUITARS PLAY REAL MUSIC"
you wrote out a great defense of your art. i am not a mashup fan at all, but i, unlike gasvegan, am not about to go and attack your way of life as being inferior just because you choose to mix and not write your own songs from scratch. i would imagine gasvegan has a similar disdain for djs, as not being REAL AND TRUE artists.
as someone who works in Sonar with midi and live audio all the time, writing my own music, i know how hard it must have been to produce that mashup. sometimes i think remixes are more difficult than "original" songs, and i have worked in both mediums, have spent longer working on remixes (eg http://tinyurl.com/tarbox23 track 3). hats off to ya "mashupcreator" ....
Tarbox23 wrote: i would imagine gasvegan has a similar disdain for djs, as not being REAL AND TRUE artists.
Tarby, you really need to pay more attention to these forums, young man!
gasvegan's website - oldcrabbityfarts.com
You get to see the G-Man with tits out and everyfink. 
Well, stroke me slippers and fill me pipe with baccy, Dr Fradley has learned a new word today.
"Mashups". Very good.
Now, can someone send me some of these new-fangled sexts so I can truly feel like a 21st Century Boy and not at all like a washed-up, brain-dead 30-something whose life is rapidly vanishing down the shitter?? Ta.
El Jarvo wrote:
Tarbox23 wrote: i would imagine gasvegan has a similar disdain for djs, as not being REAL AND TRUE artists.
Tarby, you really need to pay more attention to these forums, young man!
gasvegan's website - oldcrabbityfarts.com
You get to see the G-Man with tits out and everyfink.
YOU A MAKIN MA POINT! how can he dis mashups as not artistic??? does he consider dj not artistic??? they seem pretty similar to me....
sometimes this place confounds me :)
Michael's voice needs to be quieter and the New Order backing track needs to be louder. Equalization is the track's only problem really. The mix itself is a good idea, the three songs go together quite well!
But yes, Michael waaaaay overpowers New Order. Maybe add a slight delay, reverb or echo to his voice, just to fill it out a bit.
Still, even after that, 4/5 stars my friend. :)
