M Is FOR MASHUP - April 4th, 2012
Beginning To Make Mashups
By DJ Useo
I remember when I first discovered mashups. They had me bamboozled as to how they made those cusses. Mind you, I had studio experience recording & producing, but that was all with tape. I even had mild familiarity with early bootlegs made from cutting & pasting actual audio tape. But when it came to manipulating the parts into a final cohesive song, I had no idea how it was done. So, let's assume that's where you are in your acquaintance with mashups. You've heard some & they perplex you. Some of you are probably eager to give it a try yourself. Well, I'm here today to get you started.
First of all I advise finding some wordless music you would like to add singing to. A lot of people do fine with complete instrumentals they find that already have the words removed. Let's say you found a Kelly Clarkson song without the Kelly singing part. That's perfect for mix beginners. Once you've gained some proficiency, you'll be able to make instrumentals by cutting & looping. But for now, you need to find them. Next up you're going to need some singing vocals (commonly referred to as ACAPELLAS). For many people, finding the instrumental & the acapella are the hardest part. For some people locating stuff to mix is a breeze. Knowing other bootleggers & being well-mannered enough to relate properly, they often reward your P's & Q's with acapellas, instrumentals or even the highest mixing prize, the STEMS. The 'stems' are a file with all the musical parts of a song already in separate parts, like the guitar is one file, the drums another & so forth.
Once you have some parts to mix, you need software to mix them with. As beginners, you're more limited & can find the professional mix software like ACID or ABLETON a bit confusing. There're some wonderful programs out there that are totally worth the money, but as a beginner, do yourself a favor & try
AUDACITY
( audacity.sourceforge.net/ ) or
VIRTUAL DJ
( www.virtualdj.com/ ) . Both are available in free versions that work great, especially for beginners. The easiest thing to do with either program (after you've installed them) is loading your files. Just drag & drop. Then hit the play symbol.
AUDACITY is a static mixer that allows you to stop your files & make changes in pitching, beat-matching & much more.
VIRTUAL DJ is two active virtual turntables that have lots of easily accessed effects. Simply drop your files on the turntables. Adjust pitching & tempo with the push of a button & you'll be shocked how much fun it is.
( audacity.sourceforge.net/ )
( www.virtualdj.com/ )
Both programs come with easily understood instructions, & you can save what you mix. As final tips, always listen to make sure your singing & music in your mixes is in pitch, in tempo with each other, & in comparative volumes (
VIRTUAL DJ displays these things). You don't want your singing to blare or be too quiet. Be aware & listen for those 3 points. Tempos, pitching & volumes. Once you've got those 3 down, you'll be ready for more advanced software. The
VIRTUAL DJ, however, is available in professional version & is worth every cent. Once you learn it some, it's just like driving a car. You check your mirrors & settings regularly & watch where you're going & mixing is fun & fruitful. After a few months of steady practice, I reckon you'll be posting some good tracks & enjoying positive feedback. Then you'll get better & better quickly. Keep at it & share it with friends. Motivation helps.
If you have any questions, drop me a line at useo8@yahoo.com or consult Podgornio, the Mashup Psychic.
Mix Of The Week
Bong is one of my favorite long mixers, & you can hear why with 'Downtempo Road'. It has the coolest motion music available. Well-known mixer Warvadal says "Awesome mix with a lot of mind-blowing elements". He speaks no wrong. Grab this excellent Bong mix at that King of mix sites
BMBX
( www.bmbx.org/2012/03/downtempo-road/ ).
Mashup Tip : Ask your favorite search engine for acapella locations.
Latest Useo Thing
Here's a remix I made of a song I saw on the tv show 'Noel Fieldings Luxury Comedy'. This one features Rich Fulcer, & if my info is right, Kasabian wrote the tune.
Noel Fieldings Luxury Comedy w Rich Fulcer - Its My Birthday (DJ Useo 100-year old remix) is wild, & psychedelic & perfect for any age birthday!
( www.groovytimewithdjuseo.blogspot.com/2012/04/noel-fieldings-luxury-comedy-remix.html )
Podgornio, The Mashup Psychic Predicts
Next week, Thursday at 3:15 pm, in Smullhollen, Connecticut, an acapella & an instrumental will mash all by themselves with no dj involvement at all. An unprecedented occurrence!!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Aprils Fools Day on the Web 2012
How to Make a Rainbow with a Shotgun (YouTube; 24 seconds)
Paul Krugman: Pink Slime Economics (New York Times)
The big bad event of last week was, of course, the Supreme Court hearing on health reform. In the course of that hearing it became clear that several of the justices, and possibly a majority, are political creatures pure and simple, willing to embrace any argument, no matter how absurd, that serves the interests of Team Republican.
Matt Miller: Paul Ryan's path to nowhere
The crucial thing to understand about Ryan is that he is not a fiscal conservative. He's a small-government conservative. These are very different things. The fastest-growing federal program in Ryan's new budget is interest on the debt, which nearly triples from $234 billion next year to $614 billion in 2022. He doesn't even pretend to balance the budget until 2040, and then only under utterly dubious assumptions.
Chastity Pratt Dawsey: Douglass Academy walkout earns suspensions for about 50 high schoolers (Detroit Free Press)
About 50 high school students at Frederick Douglass Academy in Detroit were suspended Thursday after walking out of classes to protest a host of issues at the all-boys school. The concerns included a lack of consistent teachers and the removal of the principal. The boys, dressed in school blazers, neckties and hoodies, chanted, "We want education!" as they marched outside the school.
Goldman Sachs Owns Top Sex Trafficking Site
So good it must be true! Nicholas Kristof unearths yet more dirt on the banksters at Goldman, in the New York Times: The biggest forum for sex trafficking of under-age girls in the United States appears to be a Web site called Backpage.com.
Roger Ebert: Review of "Making Mr. Right" (3 ½ stars; an overlooked movie)
"Making Mr. Right" is about a scientist who invents a remarkably lifelike android in his own image and about an ad executive who begins to like the android more than the scientist. These raw materials easily could have been turned into a fairly dreary movie, but not this time. Instead, we get a smart, quick witted, wicked and genuinely funny movie.
Darren Franich, Jef Cifra-Castro: "The Hunger Games: 16 (Im)posters"
What could Suzanne Collins' saga be like if Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Bay, David Fincher, Roger Corman, or others directed it? Start by imagining the art...
Do You Suffer From Nature-Deficit Disorder?
The French don't even have a word for fat, Paul Rudnick mused in a mock-Parisian tone in The New Yorker last week. "If a woman is obese," he wrote, "we simply call her American."
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny but cooler than seasonal.
Democratic Convention Delegate
Ashley Judd
Democratic leaders in Tennessee are sending actress Ashley Judd as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in September.
The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville reports that Judd is one of three delegates selected by party officials in Williamson County to serve in at-large positions at the convention. Judd has been outspoken on a variety of humanitarian and social justice issues and has supported local Democratic candidates in the past.
Judd will join delegates from all 50 states at the convention to discuss the party's platform and formally nominate President Barack Obama as the party's candidate.
The convention will be held in Charlotte, N.C., during the first week of September.
Ashley Judd
Staying Put Through 2014
Dave & Craig
Relax, all you fans of David Letterman and Craig Ferguson. They'll be staying put in late night awhile longer.
CBS announced Tuesday that both Dave and Craig have re-upped to keep hosting their respective hours - "Late Show" and "The Late Late Show" - through 2014.
During the run of this agreement, Letterman will clinch his title as the longest-running, late-night talk-show host in TV history (although on two networks), the network noted. He surpasses Johnny Carson's record of a few months less than 30 years at NBC's "Tonight Show." Letterman, who turns 65 next week, began on NBC in 1982 with "Late Night," before switching to CBS in 1993 after Jay Leno edged him out for the "Tonight Show" crown upon Carson's retirement.
No salary figures were disclosed. But as part of the new deal, "The Late Late Show" will be upgraded from its famously matchbox-size studio to a larger stage at Los Angeles' CBS Television City, the network said.
The Scottish-born Ferguson, 49, had been a musician, actor, writer, director and comedian when he took over "The Late Late Show" in 2005. He has been guaranteed the earlier slot when Letterman decides to retire.
Dave & Craig
Hosting Tony Awards
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris will be back for his third turn hosting the Tony Awards.
Producers of the show announced Tuesday that the star of the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" and a stage veteran would be back at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre for the ceremony honoring Broadway's best. It will be broadcast on CBS on June 10.
Harris previously hosted the Tonys last year and in 2009 - the same year he hosted the Emmy Awards. As he did in 2011, Harris will also serve as a producer.
Last year's Tony telecast was seen by 6.9 million viewers and posted a 9 percent year-to-year gain in the ratings for the 18-to-49 demographic. The boost came even though it aired opposite Game 6 of the NBA Finals, in which the Dallas Mavericks clinched the championship against the Miami Heat.
Neil Patrick Harris
Hosting 16th Annual Webby Awards
Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt will host the 16th annual Webby Awards.
The actor-comedian will emcee the May 21 event, it was announced Tuesday, where winners are famously restricted to five-word acceptance speeches. The awards will be held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and streamed live on WebbyAwards.com.
The Webbys, which celebrate Internet achievement, are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a group of about 1,000 Web experts and Internet professionals.
Winners are announced ahead of the awards show. Nominees will be unveiled next week, with winners announced May 1.
Patton Oswalt
Titanic Museum Launched
SeaCity
Most people associate the drama of the Titanic with icebergs, lifeboats, and flares fired into the night. Few think of the heartbreak that took place as news of the tragedy filtered home.
Curators of Southampton's new SeaCity Museum - opening April 10 - hope to tell the story of the shattered city that the infamous ship left behind when it sank on April 15, 1912.
"This is Southampton's Titanic story," said exhibition manager Dan Matthews, who gave journalists a tour Tuesday.
Southampton, one of England's premier passenger ports, lost some 500 residents when the White Star liner sank beneath the waves. Many here initially refused to believe the news that the ship was no more. But soon the town was in shock, with flags lowered to half mast and an open air service that drew tens of thousands of mourners.
SeaCity explores the lives of Southampton's working-class crew, and the impact that their tragedy had on the city's families. It does so by offering a virtual tour of the ship, one introduced by a slightly eerie recording of a child calling out: "Bye-bye, have a good time!"
SeaCity
New Edition
'Little House'
Laura Ingalls Wilder, who already holds a special place in the hearts of millions of parents and children, soon will be added to the country's official literary canon.
The Library of America announced Tuesday that it will issue a boxed two-volume set this fall of Wilder's "Little House" series, including "Little House on the Prairie" and "Little House in the Big Woods." Wilder based the books on her family's experiences as pioneers in the 19th century. She died in 1957 at age 90.
"As people who've read it to their kids know, Laura Ingalls Wilder's 'Little House' books aren't just for children. Terrifying and lyrical, the 'Little House' books tell, through a meticulous firsthand account of one family's struggle to survive in a harsh, dangerous, unfamiliar world, the classic story of the American West from pioneering to settlement," Library of America publisher Max Rudin said in a statement.
Rudin added that the new edition would include "additional pieces by Wilder about the events and the composition of the books (that) will, we hope, encourage adult readers to rediscover an American classic."
'Little House'
Busted By Faux
NBC News
NBC News apologized on Tuesday for the way it edited a broadcast of a conversation between George Zimmerman and a police dispatcher before teenager Trayvon Martin was killed by Zimmerman.
Last week Fox News did a report in which it presented "before" and "after" versions of the call. NBC had broadcast the edited exchange on its flagship "Today" morning show.
NBC News launched an investigation after the Fox report.
"During our investigation it became evident that there was an error made in the production process that we deeply regret," NBC News representative Lauren Kapp said in a statement on Tuesday, in response to a query by Reuters. "We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers."
NBC News
Admires Darth Vader
James Murdoch
James Murdoch's belated acknowledgment that he had become a liability to satellite broadcaster BSkyB was a rare admission of defeat by the combative 39-year-old executive known for his self-belief and decisiveness.
Murdoch resigned on Tuesday as chairman of BSkyB, saying he did not want to damage the company any further by the intense scrutiny surrounding his role in a phone-hacking scandal that has convulsed his father's media empire.
That it took him so long to come to what many had long thought a logical conclusion was a measure not only of his self-assurance and behind-the-scenes calculations but also of his attachment to the British broadcaster.
People who have reported directly to James say he is decisive and leaves colleagues in no doubt about what he expects. He likes to work with a small group of people whom he keeps close and trusts.
That confidence inspires fear among many of those who work for him. He used to keep a model of the Star Wars villain Darth Vader outside his London office.
"When James was in the building, you could almost hear the Darth Vader music," said a former senior staff member at News International, the UK newspaper publishing division of the Murdoch empire that became the focus of the hacking scandal. "He's a scary man around the office."
James Murdoch
Millions Abandon
Cable TV
Netflix and Hulu are convincing millions of cable subscribers to cut the cord and dive into video streaming.
That's the conclusion of a new report released this week by the Convergence Consulting Group, which found that 2.65 million Americans canceled cable between 2008-2011 in favor of lower-cost Internet subscription services or video platforms.
The Canadian research firm estimates that 112,000 U.S. and Canadian subscribers were added to the cable rolls in 2011. That represents a more than 50 percent drop from the 272,000 who signed up for the service in 2010.
The good news for the folks at Comcast, Time Warner Cable and their ilk is that while Convergence estimates that 1 million people abandoned cable for streaming last year, it projects that cord cutters will begin to put away the scissors in 2012.
Cable TV
Felony Charge
Lisa Robin Kelly
"That '70s Show" actress Lisa Robin Kelly was arrested on Saturday on felony charges of corporal injury on a spouse and released on $50,000 bail.
Kelly, 42, played Laurie, the sister of Topher Grace's Eric and occasional love interest of Ashton Kutcher's Kelso, on the Fox sitcom.
Kelly was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department at 12:50 p.m. on Saturday, and by Saturday evening, she had been released on bail, the department said.
The arrest comes on the heels of a 2010 DUI arrest in North Carolina that led to a fine and a year of probation.
Lisa Robin Kelly
Jailed In Colorado
"Sheriff of the Year"
A retired Colorado lawman once named national "Sheriff of the Year" was sentenced on Tuesday to serve 30 days in the jail that bears his name after he pleaded guilty to trading drugs for sex with male prostitutes, prosecutors said.
Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Patrick Sullivan, 69, was immediately taken into custody after pleading guilty in Arapahoe District Court to felony drug possession and misdemeanor solicitation of a prostitute, the Colorado Attorney General's Office said in a statement.
Prosecutors from the attorney general's office were appointed to the case because of Sullivan's longtime connections with law enforcement in Arapahoe County, where the county jail was named after him when he retired in 2002.
Sullivan was arrested last November after two police informants said the former high-profile lawman had exchanged methamphetamine for sex with them in the past, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in the case.
Known as a hard-charging, by-the-book cop who was sheriff for 18 years, Sullivan served on national police task forces, even testifying before Congress on law enforcement issues.
"Sheriff of the Year"
Artifact To Auction
Mahatma Gandhi
Samples of soil and blades of bloody grass purportedly from the spot where Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 will go on sale in Britain later this month and are expected to fetch 10-15,000 pounds ($16-24,000).
Mullock's auctioneer in western England said it was confident the artefacts were genuine, because they came with a letter of provenance from original owner P.P. Nambiar who collected them after the revered "Father of the Nation" was shot by a Hindu radical.
The samples also matched the account Nambiar gave of the events of 1948 in which he described finding a drop of Gandhi's blood on the grass which he collected.
"I cut the grass and also took two pinches of soil from the brink of the pothole which I wrapped in a piece of Hindi newspaper found nearby," he wrote.
Richard Westwood-Brookes, the auction house's historical documents expert, said it was often difficult to prove whether such artefacts were genuine, and his attribution of paintings to Adolf Hitler has been questioned by art experts in the past.
Mahatma Gandhi
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for March 26-April 1. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "NCIS," CBS, 18.62 million.
2. "Dancing With the Stars (Monday)," ABC, 17.96 million.
3. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 17.87 million.
4. NCAA Basketball (Saturday), CBS, 16.6 million.
5. "American Idol" (Thursday), Fox, 15.88 million.
6. "Dancing With the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 15.7 million.
7. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 14.75 million.
8. "Person of Interest," CBS, 14.59 million.
9. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 13.96 million.
10. "The Mentalist," CBS, 13.62 million.
11. NCAA Basketball special (Saturday), CBS, 13.61 million.
12. Academy of Country Music Awards, CBS, 13.1 million.
13. "The Voice," NBC, 11.99 million.
14. "Castle," ABC 11.87 million.
15. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 10.72 million.
16. "Dancing With the Stars (special)," ABC, 10.7 million.
17. "Unforgettable," CBS, 10.51 million.
18. "60 Minutes," CBS, 10.09 million.
19. "Survivor: One World," CBS, 9.99 million.
20. "Body of Proof," ABC, 9.72 million.
Ratings
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