Category Archives: Blog Post
Kygo, Donna Summer – Hot Stuff (2020)
7,758,031 views•Premiered Sep 17, 2020
I was going to post this video, as a “make up your own mind if classic tracks should be remixed in an upto date style or left alone” kind of thing, and I suppose it still will be the main theme of this little blog post.
It goes without saying Kygo has the multitrack for “Hot Stuff” along with maybe a few more.. who knows? Not me that`s for sure.. 😉 but it does go to show the “2020 Remix” (or whatever year) is still a thing. Only difference this decade we`re now getting music stems as well as the more traditionally leaked vocals only side of things. So happy days !
So what did/do you think to the mix? Good/Bad – Good Idea/Winner/Good luck to him.. or it “Shouldn`t have been touched.. it is sacred” !!!! Where are you on the scale?? haha . Answers on a postcard. Ideally to Kygo here.
And it probably is a fair bet there will be more remixes of classic tunes (and maybe some not so classic ones) in the pipeline right now as we speak going on. I know of 3, and thats only me lol.
Which brings us back round to the point of the post.. remixing old stuff, it`s something that will never end. It hasnt yet.. and as we move forward with more source material becoming available almost daily, I dont think the trend will be going away any time soon either. At least the record companies are being a bit more cool with things though as this is obvs an official release and what have you.. so, from where I`m typing, thats a major bonus for everybody. One would assume that if there ever was a time to get that “classic” multitrack pack and make a “remix” with upto date things in it, now is that time. Get that mix done, say hi to the big guns, and hope they like it. The door`s open guys it seems. Well, if you know somebody on the inside, but we`ll forget that bit and just hope talent wins through. Or I suppose it would help a bit if your profile was as big as Kygo`s, but hey, you never know. No harm in trying.
Either way, 8 Million views in 6 weeks. Not too shabby. Proof of concept right there.
Now if only the record companies could convince themselves to release more multitracks, wouldn`t that just be dandy?
NEWS: & Sol Levante [Anime] – Full ProTools Session (Video & Audio)
Some interesting news has been brought to my attention, so as is the case on things like this, time for a little write up. Now if your an avid Cubase fan like myself, ProTools and everything that comes with it, can be the nemesis of all nemesises to the regular “easy sequencer” guys like me. If that is you too, dont be scared either, just read on! In other news, some cool things are also afoot, that might just influence my dream of “Streaming Multitracks” that some of you have picked up on too. Might have to revise the Spotify stem player idea a little !
One other thing I did find interesting researching the news, is that it seems there is a streaming company I wasnt aware of (Tidal.com) who can stream FLAC`s at 96kHz 24bit (Lossless audio streaming to you and me) via A “Master Quality Authenticated” MQA audio codec. Dont know what it is or what it does but I still want one.. And they`re already involved with the likes of Sony, Universal & Warner. Hmmm.
So HQ Streaming: check. At least it`s possible. All that`s needed now is the bandwidth and the software to sync up a Multitrack or Stem Pack by least 10x whats happening now, and voila.
Then to join all that funkiness together with the one major player I discounted from my initial equazions: Netflix. Uses 15% of the web`s bandwidth, decent download speeds, already knows how to stream big files. But where is “Netflix Music” ? **waits patiently**
Conclusion: Netfilx needs to buy Tidal and stream Multitracks & Stems. Really soon. 🙂
Speaking of Netflix, Here`s a line or two of copy pasta about a new Netflix remaster project:
“Have you ever wanted to try mixing a Dolby Atmos production but don’t have access to any content? If so, Netflix has made an Anime production – Sol Levante – to help the industry better understand 4K HDR and immersive audio in Anime. In addition, they have released the raw materials used in Sol Levante for download and experimentation and you can download the video and ProTools session assets, learn from the professionals and then try mixing it for yourself“.
Okkkkayy.. Back to being scared uh? haha. If you want more info on this, you might be better off Googling for more info, or this will become a long, long news post. ProTools Expert.com do seem to have a decent article on this so probably a good starting point is there. Or here.Then you might want to Google which version of ProTrolls you are actually going to need to invest in to open this 23GB monster.
Here`s a link to the files if you`re feeling brave here
Full Album Stems and Multitracks
Well, have I slightly opened a can of worms.. good excuse for a blog post tho.. been a while.
In my defense, it was only a random comment or two on a couple of posts that has prompted quite a few people to mail in and voice their opinions on record labels releasing albums as stems. Which, I did kinda ask for, but never before has a off the cuff comment of mine (surprisingly), been so well received lol.
I wouldn`t be doing my duty if I didn`t pass on some of the sites members comments to the wider world, you know, cos there seems to be lots of people with the same wish. It`s not just me !
So (once again) dearest record label exec`s/producers/artists ect.., the word is, people really do want their favourite albums as stems, but preferably as Multitracks, but we`ll settle for stems..OK, and the single releases too. And they feel strongly about it, but they also know in reality they can do little.. Join the club. And it`s not just my opinion that releasing albums as stems is a really good idea because (I now have the back up of all these different people too) and were going to make banners and wave flags. So there. Take that.
I think every man and his dog now knows there actually could be a HUGE market for officially released stems of classic albums and new ones alike, in the not too distant future`, if one was to arrive. Everyone knows it`s a winner..except the “Industry” it seems. Rest assured tho guys, I`ll keep doing my bit. All you have to do is get in the face of your favourite artists and ask them politely if you could buy their latest album and other songs as stems.. please. hehe. Deal?
Cant wait to see stems really being a “thing”. Bring it on. I would absolutely giggle myself to death if it ever pans out. I would. Even a decade on from now.
Maybe they (the industry) should just try it out with one. It would have to be a biggie though. It has been suggested that maybe the first one`s should be Pink Floyd`s “Darkside of the Moon” album. Apparently it was/still is a popular album. Imagine how popular it would be again? And how profitable, with zero production costs because the LP is already made. Here`s Pink Floyd`s Twitter. Why not say hello 😉
I think it seems to be what the people want in the future from artists too. (No Kidding uh). Their material in its component parts. Sorry if you didnt want to hear that (any artists/producers reading-you never know), but it`s the truth. At least there`s all the free remixes to look forward to. 🙂
Admittedly, I`ve had a weighted response via the emails, being a site that revolves around multitracks.. but even so, with the Charli XCX stem album, going out to her fans, (and not just half crazed multitrack collectors), that in itself shows the way for a bit of commercialism.
Maybe I`m being impatient, but honestly it`s on a plate for em. Soooo much money could be made and theyre happily whistling a different tune. We`ll see. Too old to really worry too much about it.
Still, I might get my dream of a Spotify stem player sooner than I`d hoped !
Mix The Music (MTM) Review & Thoughts
Mix The Music (MTM) Review mixthemusic.com.
While I`m in the mood to send people “off site” I wanted to do a short blog post regarding mixthemusic.com.
For anybody unaware or new to the multitracks “scene” there is now a legal way to buy stems/multi`s of many great artists and bands*.
This is the first* , maybe the first ever** “officially endorsed/licensed by some of the big guns” “buy your stems here” (sort of) web site. Which is great. Really great.
So please go there, set up an account, grab a stem pack, download the software, and have a little play.
In other words, if you can, show your support. (and of course have a some fun into the bargain).
All for the cost of $10 a song. Some are even $6.
I mean, where else can you get all the multitracks you`ll ever want for a few bucks?
Unfortunately there are restrictions as you may have guessed (or not) on what you can and can`t do with the multitrack/song you just bought. Long story short, I can totally understand why there are such restrictions and I`m not going to go too much further on that just yet. Dont agree totally with how it works, but I know why.
Basically you can`t simply download the stems to your favourite DAW and start remixing and exporting. Which is a shame. But almost nearly understandable.
You do get the sites` licensed DAW called “Studio One” to download with your stems though, which works well with the downloaded songs as a unit. I got a Barry White one to test it all out.
I`d guess from that minor review here that you can work out for yourself how MTM (as it will be known from now on for ease of use) operates.
It`s easy(ish) to set up an account and get going in under 10 minutes so once again, I`d urge one and all to give it a shot. If only just to see.
Spek (Spectrum Analyzer)
Hey guys, It`s been a funny old weekend so far, one where I`ve learn a lot, and one where I`ve made a few errors along the way. Eek.. Still, I hope everyone`s having a good “Holiday” weekend.
So the upshot of this weird weekend is that there will be a bit of a change coming on the site in regards to how things are labelled from now on, and how I`d like any content coming into the site to be labelled. I`ll take the site contribution thing first. To those guys sending stuff in, thank you. But, from now on can we get good at labelling stuff correctly? If you dont know something is from a trusted source, or your kinda suspect about the pack, plz let me know.
For instance, say you have a cover version stem set, with original vocals in, please label this as “karaoke”. It will save some hassle. So anything that is not by the original artist is Karaoke. OK.:)
Point of post. Over this weekend, amongst other great knowledge gained, I have been introduced to a program called Spek, and I`m here and now urging everybody to go download it, and check your stems for quality. You may be surprised. Once you learn how this program works you`re basically looking at your stems with new eyes. It will show you in essence, what has been “upscaled”. A shady practice where MP3 files are upscaled to WAV or Flac, and then maybe even down converted again, then back up.. and so on. Who knows? Well, with Spek, you can sort of find out.
I`ll admit I`ve been slow on the uptake of using this program.. I`ve seen the screenshots of it (like in the pic) and it`s a well known prog the more knowledgeable trader guys use quite often, but never really looked into getting hooked up with the program myself. Until now. ha.
So dropping the hint to one and all, if it`s good enough for the people at the top of the game, it`s good enough for us mere fans of our Stems/Multitracks/Remix Stems (whatever you would like to call em). Answers on a postcard to that question too 🙂
Download Spek here