Mix and Mash-Up

By Chris Taylor

What do you get when you layer the soulful vocals of Destiny's Child over the grunge riffs of Nirvana? Or blend the energetic hip-hop of Salt-N-Pepa's Push It with the garage-rock ferocity of the Stooges' No Fun? The answer in both cases is a gold-plated, bona fide hit record.

Forget American Idol. Mash-ups, as these musical shotgun marriages are known, are the real road to success for today's harmonically challenged pop wannabes. The expertise required would make Beethoven blush. If you have ever listened to a mash-up and thought, I could do that, you're absolutely right. The necessary equipment: a PC, your CD collection and a pair of ears. No cash required, at least not until you're ready to unleash your motley mix upon an unsuspecting world.

First, if you haven't done so already, you need to turn those CDs into MP3s. This you can do effortlessly with free jukebox software like Real One (at real.com) Then spend some time listening closely to the tracks. Which opposites seem to attract? Don't worry about matching tempos or even keys. You can take care of that later.

What really matters is your choice of mixing software. Even semiserious mashers should consider splurging on the Plasma 2003 ($39.95 with registration at cakewalk.com or the superior Acid Music 3.0 ($69.97 at sonicfoundry.com) But you don't need either of these programs to flex your mash-up muscles. Sonic Foundry also offers a serviceable stripped-down, free version called Acid Xpress. And if you know how to finger-paint, you know how to make a mix.

Here's how Acid works: you import an MP3, then "paint" it onto a layer of your master track. Can't stand that slow intro? Use the eraser tool. Want to sample Sarah Vaughan singing a single line from Summertime? Cut and paste it as many times as you like. When you paint the second tune over the first, click on it to change the pitch, tempo and volume until they match. It's that simple.

Of course, making a mash-up that anyone other than its creator would want to listen to requires a little finesse. You need to interlace the lyrics judiciously and learn subtleties like crossfades. But it's hard to go wrong mixing the a capella version of one song and the instrumental of another. It doesn't hurt that for years the music industry has been creating instrumental tracks on CD singles for the DJ market. If you can't find them, there's a piece of free software called Vocal Remover (at analogx.com that achieves the same effect; it's also great for making karaoke CDs.

Now for the finishing touches. Both Plasma and Acid Music will let you layer on drum loops, synthesizer sounds and even your voice. When you're done, the full-price versions will let you burn your masterpiece onto a CD.

Here's where you could wade into murky legal waters. Keeping a copy for personal use is O.K.; distributing it requires the permission of every artist you have sampled. Don't hold your breath. It took mash-up duo 2ManyDJs a whole year to clear the rights for an album that took a week to make. Meanwhile, at least you'll have something better than American Idol to pass the time with.

Questions for Chris? You can e-mail him at cdt@well.com