PLACE AND PACE PARTS
To move things into the proper
place, click Solo on track 4 to unsolo
the track and then click Mute. With
the Selection tool, click the area before any
vocal snippet in track 3 and press the space
bar to start playback from that point; listen
to how the new vocal sits on top of your core
song. To move the region, select the Time
Shift tool and drag the region until it starts
exactly where you want it. If the timing is a
bit off, use Change Tempo on just that region
to fine-tune it. If you want to get a little
funky with the vocal delivery, do a little
slice-and-slide to change up the pace; take
a listen to the vocal and pay attention to its
waveform peaks, which represent percus-
sive attacks (such as vocal utterances, drum
hits, and guitar strums). Zoom in and locate
the words and associated peaks that fall off
the beat. Then click the wave directly before
the peak, choose Edit > Split, select the Time
Shift tool, and nudge the right side split a
tad to the right to pace it later in time.CHECK THE TIME
Most likely, your two songs won’t
have the same tempo, but they
don’t need to be completely in
time with each other—just on the parts
you want to work with. Audacity lets you
change a song’s tempo without affecting
its pitch, so you won’t have to worry about
your singer sounding like the Chipmunks...
or Tay Zonday. With track 4 selected,
choose Effect > Pitch and Tempo > Change
Tempo. If you don’t know the BPM (beats
per minute) of
your songs (see
the Quick Tip),
you’ll have to
wing it; in the
dialog box, use
the Percent
Change slider
to either slow
down (slide left)
or speed up
(slide right) the
tempo. The more
you slide, the
more you’ll af-
fect the timing,
so gauge your
songs and prepare for some trial and error.
Click OK to make the change and check
your work. If things don’t line up very well,
undo your deed and try again.SAMPLE YOUR SONG
You’ll now sample the vocal parts
in your second song that you want
to pair with the first song; since our
songs share the same chord progression
almost throughout the song, we’re going
to alternate the vocals in the verses. Click
the Solo button on track 4 so you hear only
that track and then click the Zoom In tool
repeatedly to see more waveform detail.
Next, select the Selection tool, drag it across
either waveform where you think your de-
sired vocal part starts and ends, and press
the space bar to hear your guesswork. To
get those start and end points exact, hover
the Selection tool over the left side (start
point) of your selection until it turns into a
pointing finger, click and drag to the left or
right to reset the start point, and press the
space bar to hear your progress. Once you
nail the exact start point, do the same to the
right side of your selection to reset the end
point. Then copy your selection (Control-C),
click track 3 at the point where you want
this sample to begin, and paste (Control-V).
Repeat for any other desired parts.4
5
6
R&D^
EXAMINING TECHNOLOGY AND PUTTING IT TO USEQUICK TIP
There are books There are books
for DJs that list the for DJs that list the
BPM of thousands BPM of thousands
of popular songs; of popular songs;
search for “BPM search for “BPM
List” on Google List” on Google
Book Search
(http://books.
google.com) to
see if your song’s
BPM appears in the
generous preview.60 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| FEB 09 | http://www.maximumpc.com
DOS AND DON’TSTips for Budding Mixmasters
- Find songs with long intros, solo breaks, or a cappella passages, as these offer
the greatest mashup opportunities. - Avoid choosing songs that vary greatly in key, as too much pitch shifting can
make vocals sound horrible. - Use EQ and volume levels to bring more clarity to the parts you want to
emphasize, tone down the stuff you don’t, and balance things together. - Don’t focus on just the vocals; you can create some interesting mixes by
layering instrumental parts together. - The age-old K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) rule applies—toss in too many
melody lines at once and your music will lose focus. - Experiment and have fun! There is no right or wrong way to mash up songs, as
long as it sounds good to you.