Free · The Great Medicine Show
Your first remix, in seven decisions
The Remix Roadmap from Jordan the Green. Work through it with any song and any DAW. Print it, or keep this page open beside your session.
The seven decisions
- 1Source. Which song or stem inspires you? What gives you the right to use it the way you plan to?
- 2Intention. What should the remix make somebody feel? Describe it in three words.
- 3Map. Write down the tempo, the key if you know it, the time signature, where the vocal comes in, and the strongest phrase. If the grid feels wrong, test half time and double time.
- 4Align. Loop one phrase. Do its start, middle and end sit naturally against the beat? Listen before you add a single warp marker.
- 5Pocket. Choose one drum groove and one bass idea. Mute everything else. Does the vocal still lead?
- 6Story. Sketch the intro, the main idea, the contrast, the return and the ending. Mark the one moment where the energy changes.
- 7Finish. Export a reference, listen to it away from the session, write your next three fixes, and check permissions before you share it anywhere.
Practice log
- Song:
- Intended use:
- Permission, and where it came from:
- Session tempo:
- Creative direction:
- Strongest 16 bars:
- Next three fixes:
- Next work session:
A heads up before the class
See it done
Want to watch these seven decisions happen in a real session? I teach them live in The Art of the Remix, Saturday, November 14, 4:00 PM CT, $49.
See the class$49A note on permission: working through this with somebody else's song is a fine way to learn. Releasing it is another matter. A song has two sets of rights, the composition and the recording, and you need the right to both before you share a remix publicly. Your own material is always the simplest place to start.