Six types of remix
OFFICIAL REMIX
An official remix (such as Andy C’s rerub of Major Lazer’s Get Free) is typically commissioned by an artist or label, with full stems and/or MIDI files of the track in question supplied. There’ll typically be a fee involved if your profile as a remixer will help to sell the record with profit shares sometimes offered for lower profile remixes.
VIP
If your latest track’s being rinsed far and wide, making your own VIP remix can give you an exclusive for your DJ sets while still jumping on the popularity of the original. Good starting points when doing a VIP are to tweak the riffs, change the drum pattern, or get a personalised vocal recorded – just like DJ Zinc did with his Ms Dynamite VIP of Freenote!
BOOTLEG
These are typically unofficial – ie, made without permission from the original artist. Multitrack stems might be available if you’re lucky, but most bootleggers take sections from the single stereo mix and meld them together into a DIY remix. Bootlegs can also give your career a boost – Jason Nevins blew up after his bootleg of Run DMC’s It’s Like That was officially released.
RADIO/CLUB EDIT
Creating custom edits of your song can make it more appealing to different markets and audiences. Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams’ smash Get Lucky is a great example - cutting down the full mix to a more focused fourminute radio edit distilled the very best sections of the song into a masterpiece that you couldn’t get away from back in 2013.
MASH-UP
Mash-ups are created by merging two tracks together to create a new mix, often by adding the vocal from one big track to the instrumental of another. Mash-ups can be somewhat cheesy, but equally can draw a huge reaction when played in a DJ set, with artists like the Cut Up Boys making their whole career from mashing different tracks into each another.
RE-EDIT
Re-edits are very popular with dance music DJs and involve taking a full stereo mix and rearranging it in a manner of your choosing – anything from lengthening the drop or simplifying a complicated arrangement through to removing that bridge section that doesn’t mix well. Check out Mr. Scruff’s legendary DJ sets to hear a slew of re-edits in the wild.