The Ultimate Remix

Master the techniques, get advice from the artists leading the pack

What is art? Without trying to come across all philosophical, art is the practice of recombining old ideas and making something new – putting new spins on familiar images; borrowing from the masters to make something bigger and better.

And as in art, so in music. The history of music is the reimagining of old ideas in new ways, whether it’s using old chord progressions, old instruments, or in the case of genres like hip-hop, entire old tracks, to make something new.

In this guide, we’re taking on remixing from a number of angles: we cover the technical skills you need to pull apart tracks and create new versions, we’re going to give you the necessary attitudes and workflows to put yourself in the right frame of mind, and we’re going to get advice direct from the horses’ mouths… Last month saw the release of the

Graceland – The Remixes project, with 11 artists putting their own spin on Paul Simon’s classic album, which was itself inspired by alternative forms of music. Through this lens, as we speak to some of the artists involved, we’ll deconstruct the artform that is the remix.