LETTER OF THE MONTH

Jul 1, 2006 12:00 PM

LET'S STAY TOGETHER

I'm writing this letter in response to the April issue's “Editor's Note.” Life and death is a touchy matter, and it always hits home when it's someone you know or admire. When I found out that J Dilla passed away, I thought to myself, “Life isn't fair.” Why do we always seem to lose the good people in life? The people who bring light and inspiration to the masses and the people who they are close to — those people will always stand out.

I know we all get tied up in daily life and eventually get behind on things. Some things you can't control, and some things you can. The best thing we can do is stick together and help one another — but not just when times get rough. I don't want to sound like a preacher, but life is too short to complain about the war, gas prices, energy, the Mexican border. I could go on and on.

I am happy that J Dilla was doing one thing that made him appreciate life — making music. I know we all love doing it, and it does take time. But that's the price we pay. J Dilla spent his time making the best music he could. Now it's up to us to carry his love for music and teaching it.

My sincere condolences go out to J Dilla's family and friends.
Matthew C. Ihrig
Lincoln, NE

For sending in this month's winning letter, Matthew C. Ihrig wins his own Lexicon Lamda ($299.95) USB desktop recording studio. If you send in the most inspired correspondence next month — or simply the letter we like best — you will win the Lexicon Lambda desktop recording studio. All you have to do is send an e-mail to remixeditorial@remixmag.com. Please include your full mailing address.

FIRESTARTER

It has been an ongoing goal of mine to eventually open up my own studio and start a new independent label. Not for the sake of personal wealth, but for the propagation of an art form. I have made it a daily exercise to study the essence of all genres of music to advance my knowledgebase, though my own preference lingers in industrial rock. My recent independent studies of hip-hop and electronic music have led me to the pages of Remix magazine. I was shocked to learn how relevant the information contained within those pages was to both my own musical tastes and to producing in general. It has become, quite literally, my one-stop information source for the roots and advancement of my chosen career.

I have kept my lifelong aspirations a secret from my fellow musicians and friends up until recently. But putting it out in the open has really given me the motivation I need to get the cogs turning. I have received tremendous backing and support for this. Numerous local musicians are constantly hurrying me along so that they may be one of the first to record on my label. It seems as though they've lit a raging fire under my ass and have forced my dreams into the light of reality. I thank them for this. And now it seems all my free time is dedicated to either the expansion of my own musical talents or building the foundation of my future career in production. These are the first days, my friends. Marvel at them.

Who knows, you may be reading the first inspired words of the world's next most sought-after producer. Clip this letter and hang it on your wall.
“Soto” Soler
Lawton, OK

HELP A MAN OUT

I have been into music production for a few years now but still haven't gotten to the point of the remixing process. In my opinion, the process seems straightforward and not too complicated. What I mean by remixing is when you create a different track over an original song's vocal track, making it sound completely different musically than the original version of a song. This is more common to electronic artists remixing a Madonna song or any other artist's song to make it sound more appealing to the dance clubs, for example. I'm guessing some sort of beat-mapping technology is involved when doing remixes. I do have a couple of samplers and other music-production equipment. I have a Boss SP-303 and SP-404. I also have a couple of synths and drum machines. Gearwise, what else am I missing? Any suggestions?
Adhab Al-Farhan
College Park, MD

Adhab, If the bpm of the vocal track isn't supplied, you'll want to find that out.

Ableton Live 5 has excellent tempo-mapping features, as well as being a complete software workstation for remixers. To take the budget route, there are plenty of small shareware programs available that will help you discover bpm. Start by doing a Google search for “calculate bpm.” — The Editors

MAINSTREAM GETS MAD DISSED

It used to be that I could count on Remix to discover new artists worth listening to. I'd almost always open right to “Shop.Talk.” expecting to find a respectable DJ and maybe a little insight into his methods, but in the April 2006 issue, you guys really blew it. Not only was the list of records a bunch of junk I could hear on any radio station, but the attitude of Whoo Kid is everything that is wrong with mainstream hip-hop these days. Why perpetuate it? I want to read about DJs and producers who are in love with the music, not themselves.
Eli “Dig Dog” Goldberg
Gaithersburg, Md.

AND TO MAKE US FEEL BETTER

I've been a subscriber to your magazine for a few years, and I have read all the complaints by other readers from time to time. But one thing remains: Remix still manages to give knowledge to the independent and upcoming artist who has the wisdom to use it to advance their career and art. Trust!
Black Saturn
Aldie, Va.

AH, CRAP! A CORRECTION

While putting together the Jazzmutant Lemur review for the June 2006 issue, Remix's hands went all twitchy and accidentally replaced one of the screen shots on page 88 with the one you'd already seen on page 87. Here's the correct screen shot so that the following caption actually makes sense: “Here, an active connection has whipped the Lemur editor into display values for an ADSR envelope, 7-band EQ and more. For the selected Object, in this case the red Ring Area, the editor shows its Behavior settings in the Properties column to the left.”

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