Editor's Note: Digging Deep
Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Kylee Swenson, Editor
I want to give kudos to the open-minded people who have taken the time to get to know Remix and understand that it's about a lot more than an MPC sampler and a hip-hop producer or some eyebrow-raising opinions from a tortured electronic/rock artist or reviews of DJ mixers.
Even if you're not a fan of Busta Rhymes or hip-hop MCs/producers in general, there's still plenty to learn: Their experiences in the studio or onstage or in the business of making music may resonate with you. Also, I hope that just because there's a hip-hop star throwing 'tude and wearing ridiculously expensive jewelry on our cover, you won't miss out on a valuable tech article, such as August's feature on mid/side processing or this issue's how-to on making authentic raga music.
Both on the artist and technical side, we editors dig way below the obvious surface of topics to deliver something new and useful in every issue. There are plenty of obvious hitmakers out there we could be featuring, but we don't cover an artist/producer unless we stand behind his or her music and believe they have integrity in what they do. It doesn't matter if some superstar has five hits on the radio right this second: That doesn't necessarily make for a compelling Remix story. Maybe we'd sell more copies of issues to ravenous teens if we put the top-selling 22-year-old hip-hop artist/producer on the cover, but unless that artist is doing something musically interesting or innovative, why would you care to read about him? You already know how to use Auto-Tune as an effect, right? We all found out how to do that back in 1998 with Cher. I digress, but will that Auto-Tune craze just die already?
This month's cover story, on Omaha, Neb.'s The Faint, was a no-brainer because we like the music and there's quite a story to tell about the band's career after 10 years in the studio and on the road. For one, the guys recently started their own label and built their own studio. You'll get to read all about the technical and creative details on p. 22.
And we never stop at what we can fit in print. Keep checking out the “Online Only” section of Remixmag.com for exclusive content, including some artist and producers' in-depth, play-by-play explanations on their process of creating tracks. To top it off, Remix is now producing regular Webcasts with interactive how-to discussions of studio and stage techniques. Go to Remixmag.com to watch the archive of our first Webcast, “Producing Club-Ready Tracks,” and stay tuned to catch more live Webcast events as we roll them out over the coming months.
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