The 'Mash-Up'

[media=youtube]HYHtcH5lRDw[/media] here you go, much better (mashup enthusiast, this one is in for the taking!!)

Personally when I think of mash up I always think of Girl Talk – his mashups are amazing and I drop one or two of his tracks in a set and people love trying to catch all the little samples used. I think they have their place and are their own work of art when done properly.

DJ GRE, post: 6510 wrote: Personally when I think of mash up I always think of Girl Talk – his mashups are amazing and I drop one or two of his tracks in a set and people love trying to catch all the little samples used. I think they have their place and are their own work of art when done properly.

I agree.

I still like making mixes/mixtapes more.

I have nothing against mashups, but I do feel at times when I hear most of them that it tells me we’re not moving forward musically, but living in the past. I worry when I hear sets that DJs claim is “all new stuff”, but it’s really old anthems with new beats and sounds tossed in.

I always say this: “A mashup with Bon Jovi in it will just come off as Bon Jovi to the audience. They won’t notice nor care that you cleverly remixed it with some other tunes…they’re just paying attention to the familiar bit you played.”

I just think it’s important that underground or mainstream…DJs should challenge the crowd a bit with new stuff they don’t know, but might like. Too many guys I see playing mashed up stuff (not the Girl Talk types of people) simply just play nonstop familiars and never deviate into new territory unless it ends up on the radio.

I DJ with mashups almost exclusively and have been producing my own since 2008. I consider them a sub-style of remixing since there’s usually a fair bit of a production process involved. I love playing them out because of the reactions I often get. People think they’re about to hear one song, but when they hear another vocal the also recognize they usually freak out in a good way. There’s always that moment of audible confusion, which can be really tense and can go either way, but usually there’s a group of people to lead off with a sing-a-long. Hearing people switch between singing Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” is always a fun sight to see. 🙂

I used to consider Girl Talk’s work “hyper-sampling” or a “hyper-mashup” but then I discovered Madeon:

[media=youtube]lTx3G6h2xyA[/media]

This kid is only 17! Sometimes it makes me rethink what I’ve been doing. 😛

I’m actually thinking about starting a more advanced mashup project in the vein of Girl Talk that will allow me perform more as an electronic artist than a DJ – that is, most if not the entire performance would be prepared in advance, like a rock band plans a set. There would be some breathing-room to improvise or change if nessasary, but ideally it will follow a predetermined plan. This will allow me to (eventually) build and add-on a programmed light show, which is not something I can currently achieve just through DJ-ing.

I find Mashups fascinating, on a creative level I feel they’re a logical extension of DJing.

I love mashups, i find them just to be fun to listen to. Its really easy to find great mashup artist (i love girl talk and 3lau is amazingly talented) The only downside i find is that if your searching you find too many involving the same songs across many mashup artists (i can literrally name 1000 mashups with ellie gouldings lights or adele rolling in the deep. GRRRR.) There all good in their own right but i don’t think you could get away with playing similar songs too much in one set (any one with much experience feel free to comment).

Also i dont produce yet/ no plans. So the idea of live mashups is interesting to me as i get more gear but it still wont be as impressive as that which is produced.