How to Make Your Pop Mashup… Pop
Thoughts from a music maker
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Anyone who knows me really well, knows that I’m a big music lover. Whether it be playing in a band, taking dance class, or even blogging about it, music has always been a big part of my life. One thing that really piqued my musical interest in my teen years was the idea of the mashup.
A mashup (also mesh, mash up, mash-up, blend, bootleg and bastard pop/rock) is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another.
I was so intrigued by the idea… taking multiple songs, cutting them up and putting them back together in a way that presented itself as something new and fresh. The challenge of turning separate songs and combining them into a new work of art was exciting to me.
So I got to work. Over the years, I’ve experimented with creating dozens of mashups, spanning genres from rock to hip-hop to electro. However, there’s something about putting together a good ol’ pop mashup that I really enjoy. Here are some tips and tricks that I usually turn to when I’m trying to craft that perfect pop gem.
Gear up
First and foremost, the music. Aside from having the regular songs you want to work with, it is infinitely helpful to acquire the acapellas (vocals only) and instrumentals (background music) of those tracks. These can be purchased online on DJ websites and forums, found on artists’ singles and EPs, and can mysteriously show up if you ask the Google gods really nicely.
Also, before you start you’ll need the right programs to be able to work with songs and modify them as you see fit. An easy program for beginners to pick up and use is Audacity. Though it might not be able to perform every trick in the book, it’s a good learning tool that allows you to easily select parts of a song, cut and paste, change key/tempo, and much more. As you become more comfortable, you can search for more advanced programs such as Ableton Live, Sony Acid, and Logic, that will give you more control and flexibility with how you play around with the music.
Gotta know the basics
It’s apparent in everything we do; if you want to be good at something, you first need to learn the foundations. In this case, that’s beat-matching and key-matching.
Beat-matching is the act of taking two songs and increasing or decreasing their tempos so that they play at the same BPM (beats per minute). Nothing is more grating than hearing someone sing faster or slower than the music. On the other hand, key-matching is changing the keys of both songs so that they are one and the same. Actually, I lied… what’s more grating is hearing someone sing a song in the wrong key. This obviously applies to songs with an apparent melody (i.e. this wouldn’t apply to rap).
Another thing to keep in mind is that your life will be much easier if the songs you are trying to mash up are somewhat close in key and tempo. This lets you avoid situations where the singer sounds like a chipmunk or a hippo in the end product.
Once you are able to master this, you have the tools to make your own simple “A/B mashups”, where one takes the acapella of one track and the instrumental of another to make a new song.
Chord progressions are your friends
So you’re able to get your tracks in the same key and tempo, and you’re churning out those songs like it’s nobody’s business. What’s next? Now, you can start to give more thought to what kinds of songs mesh well and sound good together. Years ago, this video went viral on YouTube:
A comedy troupe called the “Axis of Awesome” put together this little skit, joking that they could “pump out any pop song ever” while using four simple chords as a backdrop. The end result was brilliant and hilarious, and there’s actually a lot of truth behind what they were saying. The reason that all of the songs they played sounded so great one after the other is because they all shared the same chord progression. This refers to a series of chords played in succession, to establish the tone and key of a piece of music.
If you’re able to train your ear and realize when two songs have the same chord progression, there’s a great chance that the two will sound perfect in a mashup together. To further this point, a mashup album called “American Edit” hit the web in 2005; the album features mashups of tracks from Green Day’s iconic “American Idiot” album mixed with popular rock and alternative hits. Album creator Party Ben even went on to state in an interview that the objective of the album was “to point out just how similar some of the songs on American Idiot are to other rock songs”.
Admittedly, being able to identify and recognize chord progressions is a difficult skill that requires some finesse and practice (and possibly some music theory). However, being able to do this makes it easier to pump out songs that sound “just right” and super pleasant to the ear.
Experimentation is key
On the other end of the spectrum, there’s a thrill in being able to magically bring together two songs from completely different worlds. It’s really interesting to hear mashups where a song originally in a minor key (making the song have a “sad” tone to it) has been refashioned into a cheerful ditty by pairing it with the instrumental of a song in a major (happy) key. In addition, it’s fascinating to hear people experiment with the collision of genres. Country twang meets hard-hitting hip hop, breezy island-y pop meets alternative rock — anything is possible in the land of the mashup.
The only way this can happen if you’re open to experimentation. If you have a crazy idea, go ahead and try it! You never know what might sound good together.
Flex those creative muscles
There are several things that can be done to add more “oomph” to your mashup. One thing I like to do is make use of the acapellas I have for the tracks being used in the mash and intertwine the vocals and sprinkle ad-libs throughout the song. If done tastefully, this can make the song feel more organic, and less robotic and obviously computed. This avoids the notion of “oh, he just took song A and threw it on top of song B”. I see it this way: if you can picture the artists jamming in the studio together as you listen to your mashup, then you’ve done it right.
What else can you do? You can have a theme to your mashup; this can vary from having songs by the same artist to using songs with the same message or similar lyrics. You can combine instrumentals to create a new beat to use as the base of your mashup. You can make use of remixes to the songs you’re sampling to switch up the flow mid-song. You can use bits and pieces of lyrics from the songs you’re sampling to create new verses. The possibilities are literally endless.
You got all that down?
For those looking to play around with mixing, I hope I was able to offer some interesting insights. I’m not going to lie, putting together the perfect mashup is no easy task. But it sure is dang cool.
