THE CREATIVE PROCESS 1 : The Art of the Remix
Recently there was a contest held by the makers of The Social Network original score to remix one of two tracks for a multitude of promotion/giveaways – if selected as a ‘winner’. All things considered, who cares about the prizes. This is why this makes for a great first entry of The Creative Process on www.Point31.com.
There is no question of the impact Facebook has on todays world. Twitter too has taken its place, not as a replacement but an alternate means of updating your status. In 140 characters or less, people have discovered that good information and direct links carry the same weight as a lengthy blogpost or normal Facebook status update. Passing on valuable information in half the time, creates a sense of urgency – even though the link posted, 9/10 times will be there and available from that day forward – not unlike viral videos. At times it is hard to tell where one update ends and the next starts. It is a constant pulse, of what is important, what was important and what is.
Using this concept, I moved forward with my remix. I wanted to produce it in the shortest amount of time possible, using as little programs as possible – but resulting in the familiar song of the original source. Most people will be creating their remix in professional programs – or entry level at best. As an artist, I understand the frustration of someone not knowing the difference between Microsoft Paint, Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS.x – and attempting to pass off the work as professional regardless. This wasn’t what I wanted to do either. I like to take programs and make them work for me. I do enjoy knowing that A, B and C can be done with a certain program – but I immediately gravitate towards – WHAT DO I WANT this program to do. In that, I chose QuickTime. Few people know that QuickTime 7 is a standalone editing program. You can cut, paste, extract – add, stack, overlay… But then Apple updated it and QuickTime became a player only – making room for the iMovie suite.
Facebook limits status updates to 420 characters unlike Twitter which has a 140 character status update limit. Taking this inspiration, I wanted to create the same for my remix. Could the same song, effectively be presented in a little over half the time? I wanted the pulse of social networks to be captured too – an endless loop of the beginning, the middle and the end. Once it is started at what point are you at? Will you be able to experience the urgency in the brief period of time? I feel in my remix I succeeded in all these aspects. The song is half the length, it maintains the integrity of the original score and it loops. Once you start it, the ending note and the beginning are the same – so it can be looped over and over and over to create an endless cycle. As of today, “contest” results places the remix at a measly 42. Thats 8 points LESS than the standard grade of 50 you start off with. Which reminds me again why I hate social network contests – The art of the remix is lost, but the ‘who you know/how you do’ is as powerful as ever. The remix can be heard/downloaded here: http://remix.nin.com/play/mix?id=21593 . When the contest is over I will post it for a direct download because I believe in the concept behind the art – regardless of what ‘grade’ I get.
PROJECT: REMIX; MUSIC // Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross’ Social Network OST
DATE: 9/24/2010
STATUS: REMIX COMPLETE / RESULT; 111 listens, 26 ratings – FINAL GRADE: 34
