Project and Portfolio IV
For the Project and Portfolio IV class, I chose to remix Blood to Bone by Young Griffo. To me, mixing rock music has always been a challenge simply because of the amount of work that has to go into it to make it sound 'commercial'. It's easy to go overboard with it (see the Metallica album titled Death Magnetic) and one can easily underachieve and make it sound like it was tracked using one microphone in their parents garage. Additionally, I felt like the song could really be opened up if it was done acoustically for a sort of unplugged feel. With that mindset, I proceeded with the remix process.
For the first variation, I used Rewire connecting Pro Tools and Ableton. In doing so, I was able to create the feel that I was most going for. I wanted to slow the song down so that the vocals could open up a bit while also cleaning it up with a clean guitar. Ableton allowed me to sample various musical sections while using the Rewire feature allowed me to record these samples directly into Pro Tools so that I could include them in the original mix.
The second variation was done with an acoustic guitar played by me on top of the original track with the electric guitar removed from the verse. I'm by no means a professional musician but I wanted to simplify the song even further while maintaining the original beat. I feel that this gives the song a live feel to it. The chorus effect on the acoustic adds to that feel and it really allows the vocals to be showcased a bit more as well.
The final variation includes the use of sound design. I decided to add to the dark feel of the song by incorporating the sounds of a thunderstorm, wind and a high pitched metal resonation. Additionally, the telephone effect adds a bit of intrigue to the song and it's an effect I've always liked in rock music.