Method in Life of a Dog 2

JazzyDJ · Post by **JazzyDJ** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:47 am

I just now watched Life of a Dog 2 and I have to say I really like how the audio was done. I thought it was very creative and very well executed.

I'm sure there are other videos here at the org that uses this method as well, beings how creative and technicly sound every one is.

How is this done? At least, how is it done to sound so fluent and so the 2nd/3rd song doesn't conflict with "I walk alone"? I am really interested in this technique.

Ileia · Post by **Ileia** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:52 am

Yeah, the AMV editor didn't edit that audio, that was done by someone else several years ago, but I'm not sure who.

That being said, I think this thread belongs in the music section.

badmartialarts · Post by **badmartialarts** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:48 am

Scintilla used to be into mash-ups, he might be able to offer more advice as to actual techniques used, but the basics are taking two songs with similar rhythms and adjusting their speeds using an audio editor like Audition or Pro Tools so that they sync, then cutting back and forth between them in interesting ways. It's not unlike making an AMV, except totally in the audio realm.

And this would fit in General Music better, I'm sure a mod will move it eventually.

Kevmaster · Post by **Kevmaster** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:00 am

I played around with stuff like this a few years ago, taking the A capella version of songs and mixing them up with instrumentals. I've never really done any good though

I think Dafreshprince also remixed some songs like this, however I believe they were mostly hip hop/rap and he never used any of these remixes in his videos...

There are some AMV like Cts's Unreal or Mugen's The Coldest Rain, which took multiple songs form the same band and mixed them together, however it's not really the same as the Mix you've mentioned (which is the best Mix I've heard yet - It's by Party Ben btw).

I've heard other similiar remixes before though, such as a Mix out of Eminem's Rap Songs set to the instrumentals of AC/DC or Rammstein.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:29 am

i mixed up 5 songs for a harry potter video cause the audio i wanted didn't exist so i created it myself.

Fall_Child42 · Post by **Fall_Child42** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:20 pm

Check out Girl Talk for more examples .... his mashups are AMAZING.

YouTube · Post by **Rider4Z** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:32 pm

i thought i was clear in my description that i am not the editor of that remix. Party Ben makes lots of remixes like "Boulevard of Broken Songs". i merely borrowed it for Life of a Dog - Pt. 2. here's a site with all his stuff free for d/l. Party Ben

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Sun May 25, 2008 9:07 am

badmartialarts wrote:Scintilla used to be into mash-ups, he might be able to offer more advice as to actual techniques used, but the basics are taking two songs with similar rhythms and adjusting their speeds using an audio editor like Audition or Pro Tools so that they sync, then cutting back and forth between them in interesting ways. It's not unlike making an AMV, except totally in the audio realm.

To me, the chord progressions are more important to match up than the rhythms, because it's a lot easier to change rhythms.

If you've got two songs that are similar in that regard but one doesn't QUITE match the other, sometimes you can make it better by rolling off the bass of one (high-pass filter) so that you only hear one bass line instead of two conflicting ones.
Example: "My Summer Love" in the chorus goes I-I-IV-V, while "I Saw the Sign" goes I-vi-IV-V; but the root of I is present in the vi chord (it's the third), so I high-passed "My Summer Love" and it fit.
Or, "Open the Door" (Magnapop) has I-V-ii-IV in the verse, while "Good" (Better Than Ezra) has I-V-vi-IV; the root of vi is present in ii (it's the fifth), so I high-passed "Good".

You also want to pay attention to the other parts of the frequency spectrum as well; there are times when you'll want to high-pass one of the songs just because the bass is way too loud and thumping otherwise, even if they match up; or you'll want to low-pass one of them because the cymbals are way too loud otherwise; or any number of other problems.

Of course, all this is MUCH MUCH easier if you can find an a cappella track of one of the songs, or a karaoke track of the other, or both. This was happily the case for my two most recent projects.

A mostly-complete collection of my bootlegs can be found here:
http://www.aquilinestudios.org/mixes.html

Though I never finished this one, it contains the "Open the Door" vs. "Good" dynamic I mentioned earlier:
http://www.aquilinestudios.org/openthed ... mplete.mp3
(For some reason, the QuickTime plugin for my browser is screwing it up; just save it to disc.)