How different can a remix be?

[Cupe]

So you've got the stems from the original and you're ready to remix.

How much do/can you add? How different can the track be and still be called a remix?

[Mitch]

It can be as different as you like.. It's your interpretation

[Cupe]

What if it ends up not even sounding like the original AT ALL?

You can fuck with stems endlessly, but there has to be a line surely?

[Jarred]

Depends on a couple things i suppose.

I've listened to some remixes that have barely any resemblance to the original which is fine! great to see what people can do to tracks but at the same time i think with remixes you want it to still be recognisable so that when someone else was to hear it they can still associate it with the original but see that you've added your sound to it.

my 2 cents.

[LabRat]

My opinion is a remix should differ from the original to some extent. If you have the original stems you can use those to keep some originality of the original track. If there are vocals I believe you can rearrange it the way you like, because people are familiar with the original song.

[Cupe]

If I was the original creator, I know I'd want my (legal) remixes to at least have similarity to the new song.

Obv it changes when remixes are done cross-genre.

But making something entirely different seems pointless. It's just a whole new song that has utilised parts of an existing song (which is also a massive percentage of current songs anyway).

[LabRat]

i think the original artists just want you to be creative with it. if you look at the entry info to remix comps they ask you to be original and not overkill the use of the original stems

[Cupe]

This is something I just finished working on, that sparked the reason for the thread:

https://soundcloud.com/scienceteheran/dance-under-the-stars

https://soundcloud.com/cupe/science-teheran-dance-under

[LabRat]

i know nothing about this stuff but i can hear that you've used something from the original stems. they sound different but have some similarities to them

[Cupe]

Yea I tend to try and keep some similar sounds when I remix. I feel like it should be an extension of the original.

[ethanmansfield]

1 distinguishable element of the original needs to be included in the remix id say.

[russell]

generally you want to keep the main melody of a track as this is the recognisable part.

I personally have no problem with remixes that sound completely different from the original