After some delays from Universal Trent Reznor has launched remix.nin.com. Create, share, download, and listen to thousands of NIN remixes in this new community of user-generated creativity.
From the mix page of the site:
To expand the concept of the “remix record” we’ve decided to give you the tools to experiment with the remix process yourself. Included on this site are a variety of Nine Inch Nails songs available for download as multitrack audio files. They are available in some or all of the following formats:
- Garageband for Mac (works with Logic as well).
- Ableton Live for PC or Mac (free demo available here).
- Generic wave files at 16 bit 44k for any audio editor.
An explanation:
In the studio, we record everything in a multitrack format, separating all the parts onto different “tracks” that can be manifested individually. These tracks are then mixed down to two tracks – left and right (stereo) – that arrive to you in the form of a CD or MP3. We’re giving you all of the individual multitracks that were used to create the stereo ones you know. By loading those tracks into the appropriate multitrack application of your choice, you can remix and manipulate the original parts to your liking.
On a Mac, Garageband is the easiest way to check the process out. Simply load a song and hit the space bar – then start pushing buttons and see what happens. Ableton Live is an application that we use a lot for composing. It runs on Mac and PC so we’ve offered some songs in that format for your convenience. The generic wave files are included for those who use any other program that can load wave files (which should be all of them, Mac or PC).
Click “Download Multitracks” above to get the files and start playing around. Multitracks of every song from Year Zero in Garageband, Ableton, and wave formats are included on the CD/DVD version of Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D.
When you have a mix ready to go, click on “Upload Remix” above to add it to the site.
There are currently 9 NIN and 2 Saul Williams multitracks. Trent recently produced Saul Williams’ album Niggy Tardust, which is free on niggytardust.com
Below is Trent’s blog entry about the legal trouble with Universal.
Recording vocals is an art. A lot of people suck at it. (no offense to those who suck at it, i was one of you once. I’m better now, and I’m giving you some tips to get your vocal game together.)
I’ll skip all of the production explanations about working out parts in preproduction. fast forward to the vocal booth. Here are a few recording tips for you young engineers, and do it yourself home recordists.
NEVER put the singer in the booth until you are SURE that your entire mic chain is working flawlessly, good signal, no hum, buzz, or crackle.
NEVER put a vocalist in the booth until you have a great rough mix for them to sing to. The more the headphones sound like a record, the closer to a record quality vocal performance you can hope for from the vocalist.
NEVER put a vocalist in the booth until you have at least a really good guess at compression levels, input levels, EQ, mic placement, etc… You should NEVER have to spend more than 1 take getting your signal chain together, and i try very hard to have everything set really right before i ever put the singer in the booth, so i can capture the first take if its a great one. My only exception to that rule is when i use a ribbon mic on vocals. Ribbons NEED a ton of EQ to sound great, but usually once they have it, they can be magical on certain singers. So, if i am going to use a ribbon mic on a singer i will specifically explain to them why i need to spend the first take EQ’ing them, and to please bear with me. Then i will be lightening fast getting the sound together when they sing. 1 take. thats the max.
I ALWAYS have my assistant scream and yell into the mic while the music is playing when I’m setting my levels (before putting the artist in the booth :-) ). this will tell me where i need to set my maximum compression levels, and also, i can balance the vocal mic where i want it in the singers mix, typically so they are a bit louder than where they would be in a final mix, but not so loud that they lose the tonal center of the music. Also, I have my assistant set the volume of the headphones themselves so that they are loud, but not blowing the singers eardrums out.
I almost always use (in addition to outboard compression and EQ), almost always i will use a plugin compressor on the monitor channel………………………………………..
Is there anything out there that is free and better than iMovie?
We are about to start producing some tutorial videos for the store. It will be a combination of camera and screen capture possibly with overdubbed dialog we need something that can edit and combine everything into one video.
Lamb Of God is releasing their album Sacrament in a special edition including multitracks of all the songs, mix it however you want. It is schedule for release on December 4 2007.
Here is a video of them recording guitars for this album
If you’re wondering about all the Protools posts all the time, thats just because I use Protools all the time, its what I know, and what I’m interested in. I never wanted to be the sole author on this site, but thats how it’s turned out. Sooooo…. If you want to contribute, if you have something to say with a different perspective (Sonar, Cubase, Live, Logic, Reaper, etc) then by all means contact me
