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Remixes

Remixes

Date: Mar 08 2010

Themes: Music, Pop Culture

Grammar: Direct vs. Reported Speech

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Remixes take old songs and put a new spin on them. DJs have been experimenting with remixing techniques since the late 1960s, when they started taking songs apart and put them back together in a new way that made them more fun to dance to. Sometimes faster beats are put behind slower songs to make them more upbeat, or bits of familiar songs are mixed in with new songs to make them more popular and catchy. Find out whether Mason and Dale think remixing is a cheap shortcut or a true art.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Dale

Dale

Mason

Mason

Dale:  Are you familiar with remixes?

Mason:  I am currently fascinated with remixes. My favorite new song is a remix.

Dale:  Really?

Mason:  Yeah. It’s actually…it’s a remix of a commercial though. It’s this Slap Chop rap. So it takes remixing to a new level, it’s like you’re not even taking a song, you took a commercial with no music to it and turned that into a song. That’s where things are going, blowing my mind. But I know you were a DJ, still are, right?

Dale:  Yeah. The remixing part to it though is changing and evolved from remixing now to mash up. Mash up takes the beat of one song and uses the lyrics from another song, and you put those together and it creates this new weird brand new song.

Mason:  Do you think…I mean we’re not creating anything new, we’re just recycling old stuff to create new. I mean the end result is something new, but there’s…It’s kind of like well there’s so much stuff out there, why would I create something new from whole cloth when I can use these existing materials.

Dale:  A long time ago, and I forgot the name of the artist, an artist actually said that in the 80s or 90s that we’d been taking a lot of beats that were done from the 60s and 70s, we’re reusing them, that we’re not creating another original sound. He said eventually within time, all it is is going to be one generic sound. Now I don’t know if that’s gonna be true, but it’s starting to lean in that direction, because it just seems to be whatever the next hit, you bounce it off, and if it worked last time, you do it again.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Mason’s favorite song right now is a remix. In fact, it’s not even a remix of another song, it’s a remix that samples part of a commercial. Mason thinks the way some remixes recycle old material to create something totally new is very creative.

But some people feel that remixing is less creative than writing a new song. Dale works as a DJ, so he knows a lot about remixes. He thinks it’s possible that less new music is being made right now because remixes are so popular. He says that some remixes sound generic and aren’t very creative.

Do you like remixes? Do you think pop music today sounds generic? Would you ever want to be a DJ like Dale?

 

Comments

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EstebanM

EstebanM

Colombia

Sometimes remixes work, sometimes not: it's all about the taste and what can one do with the old song. A good remix is, for example, Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band A fifth of Beethoven. But a bad remix is the new one on the classic You spin me round.  

02:50 PM Apr 28 2010 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

I love remixes…I guess it is a cool way to remodel a old song ;) Some examples about it is the drum'n'bass style,I love it ;)

07:32 PM Apr 06 2010 |

ldrescher

ldrescher

Brazil

I like a lot of remixes from the musics that I like in the original form.

Ok.

12:21 AM Mar 14 2010 |

Latin Guy

Latin Guy

Mexico

i think remixes work for some songs, i mean there are song which dont need t be remixed! they sounds great in their original! but the most need like a hit to make them more danceable? (did i use a right word :s)....anyway! Dj´s rule!!!!

01:09 AM Mar 13 2010 |

rosendo

rosendo

Mexico


oohh come on , the best rmx is

"Moby – Lift me up (Sesto Sento Rmx)" check it out , u wont reglet

 

12:42 AM Mar 13 2010 |

~MemoTheHun~

Germany

The best remix is the one of Somos de Calle by Daddy Yankee ;)

06:57 PM Mar 09 2010 |

dan333

Canada

I love remixes but I prefer a "true" new song.

08:22 PM Mar 08 2010 |

quick to pardon

Mali

what can I say good lesson tupac is the best

hip hop

03:11 PM Mar 08 2010 |

dalshad

Syrian Arab Republic

it is somehow good way for creating something new

02:19 PM Mar 08 2010 |

dalshad

Syrian Arab Republic

it is somehow good way for creating something new

02:19 PM Mar 08 2010 |

dalshad

Syrian Arab Republic

it is somehow good way for creating something new

02:19 PM Mar 08 2010 |

dalshad

Syrian Arab Republic

it is somehow good way for creating something new

02:19 PM Mar 08 2010 |

kim_sakura

kim_sakura

Japan

i like remixes simply :)

because I can easily enjoy the songs since i recognize the songs of originals.

but, how can i know the answers of quiz..lol

12:48 PM Mar 08 2010 |

303Kevin

303Kevin

China

it certainly brighten my horizon, thanks

11:52 AM Mar 08 2010 |

mickee85

mickee85

Philippines

I think remix is cool. Especially rock songs, it makes my head nodding and moving my hips like yeah! lol

11:43 AM Mar 08 2010 |

sofoklosaa

Egypt

no i don't like remixes , coz i think that the song lose its value &   its original type , but this lesson is great

09:59 AM Mar 08 2010 |

zerocool7770

Viet Nam

Remix is the easiest way to 'make' a new song.

07:26 AM Mar 08 2010 |

siberian tigger

Mexico

It is a great idea for using possitive, old stuff like new things with some changes made in the original idea. In addition, we would take possitive behaviors, ideas and old works for creating new project, but we have to recogniaze the participacion of original author.

Good luck

06:35 AM Mar 08 2010 |

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