So the other day I was at a party and the Biggie Smalls/Part in the USA mash-up started playing. One of the people I was talking to said he didn't like mash-ups, because he didn't think it took any talent to create a mash-up. I disagreed, because I think to make a great sounding mash-up, you have to have an ear for music, and you have to know the elements of music and make them work with one another. I thought it would be difficult to intertwine songs to make a catchy track. The guy also argued it wasn't an art form, because the remixer(?) was just taking songs already created, therefore he wasn't creating anything new. I also disagree with this, because a remix can totally change song(s) dynamics, creating a new piece of music, even if it is out of two+ other pieces.
It is an interesting discussion, though. If others feel the way this guy did, then there are other things I consider to have artistic value that may not be so. For example, the Garfield Minus Garfield webcomics we had to read. While the original comic strips were created by Jim Davis, Dan Walsh added a new take on the strip by removing certain characters. This was a creative decision, and it adds a completely new dimension to the former comic strips.
Another similar example would be Red Vs Blue , the comic adding voice-over to videos of Halo. All the visuals and the "camera work" are the creations of Bungie (the Halo developer) but the content is made by Rooster Teeth Productions. So while the episodes often play on the fact they're in the Halo universe and they're using visuals from Halo, they make it their own story. Is this form of web series deserve to be discredited, because it wasn't animated by Rooster Teeth? Or is this a creative decision that makes the web series work better? Something to think about.
- Zach
I completely agree with you. Making a great sounding mash-up takes time and a lot of music knowledge. I feel that you have to be able to count time, and know what key each song is played in so you can make them up or change the pitch of the other to match one songs key. Groups like The Legion of Doom don't get enough credit for the hardword they put into making their mash-ups.
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ReplyDeleteI think that this is definitely an art that does that a lot of work, time, and precision. Similar to DJing, anyone can't just "be a DJ." It takes practice and meticulous execution to be considered good in that industry. I always enjoyed the idea of giving something a twist, just for the sake of being creative and innovative. I think that as long as it doesn't make the original "worse," then I'm all for experimentation and infusing multiple things to create something new.
ReplyDelete-Regina
The argument of originality comes up quite often, but few realize that that fight is long over. We don't need to be original to be interesting. Art needs a voice and even by using someone else's voice, you say it in a different way. I'm starting to encourage people to sample my music, to re-mash up my images, and to re-edit my movies. If we take from little bits around the world we make a new point of view which I think has an interesting take.
ReplyDeleteThe line I have always drawn was unaccredited riffing. When taking something I've always seen it as a collaboration with the person you take from. The person who made your new work possible deserves some credit.
Create and Share please.
I view using another's work and chaining it into something different to be a legitimate art form. In my mind the person who is chaining the original piece they saw or listened to is expanding on an idea or using their perception, which may be completely different from the original artists intention or idea. Through this new interpretation it morphs into something else, and maybe its better than the original, maybe worse or maybe just different. So long as its not straight out copying, but using the piece as inspiration for expansion I believe it to be art.
ReplyDelete-Kira
I definitely see mash-ups as a form of art. Creating the perfect mash-up has to take a very good ear for music and the knowledge of what sounds good together.
ReplyDeleteThey say that nothing is truly original anymore, and I do believe that. However, I also believe there are original ways of reworking preexisting art and turning it into something new. I think it's almost harder to do that, because you've got to find a way to rework something so that people will respond to it in a new way and won't just dismiss it as a copy or knock-off.
Being an audio engineer I always thought that being a DJ was so lame and didn't require any kind of knowledge or skill at all. Then, when I updated ProTools to LE Version 8 I automatically got Torque with it- a program that allows you to mix or "re-mix" songs. I'm not sure if there are other programs that allow you to do it easier, but I played around with Torque for a pretty long time and couldn't get it right! I consider myself to be very computer savvy and music is pretty much my life, so I was shocked that I couldn't get the hang of this. Of course I could benefit from some direction with this, but for anyone that pushes this aside and dismisses the skill set that comes with making mash-ups my only advice to them would be to try and do it themselves first.
ReplyDelete-Anastasia