Quick video on making a vocal-free instrumental from the original song. A little background: back when I was spinning vinyl (around 2002-2006), it was common to buy a single, and the single would come with an instrumental. Here's an example from my collection:
Not as simple today, because those voice-free beats are hard (if not impossible) to find - as far as I know. Luckily, software like Logic Pro makes it easier to sift through a song, find the parts you like, then cut them out and loop them to make your own instrumental.
In the case of Jay-Z's Big Pimpin, it's easy to just take the first few bars and call it a day. But for the purposes of a mix, remix or mashup, I wanted to find slightly quieter, flute-free bars that don't overwhelm the other tracks we're using. In this video, I found a couple pieces toward the tail end of the song and turned them into a 56 second mix with Day N Nite and What's Poppin.
Tempo: 117 bpm Bpm range: 115 to 120 bpm The DJ’s Take: An iconic pop track that any dj should have in their rotation. No excuses. A good list of key-compatible songs to mix or mash up with, including: Solo Dance - Martin Jensen Routine - Alan Walker x David Whistle Safe And Sound - Justice D.A.N.C.E. - Justice Say My Name - ODESZA ft. Zyra This Town (Tiesto Remix) - Niall Horan Welcome - Martin Garrix & Julian Jordan Get Lucky - Daft Punk If you're willing to drop a couple bpm's, blending this with Poison - Bell Biv Devoe is pure gold. Download or stream the song: Apple Music iTunes Amazon
tempo: 93 bpm bpm range: 90 to 95 bpm The DJ's Take: Song #6 in our chapter 53 mix (11:38): As we saw with the I Wonder lead-in, that percussion-only intro makes this easier to mix and to play around with. Also melts nicely into Nine Inch Nails' Closer . In fact, even though I know when the transition's coming, it still creeps up on me a bit. Still worth a spot in your prime-time pop rotation. Some other key-compatible music: Old Thing Back - Matoma & Notorious BIG Back To Sleep - Chris Brown One More Chance (Remix) - Notorious BIG Shoop - Salt N Pepa Out of the Woods - Taylor Swift This Is How We Do - Katy Perry Na Na - Trey Songz Paranoid - Ty Dolla $ign No Games - Serani Download or stream Starboy: spotify playlist amazon
tempo: 126 bpm bpm range: 125 to 130 bpm The DJ's Take: Song #3 in mix 50 (3:39): Pretty epic drop; a lot of those pop edm tracks from ~2010-2012 sound similar, so it makes sense to string them together. Akon's Beautiful was a nice follow-up here - kinda like going 88 mph on the highway, then braking down to 75. Some other key-compatible music: Va Va Voom - Nicki Minaj THE SCOTTS - THE SCOTTS, Travis Scott & Kid Cudi Like I Do - David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Brooks I Need Your Love - Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding Where Have You Been - Rihanna Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People In The Dark - DEV Pump Up The Jam - Technotronic Shots - LMFAO The Way You Move - Outkast Blame - Calvin Harris ft. John Newman Thinking About You - Calvin Harris Turn Me On - David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj Don't Stop The Party - Black Eyed Peas Take Over Control - Afrojack ft. Eva Simons Where Them Girls At - David Guetta ft. Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj Judas...
