A mash-up is a track where the vocals from one song have been mixed over the music of a different track. Also known as "Bastard Pop," Mashups were originally performed live using turntables and DJ mixers, but advancements in audio sequencing software have allowed an entirely new art form to take hold.
In 2001, a DJ named Freelance Hellraiser put together The Strokes "Hard To Explain" and Christina Aguilera's "Genie In A Bottle," calling the track "A Stroke of Genieus." ( 64kbs, mono) This was an underground sensation and helped give new life to the Bastard Pop / mashup genre.
More recently, the idea of bootleg albums was created when DJ Danger Mouse created The Grey Album. Every sound sample used in this mashup album came from from The Beatles White Album. All of the vocals came from Jay-Z's The Black Album. The collection of songs was groundbreaking and helped inspire the official release of Collision Course, a mashup of Jay-Z and Linkin Park.
For the complete history of the mashup genre, refer to the wikipedia article on mashups.
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For the most part, DMB has been exempt from bastard pop. In early 2004 DJ Oliver Crawler released a rather uninspired, poorly synced track called "99 Sweet Problems" mashing Jay-Z's "99 Problems" and DMB's "Sweet Up and Down." ( 128kbs)
[editor's note: A few other dmb remixes exist, but they barely qualify as mashups.]
Dave Matthews Band is actually ripe for a remix, far more so than a band like Linkin Park. Strong connections between dmb and the hip-hop community have been evident for some time, including performance with the Roots, Jay-Z's backstage appearance at Central Park and Dave's gushing over Jay-Z in his June 2004 Playboy interview.
The potential for mashup opportunity with DMB's new album, Stand Up are huge. After passing on production assistance from Dr. Dre or the Neptunes' Pharrell Williams, DMB chose hip-hop producer Mark Batson.
To help jump start this potential, we've created the "American Baby Mashup Kit". This kit includes a collection of samples from the recently leaked DMB single from Stand Up, "American Baby." This tune lends it self well to sampling, with some awesome yet simple beats layed out by Carter Beauford.
Original Cuts
The following clips are original clips from the currently leaked American Baby single. Note that Dave's vocals throughout the song including the chorus drop in on the fourth quarter of the preceding bar, and thus do not form a perfect loop. Some mp3's are linked below for preview.
Note that setting most mp3 players to repeat will not reproduce the loops correctly. There must be a null delay between the start and end of the loop to get the full effect. (Winamp's repeat function will not quite do it.)
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_Bass_Hit_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_High_Hat_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Drum_Loop_1_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_Hit_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_Loop_1_Jam_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_Loop_2_Jam_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_Loop_3_Jam_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_Loop_4_Jam_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_Loop_5_Jam_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Chorus_Full_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Chorus_Original.mp3
"Effected"
This kit is designed to inspire both mashups and remixes. The following files have been run through various sound processing to help stimulate ideas for remixing.
American_Baby_Instrumental_1_Chips.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_1_Mad_Cuts.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_2_Electro.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_2_Electro_Wah.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_4_Chips.mp3
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_Band_Pass.mp3
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_Cracker_Jack.mp3
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_Hi_Fi.mp3
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_Low_Fi.mp3
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_My_Mad_Neighbor.mp3
American_Baby_Pluck_Loop_Reverse_Attack.mp3
Sample Mixes
The following have been provided just to show how different loops can be strung together to create some interesting results.
American_Baby_Instrumental_12Mix_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_34Mix_Original.mp3
American_Baby_Instrumental_Effects_Mix_Original.mp3
Images
Want to make a cool album cover for your mashup? These images from the Stand Up Cover designed by Thane Kerner and Stefan Lessard are a starting place for you.
StandUp_Cover.jpg
StandUp_Cover_FireDancer.jpg
StandUp_Cover_Font.jpg
You need some audio editing software. There are plenty of great commercial ones out there, and some tools allow a limited time demo.
Audacity (Open Source, freeware tool)
Adobe Audition (formally Cool Edit Pro, trial available)
Tracktion (Commercial, demo version available)
Sony Soundforge (Commercial, free trial available)
GarageBand (Mac software)
Other handy audio tools for creating bastard pop include FL Studio (Fruity Loops), Propellerhead's ReCycle and Reason and Acid Pro.
There are several good mashup references available on the web. Phillip Meehan's Painting By Numbers came up with a detailed mashup tutorial for creating a mashup using Tracktion. Whether you end up using Tracktion or not, this is a good starting place for your DMB Mashup.
Get Your Bootleg On is a mashup and remix discussion board. You'll find plenty of example tracks, samples and capella downloads. They also have a How to Make Bootlegs forum.
The Jay-Z Construction Kit has a great list of mashup resources available on their preview page.
 Download the American Baby Mashup Kit (Requires Registration)
Download aggro1's "Powerless American," which features vocals from Nelly Furtado's "Powerless"
Download "American Business, which features vocals from Eminem's "Business."
- Please submit your mashups / remixes to submissions@weeklydavespeak.com or attach them to replies in this thread.
- Feel Free to spread this file around, but please keep the contents intact.
- Full .wav source availble to serious mashup artists, email requests using the above address.
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