MP3 and remixing

[Gou]

Couldn't figure out where else to put this thread, but I have a question for anyone who makes their own Electronic/House music.

I'm looking to get into remixing music. I don't play any musical instruments, I just want to be able to take music I own, change back tracks, add effects, speed up/slow down parts, etc... typical "Remix" stuff. But I'm brand new at this. I don't know how to even go about getting started. Ideally, I'd be hope to find software that allows me to take the MP3 files on my computer, separate the music from the vocals, add effects to the vocals, sample from the backtrack and change what I want, add effects/instruments to the backtrack... I'm aware this kind of software probably doesn't exist, but what kind of software should I look into? Where do I start? If someone could just point me in the right direction to finding the right software/the right place to be/where to find more information, that'd be fantastic. Thank you so much!

-Mike

[bleep_bloop]

to change the back tracks , you have to be able to sepearate the vocals from the backing tracks by editing or specifically getting instrumental only version of songs and visa versa with vocal tracks.

[munky_magik]

A painstaking way to do this is to use Audactiy (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) to open the files you want, cut/copy/loop the bits you want and then paste it all into anther file to create your song. It has a half decent library of built in effects which is useful.

The only thing that it really can't do is separate vocals from the backing track.

For adding instruments you could use MIDI, though the sounds tend to be slightly unreal, which you can find in a ton of programs like Cubase. If you get Guitar pro you can score a song for a variety of instruments then export it as a sound file and into your song.

These are probably the most backwards ways of doing what you're asking, though.

[indietrash]

if you want drums - get hydrogen - http://www.hydrogen-music.org/
easily the best drum machine I've ever used.

[gaslight]

You'd be looking for programs like Reason, Logic, Cubase, ProTools for professional quality toying around with audio.

Unfortunately the only way to get vocal and instrument tracks seperated is to have your hands on the master tracks, which is extremely difficult to say the least. Generally you'll have to make do cutting out unaccompanied bits of whatever and mish-mashing them together.

The thing with audio tracks is before they're made into an mp3 all the seperate tracks (Bass, guitar, drums, keys, vocals, backing vocals, whatever) are all mixed down into a single track and short of pressing undo in the program just after it's done, there's no way to reverse the process.

Bit of a bugger for us people who want to play around with remixing at home, but it's all part of the challenge I guess. Makes hunting down good samples a more challenging/rewarding experience.

[c0mpt0n4ss]

For adding instruments you could use MIDI, though the sounds tend to be slightly unreal, which you can find in a ton of programs like Cubase. If you get Guitar pro you can score a song for a variety of instruments then export it as a sound file and into your song.

I use MIDI for a lot of my stuff, but recently (within the past 8 months) stumbled upon soundfonts. Even though a lot of soundcards aren't compatible, if you dropped me a line, I could walk you through the long and short of it.