Via con me, Paolo Conte: Remix

I decided to choose this track because I wondered if I could transform it into another genre. Since I decided to do EDM remixes, I tried it out.

The original BPM was 82 so it’s pretty slow compared to EDM and the key G minor. I could have done the remix in double tempo, so 164 Hard techno, but I don’t have a lot of experience with that genre, and I tried changing the BPM in Logic, and it was already enough at around 120. That was perfect for House, which is why I remixed it. With a BPM of 124 and the key transposed down in F minor, by one semitone since i liked the vocals and instrumental like that.

I always start by cutting the beat to the grid on the DAW so that the tracks are on beat. Usually, I look for the kick in the instrumental, which is the bigger waveform, and place it at the beginning of the first bar next to it.

I searched for a lead melody on Splice, where you can get samples, filtering by BPM, key and genre.

I found a melody that I liked, but it was at 122 BPM. I exported it anyway and set it to Flex mode at 124 BPM. It sounded good because the difference was negligible, but sometimes it doesn’t, so I try not to do it.  A bit of mixing on the main melody: EQ cut low frequencies 150 Hz, leaving space for the future bass, compressor and sidechain to the kick.

I added a kick, found the sample on Splice, and put it as four on the floor. Sent it on Bus 1 for better quality sidechaining.

I modified my chords because I preferred some others from the same sample pack of the lead melody. I also got some variations of the chords and i mixied them. I added a compressor and EQ with the same objective as for the lead. Moreover, I added reverb using Valhalla Vintage Verb on a bus for better programming, as well as a delay. Additionally, I used Chromaglow as a saturation/distortion tool, which can enhance the warmth of the chords.

I also did some mixing on the vocals; I used an EQ with cuts on highs and lows to better define the range of frequencies. After sending it to a bus, I added reverb and a stereo delay. I also used the Ozone 11 Exciter, which can give a better sounding vocal performance. I tried using a vocoder but didn’t manage to tweak it to something I liked, so I removed it. 

Proceeding with the production of the remix, I added a bassline and used samples from the same pack as the chords and melody.