Remixing "Melancholy friction" with Ardour & Ubuntu Studio - Open-Source Music Production

I go through the creative process of remixing our song "Melancholy Friction" featured on our album, Lorenzo's Remixes, Volume 2. I talk about the inspiration, DAW tracks, and the tools I used to make the remix.

My remix was heavily influenced by the industrial band Meat Beat Manifesto, particularly their track "All the Things You Are." I wanted to create a similar drum sound.

I delve into the drum programming using the built-in drum set plugin I have in Ardour, our DAW. I created a dance-industrial groove by manipulating the sounds through compression techniques to distort them.

One of the most difficult aspects of making the remix is my own fault, the original song is built off of a live stream session, so there is no set tempo. I had to edit the stem tracks to fit a defined tempo in this new track to get it to work.

I talk about the samples and effects I used for the remix. From chopping up keyboard lines to adding my own scratch sounds using open source audio DJ software Mixxx.

Key Takeaways from the "Manifesto Mix"

1. Inspiration and Groove: The remix was inspired by the band Meat Beat Manifesto (specifically the beat from "all the things you are") to create a dance industrial sort of groove.
2. Software Used: The entire remix was produced using Ardour and Ubuntu Studio.
3. Overcoming Live Recording: Because the original song was recorded live and was "not in time" (around 70ish BPM), all original samples—including vocals, the original keyboard line, and piano notes—had to be chopped up to fit the new tempo.
4. Distorted Drum Sound: A signature distorted effect was achieved on the Black Pearl MIDI drum kit by extremely compressing the track (pulling down attack/release and increasing makeup gain) instead of using a traditional distortion plugin.
5. DIY Sample Scratching: Custom record scratches were created using the free/open-source DJ software Mixxx by performing the effects manually ("by hand").
6. Processed Orchestra Hits: An "obnoxious orchestra hit setting" was incorporated and treated with a gate effect to eliminate the echo, resulting in a "curled up distortion" sound.
7. AM Radio Vocal Effect: The "for too long" response vocal was manipulated with extreme EQ (pulling off high/low end and boosting mids) and a flanger to make it sound like an AM radio "barely coming in".
8. Instrumental Punch: A powerful post-vocal instrumental section was created by layering two Yoshimi guitar tracks ("Distorted Guitar three" and "Trash Guitar too") and adding a rat pedal effect.
9. Dramatic Sound Design: A pause was added for dramatic effect, featuring the unusual free sample, "Funny Souls in Scary Variations" (a minute-long track of ghost noises).

Links Mentioned

• Ubuntu Studio https://ubuntustudio.org
• Ardour https://ardour.org
• Freesound https://freesound.org