One of the most technically gifted producers in town: Icicle is smashing it in every direction right now. Now he wants YOU to smash his work with our Icicle remix competition.
It’s a good way of showing people what kind of thing I’ve been doing in the studio with my live tour. It also gives someone the chance to win lots of cool shit!
In recent months, the longstanding member of the Shogun Audio family has left his decks at home and developed an awe-inspiring laptop-free live show that he’s been showcasing at a number of clubs and festivals around Europe, further highlighting his creativity and immense musical talent.
“It’s really pushed me as a producer. It’s been absolutely exhausting!” he admits. “I’m pretty sure I’d collapse if I did it for a whole year, but there are a few more dates lined up, so hopefully I’ve got enough stamina to see it out. I’d been DJing for so long to the point where it all became a little bit repetitive, which is why I decided to focus on the live shows, and it’s a decision I definitely don’t regret.”
Now he’s giving you the chance to show what you can do in the studio, with an Icicle remix competition in partnership with Native Instruments. The winner will be the person who turns the project provided by Icicle himself into the best sounding track using Maschine Studio.
“Native Instruments have been really supportive with my live show from the beginning, helping with my setup and practical solutions to get the best results,” he says. “Then we had this idea of me making a project using Maschine Studio and inviting people to remix it.”
“It’s a good way to get people interested in using Maschine and it’s also a good way of showing people what kind of thing I’ve been doing in the studio with my live tour. It also gives someone the chance to win lots of cool shit!”
But before you hit your own Maschine, take time to learn a trick or two from the man himself? Here are Icicle’s top remix tips:
Be experimental with genres…
“You don’t have to go for straightforward drum & bass to make a good remix. I often think that the best remixes are when producers take songs from a completely different genres and turn them into tunes in different genres. Delicate and elaborate form of art Jazz flac download which is constantly expanding and evolving in different directions. I’ve purposefully made a half-time project with some major synths and no big hooks so that people can choose what genre to turn it into; they can make it into drum & bass, EDM, techno… whatever they want.”
Show creativity…
“I want to hear my own song in it but also think “what the f**k!?’ To make me have that reaction, the remix will need to have its own identity – it shouldn’t just be a reshuffled version of the project I’ve provided. I’m not looking for a specific sound or genre, I’m just looking for someone to be as creative as possible. I want people to put their own personal spin on the music. It’s hard to describe good music but I want to hear something that instantly stands out after one listen.”
Have fun!
“Being given a project to remix is the perfect opportunity to have a bit of fun. The first thing to do, in my opinion, when you start on a remix is to have a play around with it and see where it takes you. You’re lucky in the sense that you’ve been given someone’s sound design and you can do what you want with it. It’s especially fun trying to find parts of the original track that weren’t necessarily exploited that well and working on improving those elements, whether it’s adding more bass or tweaking a snare drum.”
I want to hear my own song in it but also think “what the f**k!?
But avoid the common pitfalls…
“The main problem with remixing a track is that you can either make it too different or make it too similar. It’s difficult to get just right, especially when it’s for bigger hits that everyone knows. If you keep it too similar, people will say it’s a lazy effort of a remix and if you do too much to it, people will say it could have been any old tune and it’s barely a remix. That’s one of the main difficulties of remixing, and something to be considered with this project.”
Embrace the challenge…
“Maschine isn’t what I’d usually use to produce a whole track and it probably isn’t what most other people use to produce music, but that’s what this project is all about; showing people what the software is capable of and forcing people to leave their comfort zone. It will be a challenge for sure but overcoming challenges is what makes good producers become great producers, and using limited tools to produce a track is definitely the sign of a great producer. I’d like to wish everyone entering this competition the best of luck!”
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