Often I see people posting questions regarding copyright issues on forums such as acapellas4u, and while being no expert in these matters I can at least share my own experiences and knowledge of copyright issues affecting mashups. Please be aware though that this is not legal advice and I have no legal qualifications, what is written below is how I currently understand various copyright issues and this may be wrong so be sure to look into these matters yourself if they do affect you.
1. Is downloading an acapella or instrumental legal?
Downloading an acapella, instrumental, or original version of a track for free is almost certainly going to be in breach of an artist/label/publisher's copyright. However the likelihood of you being prosecuted for such activity is currently very low and I suspect pretty close to zero. As I understand it actually sharing/uploading the files is far more likely to get you in legal trouble than downloading them will.
2. I bought a track off Beatport / iTunes (or any other store). Does this mean I can sell copies of a mashup or remix I made of the track?
In most circumstances no. Buying a copy of a track for your own use from a service such as iTunes does not give you the right to distribute the track yourself to other people. If you wanted to sell copies of a mashup or a remix of someone else's track that you made, then you would first have to get permission from the copyright holder of the music you were using and then pay them the necessary amount to be able to use their track. However remixes of tracks purchased through Beatport can themselves be sold on the Beatport website, check beatport.com for more details.
3. Can I post a mashup or remix on YouTube?
Yes you can. YouTube automatically scans uploaded videos for copyrighted material. If YouTube decides that a video contains copyrighted material then any royalties that video generates will be paid to the copyright holder of the copyrighted material that is used. YouTube may block your video in certain countries as rules regarding copyright in certain countries are stricter than in others. YouTube may also block videos containing copyrighted material on mobile devices and other platforms which do not generate advertising income. And sometimes YouTube will simply completely block your video if it contains copyrighted material.
4. Can I share a mashup or remix on other internet sites?
It depends. Some sites currently don't scan for copyrighted material (eg dropbox) and some do (eg daily motion). Whether a site which scans for copyrighted material blocks your mashup or remix will vary from site to site. A site which doesn't scan for copyrighted material will obviously allow you to share a mashup or remix but beware that you will probably be in breach of copyright if you share a mashup or remix this way.
5. Can I host a mashup or remix on my own website?
Doing this would most likely infringe upon the artist or label's copyright and could get you in trouble. I have seen people mention producers being sued or fined for hosting mashups on their own site and as such I personally don't host any mashup downloads on my blog. Many other people of course do host mashup and remix downloads (eg mp3 files) on their own sites without incident.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Sunday, July 27, 2014
INFO: My Top Mashup Making Tips
Hi
I've intended to make this post for a while now but after receiving some good advice over on the mashstix.com forum I decided now would be as good a time as any to share what knowledge I have regards making mashups. (Not that I'm any authority on the subject but maybe someone might find some of these points useful)
These techniques are things which I find useful when making mashups, and while there may be other ways of achieving these outcomes; these are the ones that work for me. Feel free to share in the comments if you have any better ideas!
My Top Mashup Making Tips:
1. Differentiate the acapella and instrumental tracks you have on your computer from the rest of your music library in some way. I still find it useful to have a separate folder for acapellas and instrumentals as I then know what I've got to work with, however a more modern solution would be to use some kind of tagging system through your OS or other software.
2. Having trouble warping an acapella? Try warping the original version of the track as well. This will be easier to warp than the acapella and once you have warped the original it will benefit you on two accounts: Firstly you can now more easily tell which words occur on which beats visually when placing warp markers, and also by playing the original and acapella tracks together alongside each other you can hear when the acapella is going out of time. When playing the tracks side by side; if you hear an echo/delay the the tracks are quite out of time, if you hear a phaser effect they are almost perfectly in time and once you cannot distinguish between the two except for maybe an increase in amplitude (volume) of the vocal, they are in time.
3. For whatever reason acapella files you find off the internet may not be the same tempo as the original tracks. Bear this in mind when warping them.
4. Listentoyoutube.com. A very useful site, just remember that audio obtained this way may not be of the highest quality. Also be wary not to infringe on any anyone's copyrights when using this site, okay?
5. Download Switch Sound file converter. As the name suggests this application allows you to convert audio files into different formats. I have two main uses for this software; firstly it allows you to convert MP3 files to WAV files (useful as some applications will not recognise MP3s). And secondly, after you've rendered a WAV file from your DAW, you can then convert the file to an MP3 suitable for sharing online.
6. Download mp3tag. This is an excellent tool for conveniently tagging your mp3 files so people don't have to do it themselves when they download your tracks. It even enables you to add artwork to mp3 files.
7. If you do find an instrumental or acapella online which you may wish to use in future, don't hesitate and download it as soon as possible. I say this as online accounts/sites for instrumentals and acapellas often get shut down, which can leave you searching for the track all over again.
8. Acapellas4u.co.uk is a great site for finding acapellas. The only thing to remember is though, is that the site is not totally exhaustive. So it is always worth checking on Google even if you don't find a track there.
9. When searching for a particular acapella on Google you may find that the first results you find are DIY acapellas. It is still worth looking through a few more results if this is the case, as I have found official acapellas listed lower down than DIY acapellas in the past. This can happen for instance when an official acapella gets leaked sometime after a DIY acapella has already become popular.
10. If you want to find a better quality version of an acapella or instrumental file that you have already downloaded, use the file size as a way to see if a file you find online is identical to one you already have or not.
11. Don't be afraid to move on to a new mashup if it sounds like one you are currently working on will not match correctly.
12. If you find a mashup works in your head but not in reality it doesn't, maybe try to mashup a remix of the instrumental track instead, this has worked for me in the past.
13. When starting out warping, start by warping tracks with very well defined beats, for instance dance or hip hop tracks. You will probably want to ensure you work with music that is in common time (the 4/4 time signature) when you are first starting out too. Then the more you practice the more easily you will be able warp more complicated pieces of music, such as those that have less well defined beat waveforms, and other time signatures.
14. When you first attempt to warp rock songs it can initially seem impossible to visually identify where a downbeat in the music is. A good trick is to notice where a kick (bass) drum hit occurs; they can be identified by zooming in on the waveform and noticing a distinct characteristic wave that occurs on the start of most bars.
15. Use effects to your benefit. Clever use of just a couple of audio effects can make your mashups sound much clearer. For instance filters/EQ can help reduce 'clashing' frequencies and compression is useful to help 'glue' sounds together.
16. Here is a nice tip for downloading mp3 files which are included on websites in things like 'preview players'. Be aware though that this doesn't work on all websites and the location of the mp3 'file name' varies from site to site. Also don't infringe anyone's copyright...okay?
17. If you are not already, become familiar with the following terms; BPM, Warping, Pitch Shifting, Key, Scale, Waveform and OOK
18. If you would like some constructive feedback on your mashups try posting them to the 'Submit Here' board on the Mashstix.com forums. Mashstix.com is also a great place to hear new mashups from both established and less established mashup producers.
19. Make sure your mashups are in time. No one wants to hear an out of time mashup.
20. You will want your mashups to be 'in-key' basically what this means is that the key of the two (or more) tracks you are mashing are identical.
21. Where to find acapellas - acapellas4u.co.uk and google are pretty much the main tools I use. YouTube is also good way of confirming if something actually exists or not even if you don't wish to download the acapella from there at least you know that the track is available somewhere.
22. Make a video for your mashup. Think, pop-stars must make videos for a reason right? From personal experience (and I'm sure this is proven too) there is something about moving pictures that sucks you in. If you already post your mashups on YouTube then consider making a video for them other than just a plain still with music playing. Assuming the tracks you are using already have videos there is nothing to stop you using these to accompany to your mashups. Be aware though that if you are planning on posting the video to YouTube they might decide block the video even if the audio alone is not blocked. If you don't have the time/skills/computer to put together a proper video try making a video based on a slide show of photographs (only those you have copyright for though...right?) as I have found even these are more effective than plain still videos.
23. Creating DIY acapellas and instrumentals - If you can't find an official instrumental or acapella version of a track then there is always the possibility that you could create an acapella or instrumental version of the track yourself. There are various ways to do this and all the different ways I'm aware of are listed here.
24. Discogs.com is a great site for confirming whether an official commercial or promo instrumental release exists for a track, and where you will be able to find it. Be aware though that while extremely comprehensive the discogs database is not totally exhaustive, as I have found instrumental promo releases which exist but are not listed on discogs.
And those are the main pieces of advice I have to offer regarding making mashups. If you would like me to add any more or make any suggestions leave a comment.
Thanks for reading.
Niall
I've intended to make this post for a while now but after receiving some good advice over on the mashstix.com forum I decided now would be as good a time as any to share what knowledge I have regards making mashups. (Not that I'm any authority on the subject but maybe someone might find some of these points useful)
These techniques are things which I find useful when making mashups, and while there may be other ways of achieving these outcomes; these are the ones that work for me. Feel free to share in the comments if you have any better ideas!
My Top Mashup Making Tips:
1. Differentiate the acapella and instrumental tracks you have on your computer from the rest of your music library in some way. I still find it useful to have a separate folder for acapellas and instrumentals as I then know what I've got to work with, however a more modern solution would be to use some kind of tagging system through your OS or other software.
2. Having trouble warping an acapella? Try warping the original version of the track as well. This will be easier to warp than the acapella and once you have warped the original it will benefit you on two accounts: Firstly you can now more easily tell which words occur on which beats visually when placing warp markers, and also by playing the original and acapella tracks together alongside each other you can hear when the acapella is going out of time. When playing the tracks side by side; if you hear an echo/delay the the tracks are quite out of time, if you hear a phaser effect they are almost perfectly in time and once you cannot distinguish between the two except for maybe an increase in amplitude (volume) of the vocal, they are in time.
3. For whatever reason acapella files you find off the internet may not be the same tempo as the original tracks. Bear this in mind when warping them.
4. Listentoyoutube.com. A very useful site, just remember that audio obtained this way may not be of the highest quality. Also be wary not to infringe on any anyone's copyrights when using this site, okay?
5. Download Switch Sound file converter. As the name suggests this application allows you to convert audio files into different formats. I have two main uses for this software; firstly it allows you to convert MP3 files to WAV files (useful as some applications will not recognise MP3s). And secondly, after you've rendered a WAV file from your DAW, you can then convert the file to an MP3 suitable for sharing online.
6. Download mp3tag. This is an excellent tool for conveniently tagging your mp3 files so people don't have to do it themselves when they download your tracks. It even enables you to add artwork to mp3 files.
7. If you do find an instrumental or acapella online which you may wish to use in future, don't hesitate and download it as soon as possible. I say this as online accounts/sites for instrumentals and acapellas often get shut down, which can leave you searching for the track all over again.
8. Acapellas4u.co.uk is a great site for finding acapellas. The only thing to remember is though, is that the site is not totally exhaustive. So it is always worth checking on Google even if you don't find a track there.
9. When searching for a particular acapella on Google you may find that the first results you find are DIY acapellas. It is still worth looking through a few more results if this is the case, as I have found official acapellas listed lower down than DIY acapellas in the past. This can happen for instance when an official acapella gets leaked sometime after a DIY acapella has already become popular.
10. If you want to find a better quality version of an acapella or instrumental file that you have already downloaded, use the file size as a way to see if a file you find online is identical to one you already have or not.
11. Don't be afraid to move on to a new mashup if it sounds like one you are currently working on will not match correctly.
12. If you find a mashup works in your head but not in reality it doesn't, maybe try to mashup a remix of the instrumental track instead, this has worked for me in the past.
13. When starting out warping, start by warping tracks with very well defined beats, for instance dance or hip hop tracks. You will probably want to ensure you work with music that is in common time (the 4/4 time signature) when you are first starting out too. Then the more you practice the more easily you will be able warp more complicated pieces of music, such as those that have less well defined beat waveforms, and other time signatures.
14. When you first attempt to warp rock songs it can initially seem impossible to visually identify where a downbeat in the music is. A good trick is to notice where a kick (bass) drum hit occurs; they can be identified by zooming in on the waveform and noticing a distinct characteristic wave that occurs on the start of most bars.
15. Use effects to your benefit. Clever use of just a couple of audio effects can make your mashups sound much clearer. For instance filters/EQ can help reduce 'clashing' frequencies and compression is useful to help 'glue' sounds together.
16. Here is a nice tip for downloading mp3 files which are included on websites in things like 'preview players'. Be aware though that this doesn't work on all websites and the location of the mp3 'file name' varies from site to site. Also don't infringe anyone's copyright...okay?
17. If you are not already, become familiar with the following terms; BPM, Warping, Pitch Shifting, Key, Scale, Waveform and OOK
18. If you would like some constructive feedback on your mashups try posting them to the 'Submit Here' board on the Mashstix.com forums. Mashstix.com is also a great place to hear new mashups from both established and less established mashup producers.
19. Make sure your mashups are in time. No one wants to hear an out of time mashup.
20. You will want your mashups to be 'in-key' basically what this means is that the key of the two (or more) tracks you are mashing are identical.
21. Where to find acapellas - acapellas4u.co.uk and google are pretty much the main tools I use. YouTube is also good way of confirming if something actually exists or not even if you don't wish to download the acapella from there at least you know that the track is available somewhere.
22. Make a video for your mashup. Think, pop-stars must make videos for a reason right? From personal experience (and I'm sure this is proven too) there is something about moving pictures that sucks you in. If you already post your mashups on YouTube then consider making a video for them other than just a plain still with music playing. Assuming the tracks you are using already have videos there is nothing to stop you using these to accompany to your mashups. Be aware though that if you are planning on posting the video to YouTube they might decide block the video even if the audio alone is not blocked. If you don't have the time/skills/computer to put together a proper video try making a video based on a slide show of photographs (only those you have copyright for though...right?) as I have found even these are more effective than plain still videos.
23. Creating DIY acapellas and instrumentals - If you can't find an official instrumental or acapella version of a track then there is always the possibility that you could create an acapella or instrumental version of the track yourself. There are various ways to do this and all the different ways I'm aware of are listed here.
24. Discogs.com is a great site for confirming whether an official commercial or promo instrumental release exists for a track, and where you will be able to find it. Be aware though that while extremely comprehensive the discogs database is not totally exhaustive, as I have found instrumental promo releases which exist but are not listed on discogs.
And those are the main pieces of advice I have to offer regarding making mashups. If you would like me to add any more or make any suggestions leave a comment.
Thanks for reading.
Niall
Monday, June 23, 2014
INFO: Creating DIY Acapellas and Instrumentals
If you want to create a mashup or remix of a track, but can't get hold of the official studio instrumental or acapella via the sources listed here, then there a number of ways to create DIY acapellas and instrumentals or obtain unofficial or alternative versions of instrumentals and acapellas. Read on for a list of the main ways this can be done but keep in mind that there is no guarantee that any of these methods will actually produce a quality acapella/instrumental of a particular song.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
INFO: Where To Find Official Instrumental and Acapella Tracks
Okay so lets say you want to find a download link for a studio instrumental or acapella version of a song, the first thing you probably want do is search for it using Google. However you will probably find that for many tracks it is not as simple as searching and finding a working download link to the official instrumental or acapella you need. If an official instrumental or acapella does not appear on the first few pages of search results, it is likely that it hasn't been made available to the public yet and it is possible it never will be.
However by knowing where most official instrumental and acapella tracks originate from, it may be possible for you to locate the track yourself. Read on for a list of ways you might get hold of an official instrumental or acapella track.
However by knowing where most official instrumental and acapella tracks originate from, it may be possible for you to locate the track yourself. Read on for a list of ways you might get hold of an official instrumental or acapella track.
Friday, June 6, 2014
FREE DOWNLOAD: kn0ck0ut 0.8 - DIY Acapella Creation Software - Knockout
Download link: Free Download of kn0ck0ut v0.8 by St3pan0va
Kn0ck0ut v0.8 is VST plugin which allows you to create a DIY acapella using your DAW by spectrally analysing the instrumental and original versions of a track.
This software is by St3pan0va but as their original host site for the free download has since disappeared, I have uploaded it via niallspence.com.
The software is totally free to download, and checkout the read me that comes with the zip download for more information about kn0ck0ut (pronounced knockout). Please note this download is fully legal as the software is distributed as freeware.
While the results using this plugin are far from perfect I decided it would be worth uploading knockout to the internet once more as it still garners interest on sites such as acapellas4u.co.uk.
Also if you run LV2 compatible software then there is a port of the kno0ck0ut plugin with improved performance available here.
Have fun creating acapellas and thanks for reading!
Niall
@NiallSpence
Kn0ck0ut v0.8 is VST plugin which allows you to create a DIY acapella using your DAW by spectrally analysing the instrumental and original versions of a track.
This software is by St3pan0va but as their original host site for the free download has since disappeared, I have uploaded it via niallspence.com.
The software is totally free to download, and checkout the read me that comes with the zip download for more information about kn0ck0ut (pronounced knockout). Please note this download is fully legal as the software is distributed as freeware.
While the results using this plugin are far from perfect I decided it would be worth uploading knockout to the internet once more as it still garners interest on sites such as acapellas4u.co.uk.
Also if you run LV2 compatible software then there is a port of the kno0ck0ut plugin with improved performance available here.
Have fun creating acapellas and thanks for reading!
Niall
@NiallSpence
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
TUTORIAL: Making a Music Mashup Video
Have you ever tried to create a video for a music mashup or remix you have made? After trying to make one for the first time recently I have decided to share what I've learnt so far as there aren't really any tutorials dedicated to this subject online. The benefit of making a video for your mashup is that theoretically it will be more interesting to watch for your viewers than a simple 'still' video such as this.
Let me point out that this post is concerned with making a music mashup video, which involves is two or more songs mashed together like this. This post is not concerned with mashup videos like this, where the mashup is of two or more films or television programs that don't accompany a song.
Let me point out that this post is concerned with making a music mashup video, which involves is two or more songs mashed together like this. This post is not concerned with mashup videos like this, where the mashup is of two or more films or television programs that don't accompany a song.
Approach 1 - Use the official videos of the songs in the mashup.
In mashup music videos like this the video has been created by combining scenes from the original videos of the songs used in the mashup. To create a video like this you will need a video editing software application, your mashup audio file and digital file versions of any videos you wish to use in your mashup video. Once you have these things you can set about making your video.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Dizzee Rascal 'Showtime' DIY Acapellas! *Repost*
Notice: This original blog post got taken down so I have removed the download URL from this post and reposted it. Please contact me on twitter if you are interested in hearing these DIY acapellas. Thanks.
Original Post:
Original Post:
For the first time on the internet someone has attempted to create DIY acapellas of many of the tracks from Dizzee Rascal's 'Showtime' album!
Showtime DIY Acapellas Tracklisting:
1. Graftin'
2. Learn
3. Hype Talk
4. Face
5. Respect Me
6. Get By
7. Knock Knock
8. Girls
9. Flyin
10. Is This Real
These acapellas were created using the phase inversion method. The audio used in the phase inversion process was WAV rips of Showtime and 320 kbps MP3 versions of the instrumentals.
Obviously with these being DIY acapellas some traces of instruments remain and their loudness varies from track to track. No further processing has been done on these acapellas beside using the phase inversion method to attempt to isolate the vocal of each track, so feel free to try some filtering yourself!
I don't really have much experience/knowledge of creating acapellas from full songs so can't really improve them but hopefully by uploading them, these acapellas might come to the attention of someone who is able to isolate the vocal better than has already been achieved. If anyone does manage to improve any of these acapellas let me know and they can be added to the original download archive.
I don't really have much experience/knowledge of creating acapellas from full songs so can't really improve them but hopefully by uploading them, these acapellas might come to the attention of someone who is able to isolate the vocal better than has already been achieved. If anyone does manage to improve any of these acapellas let me know and they can be added to the original download archive.
Also included is the DIY acapella version of 'Give You More', the B-side to the 'Stand Up Tall' single.
Tracks from 'Showtime' that aren't included and the reason why:
Showtime - There is no instrumental available for this track so an acapella could not be created using the phase inversion method.
Stand Up Tall - This acapella is already widely available, google it.
Everywhere - The phase inversion method does not produce a good enough acapella of this track, there are too many instruments remaining too clearly so it is not included.
Dream - There is no instrumental available for this track so an acapella could not be created using the phase inversion method.
Imagine - There is no instrumental available for this track so an acapella could not be created using the phase inversion method.
Fickle - There is no digital instrumental available for this track so an acapella could not be created using the phase inversion method.
Is this Real (Dream single B-side) - The phase inversion method does not produce a good enough acapella of this track, there are too many instruments remaining too clearly so it is not included.
Appeal #1:
Do you have a CD copy or lossless rip (WAV or FLAC) of the rare Dizzee Rascal 'Instrumentals II' album? If so you could help try to obtain better quality acapellas of the ones listed here as MP3 files were used in the acapella creation process. If a higher quality of recording is used to obtain the acapellas they may sound better!
Appeal #2:
Do you have a CD copy or lossless rip (WAV or FLAC) of the rare Dizzee Rascal 'Instrumentals I' album which features tracks from 'Boy In Da Corner'? If so you could help try to obtain acapellas of many of the tracks from 'Boy In Da Corner'. (Big up to the forum user who sent me the MP3's of this album!)
Please contact me or try making the acapellas for yourself if you can help!
Hopefully these acapellas will be of some use to you, and if you like them be sure to checkout my Dizzee Rascal mashups!
Thanks for reading,
Niall
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