Summer of music

Going to learn the keyboard and how to make song remixes 🙂

piano

Ultimate goal

How to get there

  • Go through how to play piano book
  • Practice an easy song from random country/week
  • practice this song consistently

Making song remixes

Ultimate goal

How to get there (lowkey just asked gemini 😅)

Isolate the DNA of the original song
Step 1
Before touching any instruments, you need the raw elements. Find the BPM (tempo) and the musical key of the track. Use a free AI stem splitter (like BandLab Splitter, Lalal.ai, or Moises) to separate the vocals from the music. Having a clean acapella (vocal-only track) is your anchor.
2

Deconstruct the target genre
Step 2
Every genre has a specific blueprint. Pick 2 or 3 benchmark tracks from the genre you want to flip into and reverse-engineer them. Look for the following elements:
Tempo: Is it fast (like Pop Punk at 160 BPM) or slower (like Lo-Fi at 80 BPM)?
The Drum Grooves: What are the signature drum sounds? (e.g., 808s for trap, acoustic kits for rock, linndrum samples for synthwave).
Instrument Palette: Does the genre rely on acoustic guitars, heavy synthesizers, or brass?
3

Map the chords and match the rhythm
Step 3
Drop your clean vocal acapella into a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like GarageBand, Ableton, or FL Studio. Adjust your project’s tempo to match your target genre, stretching the vocal slightly if needed. Next, rebuild the original song’s chord progression on a piano roll using a basic software instrument that fits the new genre.
4

Build the foundation (Drums & Bass)
Step 4
Lock in the rhythm. If you are flipping a pop song into reggae, program a classic reggae “one-drop” drum beat underneath the vocals. If it’s heavy metal, dial in a fast double-bass pattern. Once the drums match the target genre, program a bassline that locks in with the kick drum.
5
Flesh out the instrumentation & style
Step 5
Replace your placeholder instruments with authentic sounds from the new genre. Add atmospheric elements, signature effects (like a ton of reverb for dream pop, or sidechain compression for EDM), and match the energy levels of the original song’s verses and choruses.







Critical Skills to Focus On First
If you are just starting out, trying to learn everything at once can feel overwhelming. Focus heavily on these two core skills:
Active Listening: Listen to your favorite “genre flip” creators on YouTube or TikTok. Don’t just enjoy the track—actively analyze it. Ask yourself: What did they change about the drums? How did they alter the mood of the chords?
Basic MIDI Editing: You don’t need to be a virtuoso pianist, but learning how to draw and manipulate notes inside a DAW’s piano roll is crucial for rewriting chord patterns into new rhythmic styles.
The Gold Rule of Flipping: Keep the vocal melody easily recognizable. If you change the chords and the drum style and warp the melody too much, the listener loses the connection to the original track, and the “flip” dynamic is lost.

Want recommendations for the best free tools and DAWs to start experimenting with?

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