eclecticism

So, aside from a little silly noodling around a couple weeks ago, I hadn’t really done much with GarageBand since I picked it up. Since I don’t have a keyboard to use with it, I’m somewhat limited by not being able to use anything but the included loops. However, it occurred to me on the way home from work the other night that that should be more than enough to let me play around with remixing already existing work…

…and for some reason, Coolio’s “Smokin’ Stix” caught my ear as a likely candidate. While the subject matter isn’t really up my alley (dipping cigarettes in embalming fluid and smoking them to get high), the beats and rhythms are fun, and I thought I might be able to make something work with that as a base.

Disclaimer: The original recording of Coolio’s “Smokin’ Stix” is ©1994 Tommy Boy Music, published by Tommy Boy Music/Boo Daddy Publishing/All Nations Publishing (ASCAP)/Frankly Music (BMI); was written by A. Ivey, T. Conway, and A. Feldman; and contains samples from “You Want It You Got It” performed by B.T. Express, courtesy of Roadshow Music Corp. I am not charging for or attempting to make money off of this remix. Please don’t sue me.

So, for the past couple days, I’ve been fiddling around with GarageBand and Amadeus II, first using Amadeus II to snip the song into lots of little pieces and attempting to isolate the vocals from the background music (which was only partially successful), then re-assembling everything in GarageBand with my own choices of drum beats, instruments, and electronic bleeps and bloops.

And now, finally, it’s finished (or at least, “finished enough” — I could probably keep tweaking it nearly indefinitely).

Download it here: Coolio’s “Smokin’ Stix” (DJ Wüdi Remix) (4:03, 4.6Mb, 160kbps MP3).

I don’t think it’s perfect, but I don’t think it’s too terribly bad for a first project, either. Hopefully some of you get a kick out of it too — but feel free to let me know what you think, good or bad!