Shenanigans 01 « Ad Fundum

Shenanigans 01

September 5, 2008

Once I’d graduated from dj-ing with vinyl and CDs to using a PC, I started using the Ableton Live software package. I’d been using a different software package that basically simulated two decks – you could even varispeed and ‘nudge’ mp3 files to mix them. That was okay, but it was quite limiting and not very good. I heard about Ableton Live, downloaded the demo, then bought a version of Ableton Lite off eBay (which I eventually upgraded to the full thing – a much cheaper route than buying the full package).

No longer did I have to worry about short intros and outros and mismatching beats, because I could re-edit my own versions of songs I wanted. And once I started saving loops and samples of my favourite parts of records, I could start remixing them from the bottom up in a live situation – using a drum loop from one place, bassline from anoter, an acapella from a third track, and so on. I added a midi controller to operate the volume and EQ levels for up to sixteen tracks simultaneously, and that was all I needed – I didn’t even need headphones because I had a graphic representation of the song in front of me and could see the breakdowns etc and even mark where elements of a song began and ended.

Finally, I realised that I could also mix anything in 4/4 time very easily. With Ableton you set a beat marker at the start of a bar and one at the end, and then just tell it how long to take to get from one marker to the next. So if I had a record at 120bpm, I could simply set the master tempo for 125bpm (for example) and Ableton took care of the time-stretching and key – no more speeded up records sounding like Mickey Mouse!

The Shenanigans series of mixes was born out of a desire to see how much I could push myself using Ableton – whether I could mix rock, dance, hip-hop, r&b and pop as seamlessly as I could mix dance records together. This mix, Shenanigans 01, is my very first attempt at doing that. I deliberately picked as varied a selection as I could, so in this mix you have Ocean Colour Scene and The Sugarhil gang mixed together as an opening pair, and artists that feature later include Korn and Girls Aloud, Linkin Park and Elvis Costello, Deep Dish and Elvis Presley, and so on.

I’ve split the mix into different parts to make it easier to download and find your favourite bits later. You should download all eight parts, then play them in order with no gaps between the tracks in order to get the full effect. If you put them on your iPod or press then to a CD, make sure you don’t have gaps between the tracks!

Shenanigans 01 – Part 1:

Format: mp3

Size: 7.8Mb

Time:8:21

Tracklisting:

Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
Ocean Colour Scene – The Day We Caught The Train
Amerie – Man Up
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Love Unlimited
M.I.A. – Galang
Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger
Usher – Yeah
AC/DC – Back In Black
Korn – Freak On A Leash
LL Cool J – Phenomenon
Embrace – Save Me
Linkin Park – In The End

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 1″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 2:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.2Mb

Time:6:41

Tracklisting:

Freestylers – B-Boy Stance
Blondie – Rapture
Daft Punk – Da Funk
Syntax – Bliss

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 2″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 3:

Format: mp3

Size: 9.5Mb

Time:10:18

Tracklisting:

Prince – Kiss
Fatboy Slim – Praise You
The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
Elvis Presley – A Little Less Conversation
Barenaked Ladies – One Week
Michael Grey – Weekend
NERD – She Wants To Move
James – Laid
The Bucketheads – The Bomb!
Lionrock – Fire Up The Shoesaw
Britney Spears – Slave 4U
Thunderbugs – It’s About Time That You Were Mine

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 3″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 4:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.8Mb

Time:7:22

Tracklisting:

Holly Valance – Curious
Gorillaz – Dare
Felix Da Housecat – Silver Screen Shower Scene
Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way?
Audio Bullys – We Don’t Care

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 4″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 5:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.6Mb

Time:7:12

Tracklisting:

Todd Terry – House Sermon
Fanny Pack – Nu Nu Yeah Yeah
Mighty Dub Katz – Magic Carpet Ride
Paul Oakenfold – Faster Kill Pussycat
Deep Dish – Sacramento
Mint Royale – Sexiest Man In Jamaica

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 5″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 6:

Format: mp3

Size: 6.7Mb

Time:7:16

Tracklisting:

The Clash – Rock The Kasbah
David Bowie – Rebel Rebel
Yer Man – Weird Therapy
Miss Kittin – Professional Distortion
Primal Scream – Rocks

Download “Shenanigans 01 – Part 6″ here

Shenanigans 01 – Part 7:

Format: mp3

Size: 10.6Mb

Time:7:37