when is a remix not a remix but an edit ?

Edits involve tape splicing the final product.

The term remix, when used in it's original context, meant revisiting the master tapes and reworking them.

surely it's a fine line as a lot of the early 12" 'remixes' (especially of the pop bands) were then simply edits - ie with their extended drawn out beats etc ..

eg early Depeche Mode/Madness/ZTT 12" versions just involved adding a little more of the drum beat or something like that ..

are these now to be properly called edits ?

still tis all interesting ..

During the Latin Rascals/Chep Nunez/Blade Runners/Whiz Kids/Bob Rosenberg/Felix Sama/et al days, edits became more of a way to add all these stops and starts in a quick succession as a new percussive effect, which is an incredible artform lost.

Kevin Fluronoy (aka Life Walks In of the Whiz Kids) has told me that they used to get paid like $1000+ to do one edit during the heyday. He also said he quickly began to hate the smell of tape.

if anyones interested this is the comp tracklisting .. some excellent stuff to these untrained ears .. esp tracks 4 and 5 ..

Tracklisting
1. Dance To The Drummer's Beat (DJ Harvey's Nite Club Edit) - Herman Kelly and Life
2. Over And Over (7 Inch Edit) - Sylvester
3. Make Me Believe In You (Ashley Beedle / Phil Asher Black Science Orchestra Re-edit) - Patti Jo
4. Shack Up (Touché from the Wiseguys Bonus Chops) - Banbarra
5. Soul Drummers (Tim 'Love' Lee Re-edit) - Ray Barretto
6. Family Tree (Norman Cook Disco Edit) - Family Tree featuring Sharon Brown
7. Les Fleur (Fug Re-edit) - Minnie Riperton
8. Funkanova (Fat Camp Brass Rubbing) - Wood Brass and Steel, Re-edit by Bill Brewster
9. Why Can't We Live Together (Pressure Drop) - Timmy Thomas
10. Oddysey (Zongamin Re-edit) - Johnny Harris
11. I Got Lifted (Mischief Brew Re-edit) - George McCrae, Produced by Harry Casey & Richard Finch
12. Make Me Believe In You (Black Science Instrumental) - Patti Jo - PREVIOUSLY UNISSUED

1. Salsoul Orchestra - Ooh, I Love It (Love Break)
2. Rockers Revenge - Sunshine
3. Raw Silk vs DMX Krew - Do It To The Funk
4. BT (Brenda Taylor) - You Can't Have Your Cake & Eat It Too
5. The Controllers - I Can't Turn The Boogie Loose
6. Scritti Politti - Absolute/Wood Beez
7. Boystown Gang - Cruisin' The Streets
8. Kool And The Gang - Open Sesame
9. Yello - Lost Again
10. Chicken Lips - He Not In
11. Mike T - Do It Anyway You Wanna
12. Uncle Louie - Full-Tilt Boogie
13. Chaka Khan - I Feel For You
14. Chic - Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)
15. Mr Bloe - Groovin' With Mr Bloe

I love that song! I'm going to try to find this version

actually, a proper remix would have to go back further then the master tapes. The master tapes already mixed down to stereo, to properly remix, you'd want the original multi-track tapes (or files). In many cases the song doesn't even have to be presented to the remixer in song form, but as a collection of files. Here's one bar of the bassline, here's a vocal snippet, etc. This is probably most common in techno type worlds where the remix usually involves the artist just writing a new song and throwing a sample of the original into it.

But to be completely simplify, for a re-MIX, imagine saying hey, let's fade out the volume of the vocal during that part of the song, and for an edit, thinking, hey let's take that part of the song that doesn't have vocals and cut and paste it 5 times.

But all these bootlegs these days are often just "edits" because they can't get the original multi-tracks to remix from, but I'd say also because it sounds cool.

I guess a fine line was marked when someone added more instrumentation to the top of the final tape (edited or not) as opposed to revisiting the masters.

Which makes the trainspotters like me want to have a term to differentiate a remix where the song is left in-tact, only the levels are adjusted and/or processed from tracks where new stuff is added. The Walter Gibbons mix of Magic Bird of Fire that's on the Crazy Rhythms mix cd is the most extreme example of a pure remix I've ever heard, making a totally different song just by changing the relative levels.

I think the term remix would also cover someone who simply takes an acapella and crafts a new track around it.

I heard this song at P.S.1 Saturday (maybe not this version) and the crowd went bonkers. Man, that was so fun! And I need this song like 20 mins ago!

http://www.headphoneheroes.com/superdiscofriends/

glorious.