Many recorded versions of traditional music require a particular number of dancers for the number of measures of music. What if you have more, or fewer dancers? For example, the standard number of repeats of Upon a Summer’s Day from Playford’s The English Dancing Master is correct for 3 couples, as the dance is described. But what if only 2 couples want to dance? Many recorded versions of traditional music require a particular number of dancers for the number of measures of music. What if you have more, or fewer dancers? For example, the standard number of repeats of Upon a Summer’s Day from Playford’s The English Dancing Master is correct for 3 couples, as the dance is described. But what if only 2 couples want to dance?
Fear not! With modern technology you can slice and dice the song on your computer to your heart’s content. For example, the recording we have for Upon a Summer’s Day has 3 repeats of the chorus section per chorus, which is perfect for 3 couples, but won’t work for 2. So we need to slice out 1 of the chorus repeats for each of the 3 times the chorus occurs in the song.
In this video, we take you step-by-step using the excellent recording software called Reaper, and show you how to slice out those 3 sections of the song, making sure that the remaining pieces fit back together seamlessly without skipping a beat.
You can use this technique to create “mash-ups” of several songs combined into one, slice, dice and remix, etc. to create something new out of just about any audio. But as usual, take care not to violate any copyright laws by publishing anything that isn’t public domain, or that you do not control rights for.
Have fun!
Leave a Reply