If you’ve viewed any YouTube videos at all today, you may have noticed a large banner across the top announcing the YouTube Symphony project. The banner, placed in the same high-profile yet highly-ignorable area that usually houses the “Stay cool, we are performing site maintenance, everything will be 100% in a bit” message, represents a long-term and innovative project coming to fruition.

YouTube hosted auditions for musicians of all types and then built the symphony by mashing videos contributions from selected musicians around the world. Very Web-2.0 indeed.

The music itself? YouTube quality, at best. The project may be bold, but there are certainly advantages to having your symphony players in the same room.

More details available here.

But if you want to see something far cooler…go here instead.

This block comes with a catch, at least in my rulebook – a remix isn’t separate from the original track being edited. So, if we find a remix of Kanye’s “Good Life,” we can’t use it, becasue we played that song last block. So, one or the other, can’t double dip into a song. Also, no “techno” remixes of songs. Those suck.

Onto the mixes and mashes.

Showstoppers

1. “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne and Lil’ Mama

If you’ve never heard this….brace yourself for pure awesome. By its lonesome, Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” would kill in the “guilty pleasure” block, or even in the final three-hours. But two reasons that can’t be. First off, lots of people hate that track, for good reason. Second…this remix featuring Lil’ Mama destroys the original. Basically, this version keeps the best part of the original (Avril’s irresistible chorus), ditches the bad part (Avril’s putrid verses) and replaces them with Mama’s excellent rhymes. This is like Cotton Candy dipped in honey and rolled in Fun Dip.

2. “Stronger” by Kanye West (and sorta Daft Punk)

Not technically a mash-up, but basically Kanye rapping over a slowed down Daft Punk track. The majority of the remix/mash-up set could indulge a bit, throwing out a lot of seldom heard songs to the audience, but you need to chuck in a couple blockbusters like this one. And besides, there are plenty of other Daft Punk songs to play later on.

3. “Act a Fool” by Flosstradamus

You know that song they always play at sporting events? “Zombie Nation,” the one with the weird chanting? Throw a random Lil’ John track on top of it, and you got an awesome mash going.

4. “Walk this Way” by Run DMC and Aerosmith

The first mash-up ever? I don’t know for sure, but it’s definitely one of the greatest, and should appear.

5. Final Song: “Ignition (Remix)” by R. Kelly

No other way you could end this block. Nobody even remembers the original “Ignition,” and nobody cares, because this version is just so good. Listen to that funky beat! That soggy bass! R. Kelly’s “toot-toot, beep-beep!” Maybe the greatest remix ever, and definitely the reason R. Kelly isn’t in jail right now.

Avoid at all Costs

1. Girl Talk mash-ups

I have a suspicion that this block came to be because of Girl Talk’s immense popularity – no other mash-up artist has pushed the genre into the mainstream as much as he has. I love Girl Talk, I really do, but his music just doesn’t work at Dance Marathon. He crams way to many samples into each of his songs and, part of Girl Talk’s charm, is how his mixes flow into one another. Just dropping a random track off Night Ripper would just sound strange, not to mention totally wipe out a whole bunch of songs at once.

2. “Numb/Encore” by Jay-Z and Linkin Park

Anytime MTV creats a “collision course” between two artists, you know the end product is going to suck. Now, make Linkin Park one of artists involved. Just hearing Jigga’s voice backing up Chester Benington’s bitching stings a little, and almost makes me want to listen to Hybrid Theory so someone can understand me.

A Few Other Songs To Include With No Reason

- “Throw Some D’s (Remix)” by Rich Boy featuring Andre 3000, Lil’ John, Nelly and Jim Jones
- “Go Crazy (Remix)” by Young Jeezy featuring Jay-Z and Fat Joe
- “A Stroke of Genie-Us” by Freelance Hellraiser
- “Rehab (Hot Chip Remix)” by Amy Winehouse

Indie Songs That Would Work But Will Never Be Played

-Everything The Hood Internet has ever done.

Great Videos To Show

-”Hounds of Love” by The Futureheads – Not technically a mix or a mash-up, this cover seems like such a radical departure, though, I have to include it. Plus, the video has so many dogs! People love puppies.

-”Us Placers” by CRS – Ignore the titles here. This is a remix of Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser” featuring Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell rapping over ghostly piano. A more chill track among all these dancey-remixes. Video wise, we get lil’ versions of everyone. Almsot as cute as those puppies.

- “I’m in Love with a Stripper (Remix)” by T-Pain featuring a whole bunch of folk – Just watch, and tell me you wouldn’t be mesmerized by this. Especially R. Kelly popping up midway through. Here is your comedic relief for the block.

So how does Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis) pull off his awesome shows? Well, there’s actually a little bit of tech behind that laptop setup he sports. Here’s how he does it.

1. Purchase CDs
You won’t find Gillis in a rare vinyl shop. All his mash-ups are popular tunes that you can find at your local CD store. If you’re into making high-quality mashes, you’re not going to want to grab a file from Bit-torrent or iTunes. The quality, even on iTunes, is often not at the same level as a CD. To put it in mathematical terms, most CDs are encoded at a cool 320kbps while most iTunes tracks are encoded at a measly 128kbps. While you probably can’t tell the difference in quality when listening to the track over your computer speakers, it could become a problem when you want to burn your high quality mashes to a disk later on. Additionally, a cappella hip-hop and rap albums are pretty easy to come by because DJs use them over other tracks in most night clubs. You can find these in CD stores too.

2. Sample Tracks
After ripping a high quality track from a CD (using a format like .WAV or .FLAC), Gillis uses a program called Adobe Audition (formerly known as Cool Edit Pro) to sample parts of each track. After cutting up the track, he may use this program to play with the sound’s pitch, tempo, or other things. Audition gives him the ability to find, cut, and master his mathematically precise (hey, he is a medical engineer by day) loops and samples before bringing them over to his mix.

3. Mix in real time
When you see Gillis up on stage, he really is putting a track together before your eyes. While his samples are already pre-cut in Audition, he uses a program called AudioMulch to mix them in real time on stage. This allows him to quickly jump from one beat to the next almost seamlessly. From time to time, he has been known to throw down his own beats behind a track, but it’s a rarity. In interviews, he says he tries to stay away from too many effects because his primary goal is to just make music from, well, other people’s music.

So why does Gillis not consider himself a DJ? Instead of simply playing other people’s tracks like any DJ at Rock the Beach would, Gillis tries to make the music his own. “I think a DJ is someone who plays other people’s songs,” says Gillis in an interview to betterPropaganda, “…but I think in the case of me, every single point I’m playing something that’s altered or remixed in someway…the final product is my own creation.”

Here’s to talent and luck! Happy mashing.

Watch Girl Talk create a mash-up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KykbPtRb0K4

At the request of Niteskool’s executive board, parts of this post were removed or changed.

[from betterPropaganda, RemixMag, Open Source Cinema, Flickr]

2 Many DJs - The Oughts original mashers, these guys released one of the most heralded mash-up albums of the decade with As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2. If you had to listen to one track, hunt down the one where they combine The Stooges “No Fun” with Salt ‘N Peppa’s “Push It.” May change your life.

A-Track - Kanye West’s tour DJ also boasts quite the mashing ability, as demonstrated on last year’s sweet album Dirty South Dance. His mixes sound more club friendly, using more danceable beats than recognizable source material with his rap samples. Plus, he’s dating Chicago MC Kid Sister. Not to shabby.

DJ Lobsterdust - The first artist on this list that sounds directly inspired by Girl Talk, DJ Lobsterdust (awesome name) crams rap and pop samples into suprisingly dancey tunes. Seek out his remix of Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” featuring cameos by “Walk it Out” and classic 80’s cheerleader song “Mickey.”

The Hood Internet - The most prolific mash-up artists around today. Just check out all the mashes available on their MySpace page, and realize they update at an alarming rate.

Enjoy Girl Talk.