Recently, during a cocktail hour at a college reunion, I spun a simple remix of "Pomp and Circumstance." Beneath various samples of the college standard, I lay down a funky beat, and above it I played a sample of Homer Simpson saying, "Beer," and linked it to Rza from Wu-Tang saying, "Open like six-packs." It produced a pleasantly amused reaction from the booze-sipping alums, and they raised their plastic tumblers to toast the DJ. I was able to offer them something no average DJ could—a custom remix catered specifically to them. And so can you.

If you want to make some beats, or remix a sweet a cappella, but you don’t want to break the bank to do it, just read on. Here’s a low-budget way to express yourself, have fun and develop your production skills. And you might even make a cool sounding beat.

First, you’ll need some modest tools.

Multi-track recorder. A multi-track recorder is essential for laying down your various elements. Your standard 4-track will work well, though an 8-track might be considered twice as good. For my example, and in my bedroom, I use an old TASCAM 424 4-track. It has some features, but is certainly far from the Swizz Beats realm. If you’re cheap and needy, buy one used or borrow one—they’re as common as a cold. A 4-track can cost as low as $200—and between $500 and $700 for a new, fairly reliable model.

Looper/Sampler: Need loops? Of course, you do. Ideally, your looper—the piece of equipment that will provide the loop—will also function as a sampler that can be triggered. Having both capabilities will be crucial later on, since your "drop-in" samples are as important as the drum loop they complement.

Two turntables running through your mixer can be used as a loop source, too, but if you have that skill, you’re probably a turntablist flexing your fingers on the ones and twos, rather than hunching over a 4-track on the rug.

In addition to the wheels of steel, another option is your standard keyboard sampler, but that’s too costly for this article. Some DJ-specific CD players can do this, too. (It’s a feature they call "seamless loop"—make sure they have it.)

And then there’s the option for the dirt poor: some digital-delay guitar pedals can loop and store samples. With some patience and some adapters, you can generate a solid drum loop with a digital delay pedal. How? Basically, run your decks, sampler, or seamless-loop CD player into the pedal, and run the pedal out to your 4-track. While the source is playing, set your pedal to "Sample," and trigger the "Record" function precisely on the in and out points of your loop. This takes some practice.

Plus, you can use delay pedals for cool reverb/delay effects and as miniature samplers. I bought mine new in ’97 for just over $100. It has 12 seconds of mono (as opposed to stereo) memory and a wide range of pitch (speed) adjustment is possible. Models are now available online and elsewhere for less than $150.

You’ll need your very own Stereo, with an input for your 4-track and an out to a cassette deck, so you can make mix-downs and you can hear what the heck you are doing without the pain of wearing headphones (probably cheap ones) for hours on end. Of course, you’ll probably also need a turntable (if your samples are coming from vinyl) or a CD player (likewise CDs). If you are forced to pull samples from cassette tapes I feel sorry for you. But I’ve been there. Of course, when you are using found sounds, and I certainly hope you are, you don’t have much of a choice. If you have a DJ mixer, congratulations—it will make your life

easier by increasing the amount of control you have over the sound signals you run into the 4-track.

Sound Sources are key. There are a few types of sounds you will undoubtedly want to use. Drum beats can be pulled off the cheapest drum machines. If it sounds dated or strange, play with the sound’s feel and not against it. Borrow your kid brother’s toy drum machine and speed the beats up for that crud jungle feel. Or roll with the lo-fi aesthetic and turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones. If you are into sampling some funky drums, check out intros and breakdowns of funk jams and classics from the ’70s and ’80s. If you find a clean, funky four or eight bars of just drums, sample it. Even if you aren’t going to use it today, it is always nice to have some prerecorded drum beats ready and waiting for your next three tracks.

Don’t just stick with funk loops, though; sample anything you can get your hands on. TV commercials, pop music, the evening news, jazz, bluegrass, children playing—make it work. Shamelessly steal the drums from your favorite records like a lo-fi Puff Daddy. There are also tons of drum loop compilations out there, licensed and unlicensed. Just don’t pay too much for them, since they are often obscenely overpriced.

In addition to the beat, other crucial sounds can also be pulled from old albums (and new ones). Look for isolated sounds made by any instrument or voice and use these as samples within your composition. If you play an instrument, use your talent to its fullest. If not, learn to play one bar and sample it. Play simple arrangements with a "strings" voice on your toy keyboard. You can also find cool bass sounds on that keyboard in some unlikely places—like the low end of the "flute" voice.

Next, pick the single you want to remix. Start with something simple. I picked Suzanne Vega’s "Tom’s Diner," a perennial favorite for remixers of every stripe. I pulled my samples off a CD called "Tom’s Album," which has many versions including the a cappella and DNA’s classic remix of the song.

After some rooting around, a visit to Radio Shack for adapters, begging your cousin to let you use her 4-track, and swiping your kid brother’s Casio keyboard, you are ready to lay down a gritty track and cut your teeth. Where to begin? Well, I recommend using the highest quality cassette tape, since this will be your master. Tapes with "High Resonance Heat Resistance" can endure more abuse and last longer than other tapes. Don’t complain about price here, suck it up and you’ll be glad you did. You will also want to set your 4-track to "High Speed" record, which, if you are using a 90-minute tape, will allow about 22½ minutes of 4 tracks. Higher speed means higher fidelity, which is crucial when working with cassettes.

STEP ONE

Lay Down That Beat! Track 1

Plug your looper (sampler, CD player, guitar pedal or otherwise) into track one of your 4-track, either directly or through a mixer. Listen to headphones plugged into the 4-track and adjust your levels. Experiment with peaking out the signal. When the levels are very high, your 4-track recorder can sometimes produce the grimiest, filthiest distortion.

All looping will occur outside your 4-track. So, to make sure that your looped beat is tight as a drum and, say, you’re using a seamless-loop CD player, hit the In button on the down beat, then hit Out when the same down beat returns. After you’ve recorded this, you shouldn’t be able to hear the in/out point. How can you tell? Does it sound like a continuous drum beat? For example, if you hear two quick snares in rapid succession, that’s a no-no; same with bass hits. It’ll probably take some experimentation to get your looper looping correctly, so hang in there—every model works a bit differently.

You also want to make sure that you record the beat at a suitable speed for the vocal track. They don’t need to be the same tempo, but, for example, a vocal from an R&B song would not go with a drum-n-bass rhythm. I find it works well, and is easier, to adjust your drum loop to the same speed as the instrumental version of the single you are remixing rather than the a cappella. When trying to synch up the beats, listen to the snare sounds, rather than the whole beat—it makes it easier to tell which way you need to go, faster or slower. Once your drum loop matches the original, it should also match the a cappella. Don’t get discouraged, this takes some practice. The cool thing about many 4-tracks is their ability to change the speed dramatically after recording and during the mixdown. So this tempo does not have to be your final choice. Give yourself a good five to seven minutes, at least, to work with.

STEP TWO

Get Those Vocals Going on 2

If you want, you can try simply laying down the vocal track unchanged as one continuous recording. It may be hard to get it to stay in tempo for the entire length of the song, however. If so, you may want to break it down into smaller chunks. For example, you might sample a single line, or the hook from the chorus, and play with that for the beginning 16 bars of the song. Then stop the tape, cue up a verse, and give us one verse of vocals. Then switch back to using samples for the "outro."

With "Tom’s Diner," I used the vocal hook (pulled from the DNA remix and not the original) for the intro, the first and second verses of the song for the body of the song, and the vocal hook and various other short samples from her vocal in the outro.

If you can use that delay on the samples, do it, and play with the delay until it is in time with the beat. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. Experiment. You can always re-record any part, or only use part of it for the mix-down. Plus, you are presumably not yet under label contract, so you are free to enjoy your artistic license.

STEP THREE

Record Your Primary Sample on Track 3

One thing you must realize immediately is that you have only four tracks, which means you can record four separate parts that will play simultaneously. Since by now you’ve already got a drumbeat and vocals, you must make every sample count. For example, if you use a guitar part from a rock song, you may find that once you have synchronized the rhythm of the riff with your drums, the bass line also integrates quite well, as does a subtle drum fill you didn’t notice at first. This happy coincidence allows you not only your guitar sample, but a bassline (the 4-track’s EQ will allow you to pump that up on the mix-down), which is in key with the guitar, and a drum fill which is on time, too.

If your primary sample has drums, match the drums to your loop by changing the speed, either of the recorded drums or your sample source, and trying, as in Step 2, to match the snare hits of the two beats. Don’t worry if you are not in key with the vocal sample right now—you won’t be. With this equipment, you must look at the positives and get the basics down first.

You will find it’s easier to trigger your primary sample rather than loop it, since synching up three loops on a 4-track is a nightmare. Try hitting your sample at the beginning of each bar, or every other bar, or every four bars. Try alternating, hitting it in the middle of the bar, or on the snare rather than the downbeat. You’ll find there are many different feels and sounds possible with the same sample—this is how you can create variety with one sample on one track.

A popular formula among remixers is to have simple, spare, drum-heavy intros and outros and a more developed core, or central part of a song, allowing other DJs to easily and creatively mix in and out. For starters, you might try using that basic outline. Or just listen to the examples set by your favorite producers—there are many templates you can follow.

STEP FOUR

Record Your Secondary Sample on Track 4

You’ll find that this extra track will provide plenty of fun. Usually after recording three of the four tracks, I find something might be missing—usually it’s the element that flows, that holds the piece of music together. Try scratching a vinyl record over what you have already created. Or try vocal samples and sound bites—the intros on rap songs and albums are often resplendent with phrases and snippets that glisten like jewels. Adorn your remix with them. Find an old record of political speeches or stand-up comedy. Spoken-word poetry albums are great sources of inspiring samples. Synth strings can be a great unifying element, too. Ocean waves might be a nice touch for the intro, with thunder coming in during the main part of the song.

If you’re unsure of what to add, try a preliminary remix and listen to what you have so far. It might become clear exactly what you need. If you feel confident about your beat-matching skills, you might try and beef things up with a simple back-up beat layered over your other drum beat. This is easier to do if you turn down tracks 2 and 3 and simply concentrate on the drums. This is the track to go nuts with, and it can change the entire feel of your piece.

STEP FIVE

The Mixdown

Now is when you hear the fruits of your labor. The mixdown is where you transform your pliable master into an actual mix. Before you start the mixdown, listen to the master a few times. Adjust the volume, pan, and EQ of each track. You may want to boost the bass slightly on the drums and the primary sample. Make sure your levels are somewhat even, and all parts are audible when they should be. Make sure you get a strong signal to your cassette deck—hopefully, you have a way of controlling the recording levels. Usually, if you bring the recording level up to where the peaks are just showing red for a moment, you’ll get a strong signal that is not distorted. Trial and error can reveal to you the secrets of your own tape deck.

The drums and primary sample you’ll want to keep panned center, but feel free to pan the other parts from right to left, however your heart and ears desire. For me, one of the most fun parts of the mixdown is hearing for the first time what your samples and other elements sound like without drums. Simply turn off or turn down track 1 and listen for four bars. On the downbeat of the fifth bar, bring the drums back in as sharply as possible. You’ve just employed a classic hip-hop convention. This is why the mic/line switch is preferable, since you can cut the track in and out without adjusting the level.

Try other combinations—the drums and track 4, vocals and track 3, just the drums, etc. These variations are what make your remix dynamic. Play around, but on the mixdown use them wisely and sparingly. Then, make another mix trying different variations.

After you are sick of remixing your baby, put it to bed. Play it for your friends and relax. Next time, start fresh. You’ll find that your remixes and beats improve with practice. Save your remixes to the same tape to make them easier to catalogue. Make sure you label your masters. If you really like your remix, you might burn it to a CD and spin it at a gig, or try and get it on college radio.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Bob Cronin is known as DJ BC, and when he’s not laying down funky beats or DJing at local corporate and school functions, he’s the office administrator at the freshman dean’s office at Harvard University. Sample him at www.djbc.net.