A long time ago, in a song far away, I met a man named Rig, who told me the bone chilling story of Kenny Reynolds…. Ok, actually, I’ve never met Rig and he never actually told me who Kenny Reynolds is, but this mystery man has become something of a celebrity in these here parts of the internet. It started with this song:

It was so catchy, that it was remixed by a lot of people. Of course, our resident fartlord had a great spin on it, here:

Which was then remixed by jey2:

Kenny Reynolds recently made his triumphant return in this number here:

We’re not sure who Kenny Reynolds is, but the rumors swirl about the site constantly. I heard he lost two fingers in an alligator wrestling match and eats small children for lunch. I tried to google him, but all I found out was that he must ride a really cool bike.

Who do you think Kenny Reynolds is? We want to know. For the contest this week, make a song about Kenny Reynolds. Tell us the rumors you’ve heard about him: Is he a hitman for the mafia? A vampire returned from the dead? Just someone’s weird old uncle? What are we all watching out for?

The Rules ™:
1. Your song should say Kenny Reynolds in it.
2. Your song should be made in Splice.
3. Tag your entry with “WATCHOUTCHILDREN”
4. Entries should be submitted by midnight CST on March 26th.

Songs will be judged based on creativity and delicious rumor-making prowess. As always, songs with copyrighted materials will be disqualified, and we will send Kenny Reynolds to your house to get you.

We had so many great entries in the Rock the Bach contest that I thought I’d throw something slightly more challenging at you guys this week. Well, maybe challenging isn’t the right word…. how about more fun? It’s hard to remix things when they’re in different keys and tempos, so I’ve made you a little present: I put together a small set of mellowed out space loops that all go together easily in pretty much any combination. Listen:

(Don’t make fun of my l33t loop-making skills. I’m learning, too!)

For the contest this week, I want to hear how you might remix this song. Like most things I make, it’s a little on the quiet side, but if you’re not an ambient fan, feel free to throw some beats under it.

To qualify for the contest, your song should
1. Use at least three of the loops from Solar You (The Mellow Down Remix).
2. Be tagged with solaryoucontest.

The winner is going to take home an M602 Powered Audio System from Altec Lansing. This thing is great! You stick your iPod in it and then commence dancing around your kitchen to your downloaded Splice songs. It’s fun, trust me. Bring your friends.

That’s it! The usual rules about not using copyrighted works still apply, obviously. Contest entries are due by Midnight CST on March 18th.

I had a lot of fun with the beatbox contest - there were lots of great submissions and it made it pretty hard to pick a winner. (This is often the case with our contests.. one day, I will surely have to post a tie-breaker.) But in the end, one entry really stood out to us. It was this one:

The reason we went with this submission is because it’s very much in the spirit of Splice. Amatta not only used the sequencer to record his beatboxing, he used it again to remix his sounds into a song made entirely of his own voice. We dig it.

And so, congratulations, Amatta! Splice and Altec Lansing are going to send you an FX5051 5.1 Surround Sound System, so you can turn it up nice and loud and share the audio love.

And as always, thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. Every one of you is awesome and we are glad you joined us!

Johann Sebastian Bach

I played piano for 23 years and am an often confessed classical music dork, so I am happy to announce that this year is probably the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. (We might have missed it by a couple of years.. nobody really knows, but we’re close.) To celebrate this momentous occasion, this week’s contest is to Rock the Bach.

Oh, you think I’m joking.

Well, I’m not. For one, making a loop like this is something I am good at and Splice is about sharing your talents. For two, sampling classical music has a LONG history in pop… I mean, who can forget Peter Murphy’s A Fifth of Beethoven, featured so prominently in Saturday Night Fever? And Sting had a song called Russians in the 80s that was based off themes from a Prokofiev composition. Not enough? How about Tubthumbing from Ye Olde Chumbawamba, which quotes Jeremiah Clarke’s Prince of Denmark’s March.? And of course, Nas uses a sample from Beethoven’s ever-so-popular Fur Elise in his song I can.

The point is that we’ve been sampling each other’s music for a long time. Maybe they just do it because Bach’s been dead for 250 years and can’t sue them for the distribution rights, but I like to think that it’s because the music written then still holds meaning for us now. I have a lot to say about this, so come see me again this week, but for now, I present to you our contest. Here is a Bach sample from the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, that I’ve made you, deeded to the Creative Commons and is ready for the remix rumpus:

Hard to believe that good ol’ Johann wrote it almost THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. So step right up and let’s show the old-timers how it works these days, and with any luck we’ll have good old JSB turning at a steady 500RPM in his grave.

The Rules:
1. Make any song you like, in any style, doing whatever it is that makes you happiest and you’re best at.
2. Your song must use this loop.
3. Your song has to be sequenced in the Splice sequencer - don’t upload entire MP3s!!
4. Tag your song with ROCKTHEBACH to be automatically entered to win the impossibly thin and magically delicious IM500 portable speaker system from Altec Lansing.

Oh yes. I am very serious when I say that, as the Queen of Splice, I am hereby declaring this BEATBOX WEEK, and we’re kicking off with a contest.

We’ve had some contests now in which people with fancy equipment are winning all the goodies, and so now we’re going to bring it back to basics: Making music with nothing but YOU. That’s right - beatboxing. I have noticed a lot of beatboxers hiding in the wings around here, and it’s high time we made some noise about it.

A short story: Beatboxing was the inspiration for Splice, you know. Wendell, our CEO and all around fearless leader, is a chronic beatboxer. (A chronic beatboxer who had better contribute some inspiration to this contest. Go bug him about it in a comment!) I have never met a human being who so completely lacks the ability to sit quietly… he is constantly humming, chirping, clicking, tapping, whirring. He can tell the story better than I can, but rumor has it that he was sitting at a table with friends, goofing around and (wait for it….) beatboxing, and suddenly realized how much fun it would be to have a site where you could share this organic rhythmic goodness with the entire universe. A few sleepless nights, a lot of pots of tea and a few months later, and here you go.

So come on, beatboxers of the world - we want to hear your best work. The contest rules are super simple:

1. All entries should be recorded using the Splice sequencer. (Don’t know how? Read this!)

2. Tag your entry with BEATBOXBEATDOWN.

That’s it. Enter as many tracks as you like. We’ll be the judges on this one and the winners will be showcased and revered until the end of time. Oh yeah - AND they will receive a luscious FX5051 5.1 Surround Sound System from Altec Lansing. Looook at it.. It even plugs into your USB port. I love that.

Round up all your best beatboxin’ friends and let’s do it. Contest ends at Midnight (CST) on Sunday, March 4th.

Man, the music from airtone never ceases to amaze me, so I am very pleased to be able to announce this song as the winner of our Remix Petrol contest! Airtone will be receiving an inMotion9 portable speaker system from Altec Lansing. Take a listen to this! It’s beautiful and really does a nice job of using the vocal sounds I love so much:

Great job!

Hello, kiddies.

Well, our Remix Airtone contest officially ended on Sunday night, and I have to tell you something: The entries that were submitted were all SO good that our staff was hard pressed to pick a winner. We have been debating this for two days now and all I can say about that is “What an awesome problem to have!”

Really, though - the quality of the music we got this week was above and beyond anything we’ve done so far, and I am extra impressed with everyone who entered the contest. You guys rock! One of my favorite things about my job here is that I’m never quite sure what I’m going to hear when I push Play, and this week was one pleasant surprise after another.

Anyway, without further ado, our winner:

Like I said, it was tough to choose, but we went with TallTechson because we really loved the mix of a live track set to a Splice base. That’s what Splice is really all about - taking the things you find here and enhancing them with your own personal style. We were extra happy to see this, and so we’re thrilled to be sending him that swank set of Altec Lansing Wireless Headphones. After all, we’ve yet to meet a musician who couldn’t do with a few more toys in their gearbox.

But don’t miss the other entries in this contest! I’m not lying when I say that they were ALL excellent. You can see all of the entries by searching for remixairtone.

And of course, let’s not forget to thank the person who REALLY made this all possible: AIRTONE! There is actually another lovely song here that you should listen to, and I will leave you with that and a reminder that we do have a contest here every week. I think the next one is going to be as good at this one was, and I am very excited about it. Join us!!

Our contests have been going strong, with lots of great entries and some very happy winners. This week, we’re going to remix Petrol, and I’m especially excited about this. If you haven’t been to his profile before, go take a listen to the sounds there. They’re beautiful! The vocal ones are especially lovely.

Once again, we are giving away a great prize from Altec Lansing. This week, it’s the inMotion9 portable speaker system for your ipod. It’s cool - not only will you be able to listen without headphones, you’ll be able to do it anywhere, as this unit is made for portability. You can even run it on batteries if you like!

The rules will be the same as last week, but let me tell you again:

1. You must use three of Petrol’s sounds in your song.
2. Your song must be sequenced in Splice.
3. Tag your song with remixpetrol to be automatically entered in the contest.
4. The deadline for submissions is midnight, Central Standard Time, on Sunday, February 25th, 2007.

The Splice staff will vote on the best song and announce the winner next Monday. That gives you seven days to make your masterpiece.

Ready? Set? Remix!

You probably remember the awesome song I posted here by airtone not too long ago. Well, we’ve decided to up the ante and we’re going to remix him for this week’s contest. His profile has 83 lusciously mellow sounds to choose from, so you’re sure to find something that strikes your fancy.

The rules are:
1. You must use three of airtone’s sounds in your song.
2. The song must be sequenced in Splice.
3. Tag your finished song with remixairtone to enter. Entries are due by midnight on Sunday, February 18th.

Quality counts! The winner will be judged by Splice staff this time around, so see what you can do to impress us. If you do, you can take home your very own set of Altec Lansing AHP612 Wireless Studio Headphones and rock out without getting tangled up. Awesome!

The contest was a little quiet this week, but our winner still astounded us. Tyf took fartlord’s mix and really did a number on it. And, now that I’ve explained it to him a bit, he’s agreed to take the parts for this number and load them back into Splice so that all of you can actually remix it. This should make everyone happy.

Really though - listen!

Nice! Thanks again to Fartlord for being such a great sport in this, and thanks once again to Altec Lansing for providing us with a great prize!!