Pogomix.net is an extremely interesting site to visit.
Not only does it hold some of the most creative remixes of popular films but all of it is created by a young man from Perth, Australia. Each remix is created from sampled sounds that are edited in an audio program to resemble something like the video below. How many music teachers include this in their programs on music technology?
Nick Bertke, a young man from Perth, has worked for major film studios, including Pixar and Showtime, has found himself in the WallStreet Journal and has had over 11 million hits on his YouTube Channel under the alias of Pogo. I find it incredible that someone this young has been able to accomplish so much from remixing on his computer! This type of electronic composition inspired me to teach my students how to create similar remixes from sampled works – it is so imaginative and creative!
Imagine using this in your music lessons! Firstly, you could use the clips for Structural Analyses (the visual element helps immensely) and then even Orff practitioners could use the rhythmic elements featured in the hook video above for body percussion activities. I find everything in these clips inspirational for moving towards a constructivist approach to music pedagogy.
What is also unique about these videos is his way of creating almost a whole new soundtrack from the sounds of the sampled films. Pogo has started making a series of videos on his blog on how he creates these remixes. I instantly thought that he would use something like Reason 5 or Abelton Live but from the video he uses FL Studio. Reason 5 has a video here on how to do such live sampling:
Has Pogo got your imagination whirling yet? You can contact him here and in the next few months I will be posting my own videos on how to sample and create similar remixes in Reason 5.
