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Remix Question
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cArAcH0
Hi,

let's say I make a remix of a song, using just midi files and no audio samples of the original track. Is it legal to upload that remix to, say myspace for example, or do I need some kind of permission? I do not want to sell or make money with that track.
Subtle
Its not legal but no one cares.
cArAcH0
good to know.
thanks for your quick reply!
derail
Well, in trance that's a tricky question.

A lot of trance songs don't have a distinctive melody. Often they use rhythmic patterns, slow arpeggiated notes, things like that.

Think of songs like 'happy birthday to you' or 'twinkle twinkle little star'. Those are catchy melodies, every child can sing them. Some trance songs contain melodies such as these, and in these cases you couldn't use that melody - you'd have to change enough notes that it isn't recognisable as the same melody.

The only thing that can be copyrighted in music is an original melody, the lyrics of the song, and the actual recorded performance (so you can't sample from other people's recordings). You can copy the exact same chord progression, drum patterns, rhythmic synth elements, lead arpeggio sequences (broken up chords do not make a melody). If you give your song a different name, no-one can take you to court for it, since they didn't create anything distinctive enough to be copyrightable.

In any case, you should be able to legally recreate most (or even all) of the song you want to cover.
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