Producing mashups has been a great hobby over the past five years! Getting creative and spontaneous with the endless possibilities of merging random songs together makes this worth all the while.
In order to create these mashups, I need a set of tools! While my preferred DAW (digital audio workstation) software is key to a successful mashup, I find that several other tools are vital to help with each project.
Below are the tools I use to make these mashups and remixes.
Magix Acid Music Studio 11
This is my bread and butter here. I’ve been using Acid since 2002, when I purchased a Sony Vaio desktop computer that came with loads of free software, including what was known as “Sony Acid” version 2.0. I’m unsure when Sony handed over the software rights to Magix, but it is still fundamentally the exact same software that I’ve grown accustomed to here on version 11.
Hey fam! Full discloser about the button link above. It is my affiliate link to check out the ACID 11 software. If you happen to purchase the software directly from that link, then I would make a commission. I don’t advertise anywhere else on this site, but only this page and just this one button above. Thanks for the support! ✌️
Acapella Downloads
Acapellas4U, I’ve used many times and, has been a fantastic resource. They allow for 30 free downloads per month!
Voclr.it! This site has also been good. Free accounts get up to 5 downloads per month on any track as long as it’s a non-studio quality version. And you can upgrade to PRO which offers unlimited downloads and Studio Quality (where available). When I first started using them in 2019, their Pro upgrade was $3.99 per month. It seems it is now $9.99 per month as of 2023 | 04.26 – Yikes!
I’m sure there are other acapella download sites out there. Run your own search and test them out! Let me know if you found one I should add to this list.
Nero Video Downloader Ultimate
As I’m publishing more mixes consistently, I decided to invest in Video Downloader Ultimate by Nero. For times when I can’t find the acapella or instrumental tracks I need on other sites besides YouTube, this software lets me rip any YT vid into MP3 files! No issues with this one! While the interface is clunky and not intuitive, it gets the job done!
YTMP3.cc
If you’re on a budget and need to download YouTube tracks for your mixes, there is YTMP3! A few years back, this website was a good resource when I’m unable to find specific acapella’s. Sometimes, I’ll find an acapella that is only available on YouTube! If so, then this site is able to rip any YouTube video and allow you to download it as a MP3. I’ve been using this for a while, and it was working out decent for me. I say “decent” for a reason I’ll explain a bit below in the Nero Recode section.
Just note that I can’t recommend you use this site, as it can be very deceptive and spammy. If you aren’t careful, you might get tricked into clicking on the wrong thing that could possibly lead to a malware infection. So far, I’ve been very careful to avoid being tricked by the spam content and I don’t know for sure if it does infect your device with malware. But one very annoying thing it does is popup new browser tabs that deceptively indicate your download is ready but wants you to click an add instead of the actual download button. Please use extreme caution with this site.
Nero Recode
This software has been a big help of as late! From time to time my Magix Acid program is unable to load the MP3’s I download from ytmp3cc, even though I can play them just fine with the default audio player. With Nero Recode, I’ve been able to convert those MP3’s into WAV’s, and they work great in Magix afterwards!
Tap Tempo for Android
Tap Tempo on Android has been a great tool for pre-checking BPM’s. This is necessary to ensure my desired tracks will be within tempo range of each other. It’s ultra lightweight and simple to use. It also lets you save a list that you can sort by BPM or track name. There are tons of these kinds of apps out there, so feel free to test out others and find one that works best for you.
The above is my current list of tools. Getting down to the nitty gritty, I also use a few others that I might revisit on this page and add more details.
- Google Drive and OneDrive to transfer audio files between devices.
- NightCafe.studio or Bing.com for all the AI generated images on this site.
- PC/Laptops with Windows 11
- Cables and analog capture USB devices to record from external sources.
Have a good one!