The Mummer's Dance Remix
From Loreena McKennitt to The Old Ways List
by way of Karen Shook. Dec 1997
Dear Old Ways troops,
Things have been going fast and furious at this end, and we hardly
know what end is up. We wanted to send you a message before now on the
following subject, but it's been practically impossible to do so until
now.
As some of you may already be aware, certain commercial radio stations
in the US are starting to play a version of "The Mummers' Dance" which
may sound slightly different than the one you have on the commercial
CD of "The Book Of Secrets".
What you would have heard is a "remix" of "The Mummers' Dance". This
remix was a joint effort on the part of QR and Warner Bros, and was
conducted under my supervision in so far as the choice was made to
alter the mix of the song in such a way that it still retains much of
the personality of the original, and yet adjusts it so that it is more
accessible to some radio formats.
The remix itself was done by Nick Batt at DNA in England. The time and
circumstances of when this remix was done didn't allow for my personal
attendance. I think that on the whole Nick did a fine job, although
were time to have permitted me to work personally with him, there are
still things about the mix that I would have adjusted, such as
bringing up the vocal and putting back some of the more idiosyncratic
touches that make the original unique. There are certain textures of
this remix which would not normally be part of my musical palate
(certain swooshing synth sounds, for instance). I would always welcome
feedback from any of you on if, and to what degree, you find any of
the results problematic. In any event, I do believe the spirit of the
piece was maintained, and at the time we needed to submit the mix,
there was no more time to "tweak" the thing.
The reason I'm bringing all of this up with you is twofold. Firstly, I
don't want you worrying that either someone else is messing about with
my music unbeknownst to me, or that it is something I haven't
sanctioned. I have sanctioned this remix of "The Mummers' Dance" with
the proviso that we altered the original as little as possible, so as
not to mislead people into buying my recordings. I also felt that it
could be used as an opportunity to learn something about the whole
landscape of remixes; to see how far my music can bend without losing
its personal integrity, and how we can still look after the
expectations and interests of the already-existing "fans" (I must say
again that I hate that word!) and those of the newly-converted.
For the record, "The Mummers' Dance" was one of the last pieces on
"The Book Of Secrets" to be recorded, and after the whole piece was
built, I then knew how it *should* have been built. Part of the
strengthening one can hear in the remix in the rhythmic and bass parts
is something I would have headed towards doing, were I to have taken
another run at building this song. (By the way, I built "The
Highwayman" five times!) However, were I to have taken the time to
rebuild "Mummers'", I would have had to postpone the release of "The
Book Of Secrets". I felt that strengthening the "bottom end" of that
one song wouldn't have a significant enough impact to warrant another
rebuilding and the subsequent delay of the release.
So what I am saying, in a long, round-about way, is that the remix
some of you will have heard of "The Mummers' Dance" on US radio
stations here and there actually addresses elements in the rhythm and
bass section of the song that I would have wanted to do myself anyway.
If I hadn't been comfortable that it was accomplished by the remixer
within the creative spectrum of my own musical sensibility, I wouldn't
have agreed to do it.
Clearly, I'm unable to go to every person who has bought "The Book Of
Secrets" and also heard this remix on radio, or vice versa, but I feel
very fortunate that I am able to communicate with you - as a group of
friends, I hope - via a medium which allows me the much-appreciated
luxury of some kind of direct feedback on this matter.
For your information, there is an article in last week's _Billboard_
(dated November 29, 1997) on the record industry's current habit of
radically altering and remixing songs, particularly those remixes
conducted with a view toward increasing commercial potential, and the
way this process has evolved into a genre of its own. I believe that
there are a lot of dangers in this process, as it seems that often the
remix radically differs from the original song, and a large number of
people are led to buy an artist's CD based on hearing a piece of music
on the radio whose original version - the one on the CD they have
purchased - is completely different. Of equal, if not greater,
concern, is the possibility that there can be an erosion of trust with
the artist's longtime fans, who may feel that "their" performer has in
any way sold out or is diluting his or her artistic integrity.
Thanks to all of you for permitting me a little airtime to raise this
matter, and thanks too to your many kind messages sent to us by e-mail
and otherwise. I hope this message finds you all well!
Finally, for those of you in the US, we hope to have news shortly of
an online talk. We will keep you posted as soon as we have more
details.
Warmest wishes,
Loreena McKennitt
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