Imagine Dragons performing at the Made in America Festival. (Colin Kerrigan / Philly.com)
The song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons has been incredible popular ever since it was released. Scores of other musicians have covered it, including a collaboration between Pentatonix and violinist Lindsey Stirling which is also available in a 2:50 dance routine length. Below are links to an a cappella edit of the song from the original recording. This version is available in three lengths for your dance routine: 2:56, 2:42, and 2:07. This amazing tour de force performance could be used in a jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, modern, or even a hip hop routine.
And here is the Pentatonix/Lindsey Stirling cover of this fantastic song:
Here is a collection of music, edited and remixed for your dance routines that need be two minutes or less, no matter if it’s being used for competition, recital, or talent shows. These songs cover a range of dance styles, including jazz, tap, lyrical, and contemporary. Some of these songs are fresh off the charts, and there are a few classics mixed in as well. You can purchase any of these songs individually, or you can buy the entire album of 16 songs for only $34.95*. That is a very large savings compared to buying all of them individually. Best of all, they are ready to be choreographed, no further cutting is required.
*The price for this album of 16 songs is $34.95, if you already own all of the original songs in it via your iTunes library. If you don’t already own some of the songs, you can purchase them for $0.99 or $1.29 as specified, when you checkout at Legitmix.
For those new to Legitmix: The way it works is that when you want to purchase an edited or remixed song, Legitmix checks to see if you already own the original song(s) in your iTunes purchased list. If you already own it, you only pay for the edited or remixed song in your shopping cart. If you don’t already own the original song in iTunes, you have the opportunity to buy that too, at the normal iTunes cost (usually $0.99 or $1.29). For more on how it works, you can watch this video, or go to the Legitmix site.
Take a listen and take them home if they are what you’ve been looking for! Feel free to leave any feedback in the comments below as well.
One of the challenges facing choreographers is age appropriateness. What works for 9-12 years olds is not going to be ideal for 15-17 year olds. When you have advanced teen dancers and are looking to give them something modern and fresh with a rock and roll edge, check out the latest offering from Squirrel Trench Audio: an edited version of Do It Now from the new self-titled album by KXM. Preview the track below, and if this is your song, take it home via the Legitmix shopping cart:
Enter Sandman by Metallica is now also available, edited for a 2:45 routine length:
Dance for Joy, in New Jersey, has for the second year in a row utilized a Squirrel Trench-created remix for their opening number. Last year’s theme was the Wizard of Oz, and this year’s number is Dancing Through The Ages. Enjoy!
I love monitoring the search terms that people are using to find this Squirrel Trench Audio web site. And here’s my new favorite: “best place for dance teachers to get unique music.”
YES! Squirrel Trench Audio IS the best place for dance teachers to get new, original, and unique music. One of my all-time favorite assignments is to take an existing hit, for instance Martin Solveig & Dragonette’s Hello, and give it a new twist that no dance competition judge has ever heard before (I’ve got a spectacular remix of Hello that will premier in competition in March 2012).
The best part is, with a unique Squirrel Trench Remix, there is NO chance that any other dancer will have the same music. Someone else might have the same song, but the Squirrel Trench Remix will be BETTER, and will impress the judges much more since the audio portion of the routine will be unlike anything they’ve heard before. It won’t be the same-old, same-old that they’ve heard on the radio or on stage dozens of times before.
One of the reasons why a Squirrel Trench Remix is better is that most dance songs are looooong so that they get playing time in clubs. I can take the long song and condense it down (retaining the integrity of the musical structure), giving it as much dramatic impact as possible. The Squirrel Trench remix will hold the judge’s ears’ attention while your student(s) holds the judges eyes’ attention with the dance routine.
Not decided on exactly the right song for your dance routine yet? Give me an idea of the age of dancer, type of dance (lyrical, jazz, tap, acro, contemporary, etc.) and the personality of the music you want, and I’ll give you some suggestions.
So if you are a dance teacher, dance parent, or dance studio owner, and you are looking for new, unique remixes, shoot me an email and I’ll create a unique remix just for you!
1.) Start with fantastic and appropriate music. Dance is based on the foundation of music. If you don’t build your routine and choreography on wonderful music, then you are missing out on a major source of emotional impact on the audience and judges. I can help you select winning music for your next competition dance routine. I’ve attended numerous Regional and National dance competitions, and have decades of experience in music. When choosing songs, there are some songs (or versions of songs) that will leave the judges flat. I can help you pick something memorable and appropriate for your dancer. Just let me know the dancer’s personality, age and what song they’ve used previously, and I will give you a couple of suggestions for their next song. Whatever song you select, I can also edit it to the needs of winning competition routines, i.e. the correct duration, and any other minor adjustments it might need, such as a slight tempo change, or boosting the volume without clipping distortion.
2.) Choreography. I am no expert in this field, that is for YOU the dance teacher to make great. I agree with the article; great choreography nearly always tells a story. It doesn’t matter if the audience doesn’t fully understand the story conveyed, if there IS a story, then the dancer has a message to transmit to the audience, and that’s the important thing.
3.) Costume. Dance is a very visual medium. While the music provides the auditory part of the routine, the costume provides the foundation for the visual part of the routine. The above referenced article goes into greater depth on costume choices.
4.) What this article leaves out is the most important part of a winning dance routine: PRACTICE. Practice equals love. If your student loves to dance, it will manifest itself in the practice habits of the dancer. One of my favorite sayings is the difference between amateurs and professionals is that amateurs practice until they get it right, PROFESSIONALS PRACTICE UNTIL THEY CAN’T GET IT WRONG.
So now we know that music is the foundation of the dance routine. Costume is the foundation of the visual part of the dance routine. Just as you wouldn’t put your dancer on stage with a ripped or torn costume, why would you put your dancer on stage with music that contains scars, hiccups, half-beats, partial measures, jumps, cuts, awkward fade outs, or unnatural silences? I’ve heard all of these music editing mistakes at competitions. Are they enough to reduce the scores from the judges? I don’t know, but why take a chance? Since you put countless hours of rehearsal into your choreography and practice every week, shouldn’t your music reflect the same meticulous level of detail and precision?
When you are ready for your music to step up to your dance, Squirrel Trench Audio is here to deliver.
What have YOU found to be the key to creating a winning dance competition routine?
Are you looking for new, exciting, and fresh music for your next dance routine? Then you are ready for a custom Squirrel Trench remix. Your music should be as memorable and fresh for the judges as your choreography.
Original Squirrel Trench Remixes are already underway (and some completed) for the upcoming 2011-2012 dance season. These remixes include the Beatles, a Slumber Party theme, a train theme, a movie theme, and others.
If you are interested in a custom Squirrel Trench Remix for this upcoming dance season, send me an email!
Earlier this week, I wrote about the Top 5 music editing mistakes heard in dance competitions, and promised you additional blog posts about how you can avoid making them.
Number One on the list is the AWKWARD FADE OUT.
As I mentioned in that earlier blog post, it’s easy to understand why this is the most common music editing mistake. Dance teachers are very busy, and most are not expert musicians in addition to being expert dance teachers. With music editing software now available for free on all platforms, the quickest and easiest thing to do is to simply fade the music out at the desired time in the song.
However, this often leads to disappointment for the dancer on stage. Let’s examine why before exploring the best methods to prevent this faux pas from occurring.
A good song, just like a good dance routine, has a structure. In the most simple terms, songs have an intro, a middle, and an ending. Unless a song fades out in the recording, the ending is designed so that the listener can tell that the end is approaching, and then it finishes in a satisfying way. Musicians who perform on stage like to deliver a good ending, because then the audience knows when to clap, and what performer doesn’t enjoy applause? (For more on dance structure, check out this article in Dance Spirit Magazine.)
It’s no different when the performer is a dancer instead of a musician. A good dance will have an intro, a middle, and an ending, and it should coincide with the beginning, middle, and ending of the music. That way, the audience can tell when the dance is over, and applaud accordingly. When the music fades out at an awkward point in the song, and the dancer holds his/her finishing pose (or starts shuffling off the stage), the audience is left hanging, and is silent for a few seconds before they realize that the dance has ended. This awkward silence makes the performer feel like he/she hasn’t done a good job, no matter how loudly the audience applauds after the silence (or even worse, after the dancer has exited the stage).
The good news: if the song you have chosen has a good ending, it’s a piece of cake to edit the song properly and deliver what the audience and performer deserve: a solid, great ending to a great performance.
As an example, let’s use Jason Mraz’s The Dynamo of Volition from the album We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things. It’s catchy, and has a great dance beat. The song as recorded is 3:36, much too long for dance competition. However, with a single well-placed edit, this song can be made 2:23, a perfect length for competition, and still retain the song’s original solid ending as well as retain a good overall structure.
If you were to fade the song out at 2:23, it would be right in the middle of a verse, creating the MOST awkward type of ending, which can’t even be considered a real ending.
In order to understand how it is possible to retain the song’s structure and still reduce it from 3:36 to 2:23, and make it sound perfect, we need to understand the song’s original structure. This song is a bit unusual in that there is no intro; Mraz starts right in on the verse.
Here are the parts of the song:
0:00 – Verse A
0:27 – Chorus
0:44 – Verse B
1:08 – Verse A
1:29 – Chorus
1:49 – Bridge
2:04 – Verse B (with extension)
2:43 – Chorus with ending
If we map this song out with parts, assigning each part a letter of the alphabet, along with a number in order of appearance, it would look like this:
A1 | C1 | B1 | A2 | C2 | D1 | B2 | C3
The easiest way to shorten it is to make a cut right before the last chorus, move the last chorus with ending to a new track, and then shift it in time so that the last chorus now overlaps with the second chorus.
In letter form, our song is now on two tracks, and it looks like this:
Track 1: A1 | C1 | B1 | A2 | C2
Track 2: C3
You can see that the 3rd (last) Chorus, with ending, now overlaps with the 2nd Chorus. Zoom in on the audio wave forms, and make sure that these two different audio tracks are matched up to each other perfectly in time. Play both tracks simultaneously, and move the new track so that you don’t hear any echo caused by having the two tracks out of alignment.
Once you have C3 in exact alignment with C2 timing-wise, there is only one more step to make: and that is to make a sharp, but smooth, transition at some point from C2 to C3, and voilá, you now have a perfect 2:23 version of The Dynamo of Volition! Your audio tracks will look something like this now:
When looking for the point to make the transition from one audio segment to another, what you want to find is what is called a zero-crossing point. This is where the audio wave is “standing still.” Making the edit at a zero-crossing for both audio waves is the best way to ensure you don’t get an abrupt cut in the music at the edit point.
It takes a few minutes longer to listen to a song, analyze where the verses, chorus, and bridges are, then to just fade it out, but the rewards are substantial for you and your dancer in the applause generated by the audience, and the feeling of closure at the end of a great performance. The ending is the last impression left with the judges, so make it strong instead of fading away!
Here is a video where I show you how to retain the ending:
If any of this is too overwhelming for you, feel free to send your song our way, and we’ll get it done for you! We love making perfect song edits for dancers!
