Sampling

Without a doubt, Tremor was a fantastic piece of electronic music. Ryan couldn't find anything like it on Ultra Music. This simple track, packed with energy, was years ahead of the competition.

It was true that great works often won recognition through word of mouth over time, but that didn't mean they would set the market on fire right away.

With no "talking point" to draw attention, Tremor had to rely on word of mouth, which took time.

From that perspective, for Ryan, who hoped to build a name quickly from nothing, Tremor might not have been the most suitable "debut."

But Déjà vu had given it to him, so he wasn't exactly in a position to be picky.

However, with the second piece of electronic music Déjà vu had brought him, things were completely different.

She could get her first wave of attention by riding on a celebrity's coattails. Why couldn't I?

But in any case, the most urgent thing now was to produce the song. Ryan could tell that the female voice in the music was speaking Spanish.

He immediately dragged a pile of equipment back to the lounge. By then, the others had gathered their belongings and were ready to leave together.

The show had been canceled halfway through, and everyone looked grim.

"So we can head back to Nashville now, right?" Ryan's mind was entirely focused on producing the Harlem shake as soon as possible.

Deadmau5's manager, Marvin, gave a cold snort. "What are you talking about? You can leave if you want, but you'll have to pay the penalty for breaking the contract. You two owe us money now, understand?"

Ryan had already apologized on Joel's behalf. Joel had botched the show and cost Deadmau5's team an extra payment, but Ryan and Deadmau5 still had a working relationship. Deadmau5 said that some of the penalty would be deducted from Joel's earnings on the single.

"We'll have to ask Marvin to find a suitable club for us to perform at on short notice. We can negotiate the price," Deadmau5 said with an ingratiating smile.

The next stop on the tour was a week away. The team had already come from Canada to New York, and the flights, food, lodging, and wages for the next few days all added up. Even if they couldn't turn a profit after this mess, recovering some of their losses would be better than nothing.

Since they still had to perform, Ryan and Joel couldn't leave either.

"I don't want to see those two next week!" Marvin had had enough. He pulled out his phone and tried contacting some local New York booking agencies and promoters.

As soon as Ryan and Joel returned to their shared hotel room, Joel stopped crying.

"Marvin looked like he wanted to eat me alive. If I hadn't cried my eyes out and played the victim—" Joel examined the injuries on his face in the room's mirror. "Damn, those guys really don't hold back."

I can't tell whether you're clever or stupid. Ryan shook his head and immediately opened his equipment case, taking out his laptop.

"What are you doing with the computer?"

"I've got an idea," Ryan said without looking up.

"You've got one too?" Joel hurried over to Ryan.

After a whole month of intensive mixing practice, Ryan was no longer an EDM beginner. With Joel watching, he began working with practiced ease.

The song used an 808 bass drum, with snare and claps mixed in... plus some hi-hats. Ryan recalled the sounds as his hands moved deftly.

The lead was a brass synth, commonly used in trap. It seemed to layer several effects. Let me think... distortion, probably, and reverb and delay too.

Ryan put on his headphones and listened to it several times.

No, something was still missing. Right, this was it. They'd put a low-pass filter on the drums. Now it sounded right. Perfect!

After finishing the lead, Ryan used the same method to complete the FX track. At that point, the new piece of electronic music was basically finished. It had taken him no more than fifteen minutes.

Joel was completely stunned. Normally, a DJ would come up with a lead and then keep expanding on it, adding all kinds of effects and details. It was like sculpting a statue. Taylor created music that way too.

But Ryan was completely different. He finished one entire track, then moved on to the others. It was more like building a house: first the foundation, then the structure, then the interior and exterior.

In other words, he'd had a complete piece of electronic music in his head from the very beginning.

"You're a damn genius!" Joel had completely forgotten about his pain.

"It still needs the soul of the song—the vocals," Ryan said.

That was the hardest part of producing the song. Tremor's vocals were just a simple "3, 2, 1, go," which was easy to replace.

But this song was different. Its sound and lyrics were both unusual.

Ryan imitated the lyric he remembered from the song for Joel.

"That's Spanish." Joel scratched his head.

"Can you spell it out?"

Joel shook his head. "But one of Deadmau5's crew is Hispanic. He'll definitely recognize it."

Ryan immediately went to get him. In the end, they got the spelling of a Spanish phrase: "Con los terroristas" ("with the terrorists").

"Maybe this lyric is a sample too?" Ryan ventured, then searched online for it. The results disappointed him.

Ryan's guess was actually right, but the original track sampled in the Harlem shake, "Con Alegria," wouldn't be made for another two years.

"Then we'll have to record it ourselves," Ryan said.

"Right." Joel nodded. "So where do we find a Spanish-speaking woman? That kind of woman might be easy to find, but getting her to say it with the right feeling won't be."

As he spoke, he noticed Ryan looking at him.

"You're not asking me to do it, are you?" Joel cried in dismay.

"Why not? Your voice is already high-pitched. I can use software to turn it into a woman's voice." Ryan spread his hands.

"As long as you don't mind the end result, I'm fine with it," Joel said with a laugh.

For recording equipment, Ryan took out the gear Joel had brought along. It wasn't a proper recording environment, but with all the effects applied, the minor distortion wouldn't affect the sound. There was no need for expensive equipment.

"Right, just like that. Throw the sound out, and emphasize the last syllable, 'ta.'" Ryan coached him on the pronunciation, while the Hispanic assistant corrected it. Half an hour later, Ryan finally had a version he was reasonably happy with.

Then they touched up the voice and made it sound like a woman's before adding it to the song as a vocal track.

"That's about it. There's just one last line: 'do the Harlem shake.'" Ryan searched again, and this time he quickly found where it came from: a 2001 hip-hop song called "Miller Time" by the group Plastic Little.

Ryan planned to try contacting them the next day to get permission to use the sample. For now, he'd just rip the line and finish producing the song first.

A knock sounded at the door. Joel opened it, and Deadmau5 stood outside.

"What are you three doing in here?" Deadmau5 narrowed his eyes.

"Ryan's making a new song. Actually, he's already finished it. You have to listen—it's different this time. It's a dance track." Joel beamed.

"So Marvin found a new club for us to perform at?" Ryan turned to ask.

"Mm-hmm. It's still in Manhattan, but this time it's in Greenwich Village. The club's close to New York University, so there'll be fewer Black people, at least," Deadmau5 said with a nod.