Kirby Ferguson 12/7/15 Kirby Ferguson 12/7/15

Everything is a Remix t-shirts and posters available for pre-order

Everything is a Remix t-shirts and posters can now be pre-ordered and will begin shipping in early 2016. We have the original, beloved "Everything is a Remix" t-shirt, as well as a brand new "Copy Transform Combine" design (see below). Our thanks to Dan Gilmore who created the icons back in 2012. The shirts are available in three colors and six sizes.

We also have a new, gorgeous "Copy Transform Combine" poster, which is available in three colors as well.

Pre-order yours today!

Kirby Ferguson 10/12/15 Kirby Ferguson 10/12/15

Kickstarter campaign ends tonight!

Last chance to get Everything is a Remix t-shirts and posters on Kickstarter! You can also get my new series, This is Not a Conspiracy Theory, for just $10. Campaign ends in 12 hours. Click here to back us on Kickstarter.

Kirby Ferguson 10/7/15 Kirby Ferguson 10/7/15

Stretch goal hit! New Everything is a Remix is a go!

We have hit our stretch goal and a new Everything is a Remix is a go! Thank you so much from me and Nora, my producing partner (and wife), who makes all sorts of behind-the-scenes stuff happen.

Contributions from here on out help me and Nora stay independent and keep creating innovative content for the net. Thank you for the privilege.

(If you've been meaning to back us, you can still do here until October 12th.)

Best!
Kirby & Nora

Kirby Ferguson 9/24/15 Kirby Ferguson 9/24/15

"The Basic Elements of Creativity" Desktop Wallpapers

The most popular visual from Everything is a Remix is now available as a desktop wallpaper. There are two versions of the design: one with the title, "The Basic Elements of Creativity," and one without. And they're available in two sizes: 1080p and 5k. If you don't know what that means, take the 1080p. Enjoy!

"The Basic Elements of Creativity" Wallpaper: 1080p, 5k
"Copy Transform Combine" Wallpaper: 1080p, 5k

Kirby Ferguson 9/22/15 Kirby Ferguson 9/22/15

Kickstart us for a new Everything is a Remix

We've got a juicy and ambitious new stretch goal on Kickstarter and if we reach it I’ll cue up a new Everything is a Remix video in my production schedule. If you're a fan of the project, consider contributing to the campaign.

Kirby Ferguson 9/13/15 Kirby Ferguson 9/13/15

Everything is a Remix Remastered

For the first time, the whole series as a single video in HD.

In the five years since the series launched, Everything is a Remix has been viewed over two million times and produced a popular TED Talk. Amazingly, Remix continues to change the way people think about creativity, originality, and copyright.

To celebrate the five year anniversary, I've polished up the original four parts and merged them into a single video. For the first time now, the whole series is available as a single video with proper transitions all the way through, unified styling, and remixed and remastered audio. Part One has been entirely rebuilt in HD.

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TRANSCRIPT

Remix. To combine or edit existing materials to produce something new

The term remix originally applied to music. It rose to prominence late last century during the heyday of hip-hop, the first musical form to incorporate sampling from existing recordings.

Early example: the Sugarhill Gang samples the bass riff from Chic’s “Good Times” in the 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight”.

Rapper’s Delight
The Sugarhill Gang

Good Times
Chic

Since then that same bassline has been sampled dozens of times.

The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Flash

Everything’s Gonna be Alright
Father MC

It’s All Good
Will Smith

2345Meia78
Gabriel O Pensador

Skip ahead to the present and anybody can remix anything — music, video, photos, whatever — and distribute it globally pretty much instantly.

You don’t need expensive tools, you don’t need a distributor, you don’t even need skills. Remixing is a folk art — anybody can do it. Yet these techniques — copying materials, transforming them, combining them — are the same ones used at any level of creation. You might even say: everything is a remix.

To explain, let’s start in England in 1968.

Part One: The Song Remains the Same

Jimmy Page recruits John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, and John Bonham to form Zed Zeppelin. They play extremely loud blues music that soon will be known as—

Wait, let’s start in Paris in 1961.

William Burroughs coins the term “heavy metal” in the novel “The Soft Machine,” a book composed using the cut-up technique, taking existing writing and literally chopping it up and rearranging it. So in 1961 William Burroughs not only invents the term “heavy metal,” the brand of music Zeppelin and a few other groups would pioneer, he also produces an early remix.

Back to Zeppelin.

By the mid-1970s Led Zeppelin are the biggest touring rock band in America, yet many critics and peers label them as… rip-offs. The case goes like this.

The opening and closing sections of “Bring it on Home” are lifted from a tune by Willie Dixon entitled — not coincidentally — “Bring it on Home.”

Bring it on Home
(Page, Plant)

Bring it on Home
(Dixon)
Performed by Sonny Boy Williamson

“The Lemon Song” lifts numerous lyrics from Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor.”

The Lemon Song
(Page, Plant)

Killing Floor
(Burnett)

“Black Mountain Side” lifts its melody from “Blackwaterside,” a traditional arranged by Bert Jansch.

Black Mountain Side
(Page)

Blackwaterside
(Traditional, Arranged Jansch)

“Dazed and Confused” features different lyrics but is clearly an uncredited cover of the same-titled song by Jake Holmes. Oddly enough, Holmes files suit over forty years later in 2010.

Dazed and Confused
(Page)

Dazed and Confused
(Holmes)

And the big one, “Stairway to Heaven” pulls its opening from Spirit’s “Taurus.” The estate of songwriter Randy California files suit in 2014.

Stairway to Heaven
(Page, Plant)

Taurus
(California)

Zeppelin clearly copied a lot of amount of other people’s material, but that alone, isn’t unusual. Only two things distinguished Zeppelin from their peers.

Firstly, when Zeppelin used someone else’s material, they didn’t attribute songwriting to the original artist. Most British blues groups were recording lots of covers, but unlike Zeppelin, they didn’t claim to have written them.

Secondly, Led Zeppelin didn’t modify their versions enough to claim they were original. Many bands knock-off acts that came before them, but they tend to emulate the general sound rather than specific lyrics or melodies. Zeppelin copied without making fundamental changes.

So, these two things

Covers: performances of other people’s material

And knock-offs: copies that stay within legal boundaries

These are long-standing examples of legal remixing. This stuff accounts for almost everything the entertainment industry produces, and that’s where we’re headed in part two.

END OF PART ONE

ONE LAST THING

Wait, one last thing. In the wake of their enormous success, Led Zeppelin went from the copier to the copied. First in the 70s with groups like Aerosmith, Heart and Boston, then during the eighties heavy metal craze, and on into the era of sampling. Here’s the beats from “When the Levee Breaks” getting sampled and remixed.

When the Levee Breaks
Led Zeppelin

Rhymin’ and Stealin’
Beastie Boys

Return to Innocence
Enigma

Lyrical Gangbang
Dr. Dre

Kim
Emininem

END OF PART ONE (REALLY)

Kirby Ferguson 7/21/15 Kirby Ferguson 7/21/15

Episode Three of This is Not a Conspiracy Theory is now live

Episode Three of my new series, This is Not a Conspiracy Theory, is now live. You can watch a preview above. If you've already purchased the series, you can log-in on VHX or Vimeo to watch the entire episode. If you've not yet purchased the series, you can do so here.

Kirby Ferguson 6/18/15 Kirby Ferguson 6/18/15

Teaser for Episode Three of This is Not a Conspiracy Theory

Episode Three of This is Not a Conspiracy Theory is nearing completion. It'll be a long one – in the current edit it's eighteen minutes. Check out the teaser trailer above for a peek at what's to come. If you're interested in watching the full series as it unfolds, you can purchase it here.

Kirby Ferguson 10/28/14 Kirby Ferguson 10/28/14

A sneak peak from Episode 2 of "This is Not a Conspiracy Theory"

Watch the complete first episode here.
Purchase the entire video series at my site or on Vimeo on Demand.

Kirby Ferguson 10/21/14 Kirby Ferguson 10/21/14

New trailer for This is Not a Conspiracy Theory

The new trailer for This is Not a Conspiracy Theory has just been posted. It features visuals from Episode 2 and introduces you to to the format.

You can view the first episode for free or purchase the series at my site or on Vimeo on Demand.

Kirby Ferguson 9/17/14 Kirby Ferguson 9/17/14

This is Not a Conspiracy Theory: Episode 2 now live

Ladies and gentlemen, Episode Two of the serialized documentary "This is Not a Conspiracy Theory" has just been published. You can watch the first installment and buy a subscription here. You can purchase with credit card, PayPal or even BitCoin.