Greg Wilson discusses Re-Editing

What is your definition of an edit?

In a strict sense it’s taking an existing recording and altering the arrangement, although, with the options available via modern technology, the lines have become increasingly blurred.

What is the difference between an edit and a remix?

In the original sense, an edit involved the stereo master only, whereas a remix was when you worked with the multi-track tape of a recording and were able to access all the separate elements, allowing you to add effects and change the eq’s of each individual sound. Once again, this has become a grey area, not least because remixes changed radically in the late 80’s and 90’s as record companies looked to maximise sales of dance releases by having multi-genre club mixes of the same track. Often, the original recording was completely replaced as the ‘remixer’ utilized their own sounds, specific to the style of dance music they were associated with. This was more like a re-recording (sometimes a totally different track, bearing no audible relationship to the original) than a remix in its true form.

lot of the stuff I do sits somewhere between edit and remix. I often work with all the individual stems of a complete recording, whilst retaining the same eq’s and effects. This obviously allows me far greater maneuverability than I’d have with a straightforward edit, although not as much as a full-on remix. I also overdub my own sounds, adding new textures and flavours.

How did edits come about and what was their use?

They evolved in New York in the 70’s, as extended versions for DJ use - the 12” single grew out of this . The original Disco mixes were essentially edits, the pioneers like Tom Moulton and Walter Gibbons splicing tape to extend the tracks they were working with. The first commercially available 12” single was the Walter Gibbons mix of ‘Ten Percent’ by Double Exposure, issued on Salsoul in 1976. Although he worked from the master tape, he only had a limited amount of time (3 hours) to put his mix together, with his approach being very much edit based – running off sections and splicing them together.

Why did you start making edits?

My first re-edit was in 1983. It was on a track called ‘Heaven Sent’ by Paul Haig, which was pressed as a DJ only promo. As far as I’m aware, this was the first re-edit by a UK DJ (although re-edit wasn’t a term we used back then). I got into editing as a result of the mixes I was doing for Piccadilly Radio, starting in May ’82. Originally these were recorded live onto reel to reel (a Revox B77), and topped and tailed at the station by one of their engineers. One day there was nobody there to do this and I ended up going into one of the editing booths and having a go myself. Following on from this I began to use editing as a feature of the mixes, which became increasingly intricate, especially after I bought my own B77 towards the end of the year.

What do you think of the current trend of edits and all the new labels like Supreme, Mindless Boogie, Dirty, etc. releasing them?

I definitely regard it as a positive development. Apart from my own edits, I play lots of other peoples’. There are some great edits out there and some not so great ones – it’s the same with anything.

Do edits still serve the same purpose as they used to?

I think that nowadays they provide a strong example of how older music can still be evolving, years after it was first released, as a new generation of listeners connect with these tracks from their own perspective. Great music is great music, no matter when it was made, and if a new edit can make a track more relevant to people now, I’d say that’s good thing.

Would you say that this trend is a reflection of the current lack of inspiration in todays music?

There’s always good new music out there, it’s just that sometimes you have to dig deeper than at others. There’s also a wealth of older stuff to explore, so it’s only natural, especially with all the online options available at this point in time, that there’s an interest in the music of the past. Re-edits put a contemporary spin on something that might otherwise be regarded as purely retrospective, providing a balance between looking back and moving forward.

INTERVIEW WITH ALEXIS LE-TAN (TRAX / FRANCE) – NOV 2007

Read about Greg’s Credit To The Edit compliation: http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/credit_to_the_edit/index.html

Greg Wilson Editing Tape - ARTE Tracks Aug 2007