Research

MASH UPS

Noun

Singular mashup

Plural mashups

mashup (plural mashups)

1. (computing slang) A derivative work consisting of two pieces of (generally digital) mediaconjoined together, such as a video clip with a different soundtrack applied for humorous effect, or a digital map overlaid with user-supplied data.

A mashup, bootleg or blend^[1] (also mash up and mash-up) is a song or composition created by blending two or more songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the music track of another.^[2]

In full swing at the end of the 20th century, mashups have been described positively as "ultimate post-modern pop song[s]" or "'culture jamming in its purest form'"^[3] They have also been described negatively as "the logical extension of the sampling fever of the '80s taken to its dumbest extreme". Due to the questionable legal status of mash ups and little chance of profits "there's a real punk rock attitude attached to the movement".^[3]

Cultural critic and legal commentator Siva Vaidhyanathan has commented that "The most interesting and entertaining phenomenon of the MP3 libraries on peer-to-peer systems is the availability of "mashes" - new compositions created by combining the rhythm tracks of one song and the vocal tracks of another." Noting that mashups have a rich history he observes that "It is merely the latest incarnation of a widely shared, deeply embedded cultural habit of cultural recombination across time and space."^[4]

CUT- UP TECHNIQUE

The cut-up technique (also called fishbowling or découpage) is an aleatory literary technique or genre in which a text (or multiple texts) is cut up into smaller portions at random, and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing.

The concept can be traced to at least the surrealists in the 1920s, but was popularized in the late 1950s and early 1960s by writer William S. Burroughs, and has since been used in a wide variety of contexts.