Glenn Rubenstein likes to mix things up
It might not seem obvious if you've only watched the videos, but music played a large role in the OpAphid alternate reality game and interactive video series.
Part of the reason for this is because I thought it would be interesting if the characters of Tachyon and 10033 could use pop culture and a shared knowledge of music as a means to communicate secret messages to one another.
But beyond that, I've always enjoyed remixing songs and making mash-ups. It's something I started doing back in the days of my band Headboard, and over the last decade or so I've spent many a sleepless night in front of an audio program as I obsessed over a mix.
So when I was thinking of interesting ways to encode messages between the two characters in my series, the idea of doing mash-ups and mixes sounded pretty cool. If anything, I thought I could produce some interesting puzzles that would have listening appeal for the audience above and beyond what they needed to decode or decipher.
Additionally, I've also produced some remixes and mash-ups over the last year that debuted on BreeFM radio show. I haven't ever really done anything with them beyond playing them on the show, but the response has always been really good. I also wasn't sure what the best means to distribute them was, but finally a light bulb struck when I was checking out the site 8tracks last week.
So if you have the chance, listen to the playlist Glenn Rubenstein Remixes and Mashups over at 8tracks.com.
For the curious, here's a rundown of the streaming MP3 playlist, which is made up entirely of remixes and mash-ups I've done:
Kelly Clarkson vs The Pixies - Where Is My Mind Since You've Been Gone?
Beastie Boys vs Debbie Gibson - Shake Your Rump, Shake Your Love
High School Musical 2 vs Glenn Rubenstein - What Time Is It?
Nelly vs The Jane Does - Grillz (Junkie REDEARTH88 Remix)
MC Chris - Nrrrd Grrrl (Glenn Rubenstein Remix)
The Music Math Mash-Up from OpAphid v Tachyon
The 46 Song Mash-Up of Doom from OpAphid-REDEARTH88
(There's also one original track for good measure: the original version of the Tachyon theme song "What Time Is It?")
It's all streaming for quick playback in CD-mp3 quality, so check it out!