Random idea for a song...

[death_au]

I've had this idea in my head for years, but I'm not musically inclined, so could never bring it into being. I am wondering if something like this has been attempted though.
My idea is to create a song that is a combination of two different genres. Any two genres will do... Metal and Electronica for example. But the idea is to make it so that you can separate the two genres from that one song into completely independent songs. My original idea was to have the Metal track playing on one channel of a stereo track and the Electronica on the other, which could lead to an... interesting auditory experience when wearing headphones.
Does anyone know if it's been done? Two completely independent songs, from different genres of music, played side-by-side to create an entirely new (and possibly better) song?

[NBSRDan]

Genre mixing has been done. I can point to some examples just in my own collection:

• "Woke Up This Morning" - Alabama 3 (blues/techno)
• Slick - Joe Satriani (metal/swing)
• Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan (blues/country/metal)
• Any song - Red Hot Chili Peppers (metal/rap)
• Tobruk Crater - David Bergeaud (orchestral/calypso/rap/electronica/jazz/igiveup)

There's even a fairly well-known genre called "Jazz Fusion" (mixture of jazz with another genre(s), usually rock).

As far as putting two genres back-to-back goes, I don't see the point. Why not just consecutively play two songs of the genres you want? All merging them does is prevent people who don't like a particular genre from liking the other song. You might be able to find a song cycle album with multiple genres.

I just tried your second idea. Song in each stereo channel = major ear rape.

[death_au]

I just tried your second idea. Song in each stereo channel = major ear rape.

Yeah, well, the point is that the two songs would compliment each other. If you do the song-in-each-stereo-channel-thing, then the song should sound good coming out of speakers. It would be a different experience with headphones though.
Just playing two random songs, one in each ear, is most likely going to sound like crap.

I know genre fusion is done all the time, this is more of an independent-song-fusion idea.

[Lysdestic]

I assume you mean more along the lines of a mash-up, except each song panned right and left? Sounds cool, not sure if I have ever heard it done myself, though. I'm sure it couldn't be any more difficult than your average mash-up, albeit, with a rather cool result.

Also, Dan, your first paragraph read as if you completely skipped Death's post. Ha ha.

[NBSRDan]

Even with something complimentary like two techno songs, when you play them at the same time it's just a mess.

[vedicardi]

You can do this properly. ASMZ has had songs with 3 layers of vocals all singing different lyrics and it works fine.
Vocal layering starts fairly early on this video, about a minute in, third vocal starts at 2 minutes in (which starts about 9 minutes into the full song).





You just need to properly mix the audio so it doesn't blast over each other but blends together.

[Lysdestic]

Even with something complimentary like two techno songs, when you play them at the same time it's just a mess.

You don't get out of your musical box often do you? It's entirely possible and plausible -- even if it isn't techno -- it just isn't as simple as splicing them together in Audacity. There are people who make a career combining music out there, and it actually doesn't sound half bad.

[anthman852]

Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Joe Satriani - If I Could Fly

That is all

[warhol]

Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Joe Satriani - If I Could Fly

That is all

Lolololol

[Kermit4Prez]

I thought of this too, sort of.

I was going to make an album where it was split between the left brain and the right brain, and I would have creative things(whatever that meant) in the right side and intellectual things(whatever that meant) in the left side of the stereo.

Never got around to it.