A remix is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The only characteristic of a remix is that it appropriates and changes other materials to create something new.
According to the Guinness World Records, Madonna is the most remixed act. Her remix album You Can Dance is credited with helping popularize remix albums releases.
Carey helped popularize having a rapper as a featured act through her post-1995 songs with her remix of "Fantasy" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard.
Jessica Simpson's "Irresistible" (So So Def Remix) featuring Lil' Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri had an incredible impact in 2001.
The main single of I Turn to You by Melanie C, was released as the "Hex Hector Radio Mix", for which Hex Hector won the 2001 Grammy as Remixer of the Year.
Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a cohesive whole. Multitracking became possible in the mid-1950s when the idea of simultaneously recording different audio channels to separate discrete tracks on the same reel-to-reel tape was developed. A track was simply a different channel recorded to its own discrete area on the tape whereby their relative sequence of recorded events would be preserved, and playback would be simultaneous or synchronized.
The TASCAM 85 16B analog tape multitrack recorder can record 16 tracks of audio on 1-inch (2.54cm) magnetic tape. Professional analog units of 24 tracks on 2-inch tape were common, with specialty tape heads providing 16 or even 8 tracks on the same tape width, for greater fidelity.
Scully 280 eight-track recorder at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Mixing desk with twenty inputs and eight outputs
The TEAC 2340, a popular early (1973) home multitrack recorder, four tracks on ¼ inch tape