blog

Clip EP Out Now

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:34:56 -0700

This is my latest works for my techno project Nort. A three track EP titled Clip.

It features three origional techno's for you and your friends.

They are available at:

http://shop.deliciousmusic.co.nz/album/nort-clip

http://www.addictech.com/p/82760

Also on itunes, and many other online stores.

Stand up, engage gears, move..

-Andy

Tron Audio Techno Tutorial Series Part 4: Hihat

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:03:53 -0600

Tron Audio Techno Tutorial Series.

This tutorial video series will span the creating of an entire techno track. Starting from the basics, by building a solid foundation of key elements, I will move through the track methodically, explaining how I will go about designing and creating each sound and movement.

Part 1: The Kick

Part 2: The Bass

Part 3: Snare

Part 4: Hihat

Tron Audio Techno Tutorial Series Part 3: Snare

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:51:26 -0600

Tron Audio Techno Tutorial Series.

Part 1: The Kick

Part 2: The Bass

Part 3: Snare

Tron Audio Techno Tutorial Series Part 2: Bass

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:42:58 -0600

Part 1: The Kick

Part 2: The Bass

Tron Audio Techno Tutorial Series Part 1: Kick

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:16:42 -0600

Part 1: The Kick

Club Hades Podcast Mix

Fri, 27 May 2011 19:26:57 -0600

Hey all. Fresh and juicy mix set up for Club Hades Podcast.

Squeezed in some new ones, left the pulp in.

http://www.deliciousmusic.co.nz/nort

Core Function EP Out

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 22:24:55 -0600

Delicious Music is turning 2! Woo hoo! To celebrate, we’ve decided to start a label. May 1 is obviously the start of New Zealand Month… so we’re jumping on the bandwagon with 2 (‘coz we’re 2!) releases. One from Nort (May 1) and one from Mr Squatch a few weeks later.

Delicious Music is stoked to kick off the label side of things here at Delicious HQ with Nort. He's played a big part in getting Delicious Music to where it is today and his persistance in wanting to help create a label with Delicious Music has finally paid off. Into it... welcome to Delicious Music's first release.

Tek-head and audiologist Nort hits us with his fresh 3 track EP entitled “Core Function”. After many years writing downbeat and ambient under the alias "Invader Tron," Andrew Snook has finally taken the definitive step away from the lounge, and onto the dance floor with his new LiveTek Project Nort. Churning out minimal and progressive style bangin’ techno, with influences from his ambient glitch days seeping in, the result is both atmospheric and pumping, where ethereal melody lines and drifting synths are boiled down, vaporized, and pumped out the vents, of his mechanical tek driven, steam machine.

The EP kicks off with a minimal number, “CogBit”, this track cruises along with amazing attention to frequency manipulation and is sure to be soon heard on the minimal techno floors around the world. Next up is “Bubble Tek”, a more progressive offering that has already been enjoyed by many at legendary outdoor events Voyage (Chch, NZ) and Rainbow Serpent (Vic, Aus). It’s an upbeat ride with synths drifting through it like a feather floating on the wind.

His signature synthesizer progressions create a musical environment deeply enriched by the wide variety of emotions present in each of his tracks and he guides the listener through all aspects of his constantly dynamic and ever-evolving sound.

Summer 2011 RobotRainbow Mixset

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:56:06 -0700

Hi all, so my 2011 summer mixset "RobotRainbow," is up for free download.

I've had a great summer traveling and playing music in New Zealand and Australia, and from it, I give you a mix set of my best Nørt tunes.

Summer 2011 RobotRainbow

All the best

-Andy

Frequency Slotting Tutorial Video

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:47:14 -0700

Hi. This video is about a mixing problem called "masking," which happens between instruments when they have energy in similar frequency bands. The result is reduced definition and clarity. This is how to solve the problem using frequency slotting techniques.

In this instance, it was between three instruments, a pad, a rhythmic instrument and a melodic instrument.

Hope you enjoy.

ZeroOne EP Out Now

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:35:17 -0600

So! After long time and lots a hard work, finally, I can say "Here is my Debut Techno EP!"

Im very excited about this work. Its a combination of Minimal and Progressive Techno with a wafting dash of atmospheric soundscapes.

And if your into it, the BubbleButt RMX is available for free! Its on the house.

Cheers

-Andy

Techno Lead Tutorial

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:35:14 -0600

Here is another selection from my ten week course. This video was taken from my Lead Class.

In this video I take a small techno loop made of Drums, Bass and Pads, and write a melodic lead over top using and operator and a delay.

Full course content will be available in july 2010

-Andy

Chord Class - Dub Blip tutorial Video

Mon, 24 May 2010 13:50:11 -0600

This is a selection taken from one of my classes on electronic music production. This class was on chords, and how to use them to create solid melodic foundations.

In this video, after constructing a pad, chord structure, percussion and bass, I add a dub blip using Ableton Live's Operator. Its a simple but effective sound.

Enjoy

The full course content will be available in July.

-Andy

Snare and Hihat basic Production

Sun, 09 May 2010 13:53:56 -0600

Here is a video I made on Snare and Hihat basic production. I feel strongly about creating you own percussion sounds, especially Hihats. The way you can make them move far surpasses the possibility of samples.

I use only Ableton Live's Operators for this as generators. I also use a bit of compression to help shape the dynamics of the sounds, along with velocity and EQ's.

This video is a selection taken from my Electronic Music Production Course. The full package will be released in july.

-Andy

Workshop Streaming

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:17:30 -0600

Apologies to all those who tried to tune into the stream from workshops in the past two weeks. Due to technical issues and stream unreliability we have decided to look at other options for sharing this course.

At this stage, all classes are being recorded and will be released as a package in july. Keep an eye out :0)

For now, Ill be releasing selections from the course for on-demnad viewing.

All the best..

-Andy

Bass Production Class - Dubstep Bass

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:56:10 -0600

This video was taken as a selection from my Electronic Music Production Course - Bass Class. The full course content will be available from around July.

It this video, I go over how I would go about designing a Dubstep Bass in Ableton Live. I use multiple instruments to construct the sound. I use FM syntheses to create some really interesting tones and movement within the sound. And wobbles.. can't forget about the wobbles..

-Andy

Class One Notes, Sound Theory and Basic Synthesis

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:23:00 -0600

Sound is vibration transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas; particularly, sound means those vibrations composed of frequencies capable of being detected by ear. There are two types of waves:

Types of Waves

Transverse

Particles move Perpendicular to the direction of the wave. The Particles do not move along with the wave, they just oscillate up and down around an equilibrium position. These are the types of waves formed by water.

Longitudinal

Particles move parallel to the direction of the wave. The particles do not move along with the wave, they just oscillate back andforth around an equilibrium position. This is type of wave that sound travels as.

Introducing.. The Sine Wave

All complex sounds are made up of combinations of sine waves of verifying amplitude and frequency.

Parts and Properties of a Wave

Parts of a wave that you need to know:

These Sine waves can exist at any frequency, but are only audible between 20Hz and 20 kHz, as this is the range of human hearing.

Harmonics and Fourier Plots

The sine waves that make up a complex sound can be split up into various categories.

This picture shows the fundamental wave at the top, and then the 6 following harmonics. They are 2x the frequency, then 3x, then 4x the fundamental etc..

We can then describe a sound by using “Fourier Plots,” that graph the harmonics contained in a sound. The first bar is the fundamental, or the first harmonic, then the following harmonics are shown by the blue bar. I have plotted the four most common waveforms contained on any synthesizer.

Sine waves contains only the fundamental

Square waves contains only odd harmonics

Saw waves contains all the harmonics

Triangle Waves containing only odd harmonics, but not as many as a square waves.

And here is a diagram showing the different shapes of these waveforms.

Subtractive Synthesis

Subtractive synthesis is the most basic kind of synthesis. The idea is that you start with a harmonically rich sound, such as a saw wave, and shape your sound by subtract harmonics from it by way of filtering.

The main components in a subtractive synthesizer are:-

Oscillators:

An oscillator is the device on a synthesizer that actually generates the sound. They will oscillate between 20Hz and 20KHz. Most synthesizers contain multiple oscillators. There are many different waveforms that an oscillator can generate, but the four most common are:-

There can be many different parameters associated with oscillators depending on the synthesizer, but the most common ones are:-

Filters

A filter is the primary device used to shape the harmonic content of a sound. The two main parameters used by filters.

The four main types of filters are:-

The final point in filters is the steepness or sharpness that the filter cuts its frequencies outside of the cutoff.

The most common is 12db per Octave or a “2 pole filter”, which means the filtered portion of the signal is cut by 12db per octave outside of the cutoff. Another common one is 24db per Octave or a “4 pole filter.” Essentially, the lager the number, the steeper the roll off created by the filter.

Envelopes

Envelopes are used to create a change over time in various parameters. The most common parameter being assigned to an envelope is level, or volume, although it is also very common for a filters cutoff frequency to be controlled by an envelope too.

The common settings on envelopes are:-

Modulation

At this point, the sound generated using the previous devices will be relatively static and lifeless. In order to create an interesting sound that’s natural, inspiring and exciting, we need to create movement within the sound. For this we can use modulation. There are many different types of modulation.

LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator)

This is a device that, much like an audio oscillator, generates waves, but unlike and audio oscillator, its output is never sent to any audio output. Further more, the rate it oscillates at is much slower, typically between 0Hz and 20Hz, so is not used to generate sound. This device is used to control various parameters, such as filter cutoff, or oscillator pitch or level to name a few. The term Tremolo (Modulations in Level) or vibrato (Modulations on Pitch) maybe be familiar terms for musicians and can be recreated in synthesizers using LFO’s. The common parameters you will find in an LFO are

Velocity

Velocity is used to mimic the force to which a note is struck. When you program notes into you arrangement, you can set the velocity of each note.

Velocity can then be assigned to various parameters to control how the sound reacts to high or low velocity notes. The most common use for velocity is to control level and filter cutoff, so that a soft note is quieter and dull, and a hard note is loud and brighter.

PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)

PWM is typically used in square waves, but has been adapted to many other waveforms. The pulse length is the time a wave spends at its top position. In the diagram you can see three settings. The 50% wave is the common square wave that we use, but you can change the width of its pulse to create very nice movements in sound.

Oscillator Sync

Oscillator Sync is where you use two oscillators, one selected as the master, one as the slave. The slave oscillator is forced to reset its cycle every time the master does. If the two oscillators are running at the same frequency, it will have no effect, but if they are tuned differentially, the salve oscillator will be forced to run at the same frequency by distorting its shape.

In this Diagram, you can see the top saw wave is the master. The lower saw wave, is running at a faster frequency, but is forced to restart its cycle as the top does. It results in a different shaped wave that is now at the same frequency. By modulating the pitch of the slaved oscillator you can achieve very attractive results.

Additive Synthesis

Additive is the other type of synthesis I would like to cover. It is the opposite to subtractive synthesis. Instead of starting with a rich sound and subtracting harmonics from it, you start with a simpler sound, and add harmonics to it by way of modulation. There are two main types of additive synthesis.

AM (Amplitude Modulation)

In AM synthesis, you add harmonics by taking an Audio Oscillator, and instead of feeding its output to an audio mixer, you use its wave to modulate the amplitude of another audio oscillator. Much like using an LFO, except the rate of modulation is much faster (Between 20Hz and 20Khz). Instead of creating a tremolo effect, it results in added harmonics and a change in sound.

FM (Frequency Modulation)

FM synthesis is much the same as AM, except instead of modulating the amplitude, you use an audio speed oscillator to modulate the frequency of another audio oscillator. Instead of sounding like vibrato, it results in added harmonics and a change in sound.

When using an envelope to control the amplitude of the modulating oscillator, you can create very nice tones and changes in sound over time.

A Final Note

I realise that this is a lot of information to begin with. Essentially, I wanted to introduce you to all these concepts of sound and synthesis. In the following weeks we will explore Ableton Live, and these ideas, and use them to achieve desired results. You will become more and more familiar with them as time goes by, as we use these this knowledge week after week. This document will be a great reference for your all. Thanx.

-Andy

TronAudio and Delicious Music Presents The Electronic Music Production Workshop

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:55:32 -0600

Hosted at Tandem Studios and streamed online, Delicious Music and Tron Audio are proud to present ten weeks of electronic music production workshops. Starting from the basics, each workshop follows on from the previous, creating a progressive foundation of knowledge, skills and understanding, needed to produce top quality electronic music for New Zealand.

The topics covered will be Basic Sound Theory and Synthesis101, Bass Synthesis, Creating and using Percussion, Chord Instruments, Lead Instruments, Effects Basics, Effects Advanced, and a three part series in Track Construction. Workshops are taught on Ableton Live, although the knowledge taught is designed to be general and applicable to all applications. Students will also receive Live Packs of the topics covered, which they can take home and use.

The Workshops will run from 6:00 till 8:00 every Tuesday evening, starting from April the 13th. At 6:00 the workshop class will begin, and will run for an hour. From 7:00 till 8:00 will be open work time, where students can ask questions, work on topics covered and receive extra tuition.

Workshops are $5 per person, per class, and places are limited. Tandem Studios is located at 78 Oxford Tce, Chch. Classes will also be streamed online. Updates will be added over time. Contact andrew@tronaudio.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for bookings or questions. Individual tuition available.

Live Set Mastering

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:10:52 -0700

In this video, I go over how I would create a mastering chain for my live set.

Live set mastering is a lot easier and more gentle that mastering for an album. Your goal should be to achieve level at 0db without clipping an having a clean and consistent sound through out your set. You don't need to be so accurate and discerning to make it sound good coming out the PA. One of the key differences being that your creating a chain to accommodate for multiple tracks, rather than creating a tailored mastering chain for each individual track. Thus, you have to be a lot more gentle and general with your processing.

I cover EQ, Compression, Limiting and even Mid Side processing.

Hope it helps

-Andy

Spoonhead's Debut Album

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:59:12 -0700

Just finished mastering Spoonheads Debut Album. That boy's really stepped it up I tell ya.

Full of tasty NZ outdoor style progressive, big breaks and glitchy psy.

Luminate 2010 Field Recordings

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:07:57 -0700

So I've been away for the past few weeks up in beautiful takaka, in the top of the South Island of New Zealand, while attending and playing at Luminate Festival. Was an amazing festival with may amazing musicians featured. While I was away we went for a few walks in the stunning bush and took some nice field recordings. Heres a selection of samples which we took.

Theres some nice stream samples, lots with rocks, atmosphere, birds, wasps... All sorts. appologies for the stray voices in there, just hangin..

I hope its of some use to you all.