Author Interview: Norralt

This week in our series of interviews of AudioJungle authors, we meet…

Norralt (Björn Norralt)

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do for a living?

Hello! I’m a 22-year-old guy from Estonia. I’m studying history at Tartu University and I earn my living with some short-term jobs translating texts and teaching people to play the guitar etc. I never had a decent job really, and am unemployed at the moment as well, as there really are no jobs at this time. So I found out about AudioJungle and decided to give it a try. At least it’s an opportunity to earn some money to cover the expenses that a musician often comes to.

2. How long have you been composing music and what got you started producing?

I’ve been composing music almost all my life. I remember around 13 or 14 years ago I first tried composing a song myself. As my father used to be a musician at the end of the 1980s, he gave me a lot of tips and I began to like this new hobby of mine more and more.

In 2004 (I guess ) my father bought me Steinberg Cubase SX3 for a present and also some hardware equipment to run the program. I had tried out Fruity Loops Studio before, but producing and especially recording with it was the biggest pain ever. So I could say that I started producing in 2004, and it was probably the best time of my life .

3. Do you play any instruments? Do you have any formal music training?

The only instrument I ever really learnt was the guitar. I started playing it about 6 years ago starting with the basic chords, and gradually I began to prefer the electric guitar. I think the only disadvantage I ever had was that I learnt the guitar myself, so it took me quite a long time to master the instrument. On the other hand, I understand all the possible mistakes there are, and the people I’m teaching now have probably a really good teacher

Although I only really-really learnt the guitar, I also play the piano, the bass, the drums, and the harmonica. But playing them is quite hard for me and I prefer writing music for those instruments for someone else to play.

Regarding formal training, I went to a musical school for a year and learnt the clarinet. That was a difficult time for me, because the school I attended at this time was the worst nightmare in my location. You really had to study hard to just pass – getting an A was nigh impossible. So I had to quit the musical school and teach myself.

4. Could you describe to us your home studio and the equipment and software you typically use to produce audio?

My home studio is actually quite simple. The have hardware I have for recording includes:

• a little analog mixer,
• a Hammerfall DSP soundcard,
• a tiny little MIDI keyboard by Miditech, and
• guitar+bass amps

The main work is done by the software though, as all my EQs, compressors, delays, reverbs etc are software-based. My workstation is Cubase SX3 at the moment, although I’m planning to save some cash to purchase the latest version, as this one is quite old. In my production process I use a lot of VST instruments, like IK Multimedia Philharmonik, KORG synths etc.

In the future I’m planning to get my studio to be more hardware-based to ensure I get the best quality there is.

5. Could you tell us a bit about how you typically compose and then produce your audio? Describe your creative process.

There are two different versions of how the process goes. I either start picking a riff on the guitar and then write it down and play it with different VST instruments, or I just simply start playing something on the MIDI keyboard. In really rare cases the tune comes first, but typically I start with the harmony or just some guitar licks.

6. What genre of music do you enjoy producing for and why?

My favorite genre of all is something between hard rock and power metal. And producing it is the biggest challenge, which is one of the reasons I like to produce it. But as my taste is quite flexible I should also mention classical music, as this is just one of my greatest passions.

7. What kind of things inspire you to create music? Do you have any musical influences?

Most of my inspiration comes for books, movies, and relationships. I try to avoid getting any inspiration from other bands or composers, as I think my work wouldn’t be unique enough then.

8. What genres of music do you listen to in your spare time? Do you have any favorite bands or artists?

I usually listen to hard rock, metal, classical, ballads, and jazz. My favorites are Manowar, AC/DC, Tchaikovsky and an Estonian hard rock and blues singer Gunnar Graps.

9. What is your advice to other AudioJungle authors regarding how to create a successful portfolio of audio?

As I’m quite new on Envato networks, I haven’t reached the best strategy myself yet. But I think the best way to have a successful portfolio is to create something you see could being used somewhere.

10. What do you do to market your AudioJungle files?

Well, usually I just hope that my files stay on the front page among the new stuff for a while, so that the customers of the network can see them right away.

11. What are your three favorite tracks in your AudioJungle portfolio and why do you like them?

Right now I think the best three are:

Sweet Etude because it really took me a lot of time to compose it and ensure that it was excellent enough as a whole work. It’s also a good example of the kind of music I usually do.

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Ethnic Loop for exactly the opposite reason: it’s something I’ve never done before.

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Childhood Mood as it’s really easy, and I worked a lot with the tune.

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12. Apart from yourself, who is your favorite AudioJungle author and why do you like them?

I like vice_and_virtue as the rock loops really rock!

13. If you could change anything about AudioJungle, what would it be?

There could be a notification e-mail about the earnings. When I’m away from home, I can’t go to the internet to check if anything has happened, but I receive my e-mails to my cell-phone, so it could be really useful.

14. Could you tell us about some of your audio projects outside of AudioJungle? What have been some of your biggest audio successes so far?

I compose music for my band Catnap, where I’m the vocalist. We entered a great competition called Evolution2 at a German portal www.hobnox.com. We got to the finals, but didn’t win.

I have also performed as a single-artist with a guitar, playing ballads, and composed some music to amateur movies.

15. When you aren’t busy creating music, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I like reading books, watching movies and just partying with friends. The rock’n’roll lifestyle is what you would notice about me if we met

View / listen to Norralt’s AudioJungle portfolio.