Toro del Funk

Hi Folks..

First off I have some important news…

Mancunia Funk, my latest track that has been doing the rounds on Facebook and Soundcloud has been signed up by the Axis Trax label!

As you can imagine I’m chuffed to bits with this.

I distributed to a few labels and Axis snapped it up! In terms of where we are with this, the track has been sent to Axis for Mastering along with all the parts that make up the track (kick drums, hats, synths, bass lines, etc..) From here Axis will arrange for a couple of remixes to be done by other Producers. It then gets Promo’d before finally being released. I’ll keep you all updated on progress, but as you can imagine I’m really BUZZIN over the news!!

A big thanks to Axis Owner ‘Rachel Ellektra’ for the support!!!

I’ve also had loads of kind words from all my buds on Facebook which I really appreciate. Everyone knows I’ve been working hard on this and how much it all means to me. Like I said in my last post, 2010 is year 2 of the TDF Project and this represents a fantastic way to start the year! I promise to give it my all, to blog everything good and bad and to make sure everyone is in the know!

But the piece de resistance is that I even had a congratulatory tweet from Funkagenda as you can see below!!! Now that…. Means A Lot !!!!

Anyhow, for now you’ll have to make do with a preview of the track below which I hope you like. I really hope everyone supports the track when it is released!

Mancunia Funk [Signed to Axis Trax ] by Toro del Funk

I’m going to put together a video of how the track was put together pretty soon to show you what goes into a TDF track.. Compression, EQ’ing its going to cover it all !!! Watch out for that!

And Finally…. I’ve come up with a new logo….!

I’ll let you check it out..

Stay Lucky..
TDF

Hi Folks!

Finally managed to master the next track, ‘The Church of Sound’. Its available for free download via the Soundcloud link a little further down the page.

This track is perhaps a little different to the other stuff I’ve done so far. Its somewhere between Chillout & Tech House, but I’ll let you decide because I really don’t care much for music classification. Its all Dance Music to me!

Anyhow, feel free to grab a copy and let me have your comments and feedback either here or on Soundcloud.

The Church of Sound by Toro del Funk

I’ve got to say that I’m really pleased with Soundcloud. It’s a great way for getting your music into the public domain and also for finding new stuff. There are some really talented people out there. My advice is to get over there and have a dig around. I read an amazing stat that each day a years worth of music is uploaded to the site. If you can’t find something you like, then I’ll be amazed!

In terms of ‘The Church of Sound’, its the first track where I’ve really tried to sit the different components of the track into the mix. To do this I downloaded a couple of great utilities from Blue Cat Audio. First off I downloaded their free Spectrum Analyser tool. This really helped me to make sure the sound was equally spread across the sound spectrum. I also downloaded Blue Cat’s EQ VST plugin. I had this running on most of my audio tracks to make sure the sound frequencies of the different parts didn’t conflict with each other. Again, its all about getting the different bits sat well in the mix. Hopefully, I’m getting there!

All this may sound like total bollocks but EQ’ing and setting the volume levels of tracks within Ableton is so important. I’ll try and explain why. Within Ableton all tracks (kick, hats, bass, synths etc..) can be routed to the Master Channel. The Master Channel is where the main output meter sits (a bit like a VU Meter). Ableton uses 32bit floating point giving it lots of headroom which means its fairly happy for the Master Channel to ‘Clip’ i.e. go above 0db (into the ‘red’). However, when the track is exported to 16bit for CD, anything that clips (i.e. goes above 0db) will get chopped out. As a result, the resulting mp3 will sound terrible. To combat this, Producers need to mixdown all tracks so that nothing EVER goes above 0db.

If you want to listen to well produced album, check out ‘These Hopeful Machines’ by BT. BT is a Sonic Architect and it took him over 4 years to write this album. Believe me when I say its well worth a listen! [I'm actually listening to it as I type this..]

Right, that’s it for now. Listen to the track, download if you wish and let me know what you think!

Stay Cool..
TDF

Hello!
Its been a while since I last posted anything, so I thought I’d better put that right. Since my last update, we’ve moved into a new decade, so first off I hope everyone has a great year and achieves their goals!

I thought it might be interesting to provide some background on what this whole Toro del Funk thing is about. In late 2008, I was chatting to Dr Jones about music ‘n’ stuff and I’d made my mind up that ‘Project TDF’ was a 3 year affair. Mission: World Domination of the EDM scene with the likes of Deadmau5 and van Dyk performing as my warm up acts! Well ok, not quite.. but, I committed to putting in a significant amount of effort into this project. 2010 is year 2 and I need to push the envelope over the next 12 months. I’ve decided to spend a bit time experimenting with music. Quite often when working with Ableton Live, I feel that once I’ve found a decent set of loops, clips, samples and synths that I put myself under pressure to dive straight in and create a 6 minute track. Well 2010 is going to be different as I’m going to afford myself a lot more ‘pi$$ing about’ time. I’m also going to spend more time learning about some of the tools that I use to create my tracks.

For example, I use Isotope Ozone 4 to master my tracks. Being honest, its normally a case of dragging it onto the Master Channel, selecting a Preset and letting it do its stuff. Being honest, that really is a lazy way of approaching Mastering. As a result, I’ve decided to try (and I emphasise the word try) to understand about the theory of Mastering. I’ve purchased ‘Mastering Audio – The Art & The Science’ by Bob Katz. As Bob points out “Digital Audio is all about Arithmetic” so I’m going to get my head around this a bit more. No doubt anything that I learn will be blogged at some stage in the future!

In terms of other stuff, I’ve decided to stop hosting my own tracks on here. Instead I’ll be using Soundcloud. Its just as easy to share tracks with you guys and makes my life a bit easier. Soundcloud is a music sharing service and its a really cool site. Lots of labels and Pro Producers are on there, e.g.  Deadmau5 linky is http://soundcloud.com/fuckmylife. Its really easy for people to listen and download my stuff so there’s much difference for you guys.

Also…. here is my new track titled “As Yet Unknown”… Just click the play button and it will stream via Soundcloud! Easy as that! It’s also available to download (click the ‘down arrow on the right of the Soundcloud box), so get it whilst its hot!!

As Yet Unknown by torodelfunk

Anyway, that’s enough typing.. I’m off for a beer!

Stay Lucky!
TDF

Greetings!

As we’re fast approaching the Festive Season, I thought it was about time I made available my new track ‘Hypnopia Dream’ for free download!

The title off the track came from Mr Jon ‘Big J’ Crebbin after I requested possible track names from the Facebook Massive! The artwork was supplied by my good buddy Dr Jones. Top work mate, really like the Green Neon Shizzle you’ve got going on!

It’s a Tech House number with a trance edge. Its recorded at 128BPM and has a nice bounce. It’s also the first track I’ve produced with Ableton Live 8. I’ve also adopted a new approach to my drum racks in that I’m using one of the new inbuilt 808 Racks within Ableton.

I’ve also spent a bit more time on the Mastering, to make all the parts fit together. Mastering is really really tough, but I’m learning all the time! I received some good early feedback from the Ableton Forums so I’ve made a couple of changes to the version which has been kicking around Soundcloud.

This is the last track of 2009, so make sure you grab a copy whilst it’s hot!!

To Preview it click play below.

Hypnopia Dream by Toro del Funk

<< Warning – Possible Boring Techie Crap ahead >>

I thought it would be useful to tell you about the track export process. If you’re interested carry on reading!

• The original Track was exported from Ableton in .wav format .
• This created a nice 156MB File with a Sample Rate of 44,100Hz and a 24 bit depth.
• The .wav file is then converted to a 320kbps MP3 for distribution.
• This reduced the file size to a meagre 21MB.
• The MP3 is the version you’re able to download!

Just so you know Commercial CD’s are generally released at 41,000Hz with a 16 bit depth. For the record, Deadmau5 plays live with 24 bit files to ensure totally quality during his performances. The Mau5 is a Sonic God in my opinion who really takes care when it comes to sound control.

For example, the ‘Final Master’ of his track ‘FML’ is a 32bit, 192,000Hz .wav that comes in at a whopping 717MB!! This is then degraded to 24bits for live use, then degraded to 16bits for commercial release. [Thanks to the Deadmau5 Blog for this info by the way ]

The moral of the story is don’t rip tracks from YouTube and MySpace because the quality is shit. You know it and I know it!!

Anyway enough of that techie crap, download the tune and leave any comments!!

Over and Out.

TDF x

Helloooooo!

I got this out on Soundcloud a couple of weeks ago so I thought I’d better get it on here and give you the opportunity to download a copy for ‘Free’.

Usual Stuff. Produced in Live 7, consisting of 2 Leads (one programmed with Sylenth1, the other with fxpansions Cypher synth). A few filters, compression and lots of automated parameters. This is the last tune I’ll be doing in Ableton Live 7 as I’ve now upgraded to version 8. I’m looking forward to having a good old play with some of the new features including the new Groove Engine!

Check out a preview here :

Side Effect by Toro del Funk

As usual, if you do decide to download any of my tunes, give credit where credit is due. Why not post some feedback on the site! That would be nice!

Talking of Soundcloud, I’m making a bit more use of it. I’m not a big fan of the compression applied to tracks which are uploaded and the cost of a ‘Pro’ accounts are a bit high, but apart from that its a really cool resource. There are loads of tracks which can listen to and download covering all kinds of genres. My advice is get over there and check it out! Think of it as a myspace without all the spam and other random shit!

In terms of other stuff, not much is happening right now due high levels of weekend activity at work! However, come December I have quite a bit of time off so expect some developments then.

Stay Cool.
TDF x

Apple Snow Leopard

I thought it was about time to blog about my experience with upgrading to Apple’s latest and greatest OS release (Mac OS X ver 10.6) or otherwise known as ‘Snow Leopard’.

First off, I run with an Apple Macbook which is at the heart of my Digital Audio world. I use it for a bit of interweb surfing, checking emails and Social Networking etc but apart from that I only use it for Audio related activities (DJ’ing and Production). Without it my Audio World would dissolve in an instant. The upgrade was therefore not taken lightly!

So how did it go?

Well first off, the upgrade CD cost £25! An absolute steal when compared to what certain other companies charge for upgrades. The upgrade installed in about 1 hr 15, it reduced the used space on my hard drive by about 7GB and the start up \ shut down times are a little bit quicker.

After some tough testing I can confirm I’ve not experienced one issue with any of the software.

• Ableton Live 8
• Arturia Minimoog VST
• Sylenth1 VST
• fxpansion’s DCAM Synth Squad VST
• Isotope Ozone 4

The only issue I had was with my Allen & Heath Xone 4D Mixer. The device wasn’t recognised after I’d installed Snow Leopard, but A&H have released an updated driver which offers compatibility with Snow Leopard. Whilst the driver is still in Beta, it seems to work ok.

I decided to go Apple after about 13 minutes working with Ableton on Vista. What a poor experience. In fairness to Microsoft, Windows 7 is supposed to handle Audio much better than its predecessor. It can’t be much worse though!

I can also throw a significant amount of Programs at my Apple Mac and it always bounces back for more. For instance, my latest track ‘Side Effect’ was produced in Ableton Live and consists of 13 Audio and Midi tracks. It includes 2 separate Sylenth1 synths, the DCAM’s Cypher synth (all using multiple voices), an Impulse Drum Rack, 11 different audio clips and effects such as Filter Delays, Ping Pong and a fair amount of Sidechain Compression. Plus I’ve got Isotope Ozone 4 sat on the Master Channel doing pretty neat stuff like adding Multiband Harmonics and Exciters (ok ok, it makes it sound Louder!!).

With all this I’ve never seen the CPU get above 30%. Plus I’ve usually got Tweetdeck running somewhere in the background along with Safari.

My experience with Apple has been totally positive and I recommend everyone to take a look. Plus the fact, it is some of the sexiest kit on the planet!

Take Care
TDF

Hi Guys….

This came as a big surprise, but it turns out one of my tracks (Antimatter) has been remixed by my old mate Pumpkinhead, (AKA Creative Genius that is Paul Higham).

I didn’t know anything about this so I was a little surprised when I woke up last Sunday to discover what he’d been up to!

Mr H put the remix together in Logic and I especially like what he’s done with the additional drums and fx.

However, I won’t spoil the fun, so get over to paulhigham.com where you can preview a 192kbps version and download a free 320kbps version. Make sure you get over there and grab it whilst its hot!

PS, I’d take some time out to have a poke about my old buddy’s blog. He is a creative genius and has some interesting bits and pieces on there!

All for now….

Take It Easy..
TDF

Well… here we are again….

DATE: SATURDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2009
LOCATION: OLD REC, TINTWISTLE 
BONTY LIGHTING TIME: 6:30pm

When we didn’t think we had anything left in the tank, we’ve decided to give one final bash. Its getting close to Bonfire Night which pretty much means we’re almost ready to deliver  the Biggest Night of the Year…

This is Tinsle 2009 Bonty Remix and if you needed any reminding about why you should pitch up then check this event out then watch the video below.

This is the last Bonty we are running, so we hope as many of you as possible can make it. Also, it coincides with Pete’s 40th, so we are determined to go out with a BANG! The fun starts at about 6:30pm so make sure you come along. We’ve also got some grub on the night so we should have most things covered.

Finally, we are looking for donations from people. It costs a significant wedge of cash to put this event on and we rely on your contributions. Please see Ben or Pete if you’re willing to throw in a few quid.

Other than that, see you all on the night!

Hi Folks,

Just to let you know that I’m appearing on Nikki Flame’s “Shake It Saturdays” Radio Show this coming weekend. Tune in on Saturday night at 8:00pm BST to listen to my Guest Mix. I’ll be spinning for the first hour before Nikki takes over from 9pm.

All you need to do is head over to Me On The Dancefloor and click one of the streaming icons (iTunes, WinAMP, Media Player, Real Player) depending on which one you have installed.

Nikki heard my recent mix on Ginny K’s show and asked me if id fill the Guest spot on her show which I’m privileged to do!

Big Thanks to Nikki for the Support!

I’ve spent some time putting a set together worthy of the slot. It features some cutting edge Progressive House, an absolute classic tune from two of the best Producers ever and even includes a vocal house number to finish off. That’s all I’m giving away though, so you’ll have to tune in on Saturday!

Just finished Nikki’s show and it went down really well. As promised the set list is below:

• ZYVOX – Original Mix (Moguai)
• Latin Fever – Original Mix (Wolfgang Gartner)
• Antimatter – Original Mix (Toro del Funk)
• Serious – Original Mix (Jean Elan)
• Man With The Red Face – Original Club Mix (Mark Knight, Funkagenda)
• 308 – Original Mix (Jerome Isma-Ae, Sebastian Krieg)
• Virtual Suicide – Original Mix (Daniel Portman)
• I Don’t Know Why – DJ Chus & Jerome Isma-Ae Superdub Mix (Moony)
• Feelin Electro – Valentino Kanzyani Remix (Young Rebels, Francesco Diaz)
• Now You’re Gone feat. Lisa Millet Club Mix (Juan Kidd, Felix Baumgartner)

This is my last mix for 2009, I’ll be taking a break for a while whilst I put together my Winter EP, which I’ll be putting out towards Christmas.

In terms of other stuff, I went to Warehouse Project last Saturday for the mau5trap party with my good pal DJ Deathbed.

Deadmau5 - Technology Geek

We had a decent night (from what I can remember!), and whilst Chris Lake played a blinding set, he went on far too long in my opinion. Maybe I’m just getting old, but we could have done with deadmau5 coming on a little sooner. For me, the evening just lost too much momentum. However, it is a real privelage to see the mau5 play live. He is total Technology Geek utilising Apple MacBook Pro’s, the Jazz Mutant Lemur, a Monome with the Allen & Heath Xone 4D Pro DJ Mixer at the heart of his setup. He deserves to be where he is and is 100% at the top of his game right now.

I like what the Warehouse Project is all about and lots of credit must go to people behind the event. Its you’re basic underground warehouse with a decent sound system and a vast array of Grade A DJ’s & Producers. However, Portaloos are not exactly my cup of tea!!!

Right I’ll leave it there and speak to you after Saturday.

Stay Lucky
TDF

In September 2009, a few of the boys went to Ibiza for a Party! We took in some great venues including Amnesia where we watched Paul Van Dyk carve up the dancefloor!

Here’s our Video Diary!

Hope you enjoy….

TDF x

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