The Track Team Excited to work on Season 2 of Korra, PLUS Learn more about the process behind the music and sound of Korra and ATLA
The Track Team in Jeremy’s Studio
The Track Team (Benjamin Wynn and Jeremy Zuckerman) Are the Dynamic Duo behind the Legendary Music + Sound Design for The Legend of Korra and Avatar The Last Airbender
Just got back from a visit to The Track Team Studio with Jeremy Zuckerman and Ben Wynn (the brilliant composer and sound designer behind the ATLA and Korra soundtrack). Â Here are some of the things we learned about the process for making the soundtrack and sound effects of Avatar and Korra a reality.
Special shout-out to Donna (a long time community member) who put the event together! Â We were also joined by Kate, who was with Donna at this year’s Comic Con.
One of the most mentioned components of the Avatar series is the surprisingly incredible plus unique Music and Audio, this is some insight into how it all happens:
Short Work Timeframe
Jeremy and Ben work in two separate home studios collaborating the entire way, most of the time they only have a week or two after seeing the final animation before they produce the incredible music and sound effects you hear in each episode. Â Ben works primarily on Sound Design while Jeremy focuses on the music and composition.
It was super funny to see some Korra Book 1 scenes that didn’t quite have all the voice actors in place yet, so Mike DiMartino (Co-Creator) was voicing Mako or Asami at some points.
Inside The Track Team Studio:
It was awesome to see The Track Team in action
(Pictured from left: Admin / Jordash (Jordan), Jeremy Zuckerman, Benjamin Wynn, Donna, Kate [Bottom] )
Jeremy showed us his track listing for a Korra episode and it was a crazy array of over 300 tracks (how they’re able to organize and understand it all is beyond me).  For any music / composer type people out there, they primarily work with Logic Software.  Jeremy and Ben mentioned that many commercials and movies he’s worked on in the past usually has under 10 stems, which goes to show, a lot of extra painstaking effort goes into making ATLA and Korra masterpieces.
Jeremy also creates most of the music in a Midi (computerized format) and then later personally conducts talented violinists, violists and cellists, etc… who play The Track Team’s music inside of Jeremy’s Studio.  Due to the size of the studio (only 3-4 players can fit) Jeremy often has to conduct multiple takes which are then layered on top of each other to make it sound like a full on orchestra.
Ben and Jeremy created an entire self-recorded library of Taiko Drums for the trademark Avatar Drums used during many of the action scenes.
Another interesting fact that Ben told us is that from his intensive work on the Avatar project he had to see a doctor and have surgery on his wrists (scarring him for life) due to the amount of time and intensity he put into working on the sound design for the project.
Both are Excited to work on Book 2 “Spirits” Music with a wider array of Abstract Music & Sound Design
They are excited to work on music and sound design for the Avatar Spirit World as it allows for a lot more exploration of abstract ethereal music and sound design (like we heard a bit of in ATLA). Â And they get to use instruments and sound effects they rarely ever get to use.
The Track Team is Excited to Work on the Abstract Ethereal Music and Sounds typical of the Spirit World
The Track Team doesn’t have many solid ideas yet for the music or sound of The Legend of Korra Book 2 because until they are able to see the final animation they won’t know exactly what is required to finish the Episode (The Track Team being among the last people the episode goes through before it airs).
Many of the Sound Effects “disappear” into the background but make the entire episode so much more engaging, we watched part of an episode without some of the sound effects The Track Team adds, it’s surprising how you don’t realize how much it adds to each episode.
No, they don’t know the Korra Book 2 Release date, but the team is optimistic that the entire Korra team is making excellent progress.
Nick looking at stats for ATLA Soundtrack
Chandler (The teams PR man), told us that Nickelodeon is looking over the stats for the possible release of the Avatar The Last Airbender Soundtrack that fans have been clamoring for since the show began.
Hopefully the extreme amount of signatures on the online petition will help allow the Soundtrack to be officially released. Click Here to sign the Petition for an Avatar The Last Airbender Soundtrack.
Other Trivia
- The Track Team was Involved with the Avatar world from the initial unaired Test Pilot Episode.
- Each episode becomes increasingly challenging for the team to make as each episode becomes more and more intense than the last.
- Benjamin Wynn has also created music under the alias of Deru, you can buy some of his music here
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They did a great job on book 1 and I can’t wait for book 2 and the others!
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Korra Reply:July 26th, 2012 at 5:32 am
Same!
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Luca Reply:July 27th, 2012 at 3:47 am
Agree with you there!!!!!
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Jessie Reply:August 13th, 2012 at 7:39 am
Omg I really want to see it now
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Pabuxlove64 Reply:September 6th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Yeah!
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I once thought that The Track Team were an incredible duo and that they put lots of time and effort into each of their masterpieces.
After reading this… I realised, oh how wrong I was.
I now know that they are beyond incredible and they go so far in their music that they even needed surgery.
I think it’s amazing that they can produce music that fits the scene so well, in such a short time, as they’re only given the episode at a later date.
It’s nice to see that there’s still lots of consideration for an official Avatar soundtrack release. Nick has already released Avatar (well, more like Korra) merchandise so I believe that a soundtrack can be expected very soon.
One last note: nice shirt Donna! I love how it’s in a chibi style.
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I just realised that that picture of the spirit world is the location where Koh resides.
Now I think there’s almost definitely going to be a mention Koh in book 2
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KoolKorra Reply:July 26th, 2012 at 2:54 pm
And then Aang will come and remind and warn her like Roku!!! Can’t Wait!!!!!!
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Jessie Reply:August 13th, 2012 at 7:41 am
I found out that Koh is one of the enemies and the spirit of Amon might come and haunt her plus other spirit animals
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FireSageGuntur Reply:July 26th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
You’re referring to the one with the giant wolf in the background?
It’s familiar to you because it’s a screenshot from ATLA, not from LOK. it’s in the book 1 finale of ATLA when Aang first arrives at Koh’s residence. If you look closely, you can even see Aang on the third rock from the left.
So that doesn’t mean Koh will be in LOK Book 2, although I do hope so
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Ricardo Reply:July 27th, 2012 at 1:37 am
Don’t ruin my fun.
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Jessie Reply:August 13th, 2012 at 7:42 am
I hope so return of a former enemy
Admin / Jordash Reply:July 27th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Yeah it’s a screenshot from ATLA not Korra, although I’m still guessing Koh might have some kind of presence.
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Awesome post. It’s really cool you got to meet with them. Thanks for sharing
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The music make me be in the avatar world !
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I signed the petition
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KoolKorra Reply:July 26th, 2012 at 2:54 pm
I did too
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1 word…WOW
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Wow that’s amazing!
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These guys are so awesome. Jeremy Zuckerman is my all-time favorite composer and Ben’s sound engineering is flawless. I’m so jealous you got to actually meet them.
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Awesome write-up Jordan!
It was one of the many highlights of going to the USA for San Diego Comic-Con 2012. I had actually won the studio tour in an Auction that they had donated it to, months back and to finally get to tie the tour of the studio right after SDCCI was incredible indeed.
To be able to take Jordan with us – priceless – So huge thank you too to Jordan for taking time out to come and join us and write a brilliant article on it
LOL Rickardo – Yeah it was this years SDCCI shirt there is also a Chibbi Aang t-shirt that I snagged too
This is the 2nd time I’ve met up with the Track Team and always find them to be very humble, open and passionate about their work. When Ben shared about the surgery to his wrist – I really found that incredible that he continues to do what he loves doing.
Jeremy’s passion is the guitar however, he hasn’t found the right sound or moments to use his beloved guitars in Korra yet, but again one never knows
…. They also have this wicked old church puff organ that may be used in up coming episodes again till they see the final animations he won’t know what instruments/tunes he’ll create… The finale music was done 3 days before it aired!!!
I also mentioned to Chandler to use the i-tunes stats that the guys had forgotten about when Nick released the Korra music for KorraNation folk online… and there are a few other idea’s of stats to get them from like their myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/thetrackteammusicandsound which actually lists how many times individual tracks play…
I agree with Jordan, seeing the animation without sound and then seeing it with the layers of sound really brought the show to life and to a new dimension…. and it was a great surprise hearing the voice actors voice then suddenly Mike’s when they decided to do a script change and hadn’t done the final voice take for it…
They have also done work for DC Showcase – principally Superman/Shazam – The return of Black Adam… which is available via i-tunes and also they continue to work on the Music for Kung Fu Panda – legends of Awesomeness!!! So keep an eye out for these and support them with purchasing the official music if you can
They also confirmed that they may be appearing at New York Comic-Con this year, however that’s not official yet – as soon as I know I’ll let you guys know
And we are trying to see if we can get them Down under to at least Aussie for an appearance at one of our local Cons, though a trip to New Zealand would be even better 
Thanks to all of you who have signed the petition – for those of you that haven’t please do… every vote counts and it would be awesome to finally see the fruits of their labour officially out and selling indeed!
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Ricardo Reply:July 26th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Wow, you must have been extremely lucky to have won the studio tour.
3 days to do the finale music?! They must have worked their butt off to produce something that amazing by the end. O.o
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Admin / Jordash Reply:July 27th, 2012 at 1:32 am
Yeah thanks for everything Donna, truly an awesome meetup
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Donna Reply:August 6th, 2012 at 4:18 am
It was awesome to meet up with you to Jordan. And a great time just chilling out while we waited to be picked up, at the park & at the train station lol…
Am now trying to work on something for next year…. keep you posted
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Love the music. One of the main reason why i love avatar.
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Jessie Reply:August 13th, 2012 at 7:43 am
I love the opening season music and the enemy music
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Ever since ATLA, the music was one of the best things that kept me watching the show, besides it being amazing and all that jazz. haha. (The jazz in Korra was amazing and really fit the time frame, while I’m on the subject.) The music always fit the scene, and I love how they took the themes from Avatar and morphed it into some of the Korra themes. I can’t wait to see what they do with the Book 2 music!
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Haikai Reply:July 27th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
The jazz music to me was very annoying lol, but it did fit the time and eventually i did come to like it.
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Lauren Reply:July 27th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
I agree, I wasn’t fond of it at first, but I grew to really like it.
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Jessie Reply:August 13th, 2012 at 7:45 am
I did not understand the jazz
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The music of Avatar is just too awesome for words! Those two guys are geniuses!
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Jadely Reply:July 31st, 2012 at 5:45 pm
Yes it Is! I uses there music for everything .
An alarm to wake up to,ringtones,when I do my homework,and before I go to bed .
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Donna Reply:August 6th, 2012 at 4:23 am
I so know what you mean Jadely – I have 4 that I use for my alarm in this order… main theme, lost my heart in Republic City, Bolin wants to know and hittin’ on all sixes… a great way to wake each morning
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The music and 40′s style twist was an amazing addition to the plot. Made you feel like the show really was taking place 70 years later.
Good thinking guys. Keep it up.
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I listen to the soundtrack all the time! My favorites are “Harldboiled..Afraid” The Theme and “Lost my heart in Republic City” :]
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Jessie Reply:August 13th, 2012 at 7:44 am
I love those song too
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cant wait
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They did a good job and I’m looking forward to hearing what they have in store for Book 2
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book 2 book 2 book 2 i……Cant……Not……..Wait!!!!!!! I love LOK!!!!!!hheheeee hahahaha cant wait XD
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I love the music it adds alittle something to the mood of the series both LOK and ATLAB
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I so very much like the first book, cant wait for the second book and the plot. More exciting battles.. Hope that we could have an event organize for ALL the fanatics all over the world.
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