By Emma Proctor ‘19
In the corner of senior Andrew Holt’s bedroom lies a music production studio with Audiotechnica ath m50x headphones, Ableton Push 2, audio packs, sample packs, the ability to manipulate waveforms on a computer, ableton live, JBL MKII studio monitors, a Focusrite Scaelett 2i2 usb audio interface, and countless plugins such as Ozone, Serum, and Kickstart. Many teenage music producers have a studio that looks much like Holt’s, flooding with modern appliances that were not available to the average person only 10 years ago.
Music production has been around for ages, but with the technological advances of today, music production is now a much more popular hobby and career path. Additionally, music production is getting more competitive with the easily accessible apps, such as SoundCloud and YouTube. These apps are very popular amongst teenagers, appealing to students at Regis who are interested in starting music production.
“I think SoundCloud and YouTube, if anything, make it easier to be a producer, cause I can upload my tracks for free and learn about producing from YouTube,” Holt said.
Before these modern music production appliances, an individual would have to go to school in order to learn and even access the tools to create their own music.
When Holt was first introduced to Ableton, a music software, he thought, “It was the coolest thing ever, you know, how you can just plug in different instruments and notes and create something that would usually be way too sophisticated for one person to do on their own.”
Because music production is now much more accessible, it is also that much more competitive. The easier music production becomes, the more people are willing to try it.
Senior Max Rozmiarek, is another young music producer working with much of the same appliances as Holt.
“SoundCloud and the rising accessibility makes it more competitive, but also more collaborative and honestly if it wasn’t so accessible I would of never got into it to begin with,” Rozmiarek said.
This rise in popularity forces those who want to succeed or “make it” in the music industry to work twice as hard.
“I wanna be great,” says Holt, “they say the amount of practice you need in any activity to be one of the ‘greats’ is 10,000 hours.”
Both Holt and Rozmiarek are looking to make it big in the music industry and are determined to pursue music as a career. On the other hand, some people just enjoy music production as a hobby and do not strive for public recognition.
Marco Sandoval and Emma Sinelli, seniors at Regis Jesuit, produce music differently and for other reasons than Holt and Rozmiarek. Sandoval and Sinelli focus on writing lyrics and playing the guitar without the use of online softwares.
“Music will always just be a hobby to me. The moment it were to become a profession, I most likely wouldn’t enjoy doing it anymore. Playing around town and writing and recording my own songs is about as professional as I want to get,” says Sandoval, “Music is basically what I use to escape stress. If I’m not doing school work, I’m most likely playing or writing.”
“I think mostly for me it is something I’m really passionate about and it’s something that I really love doing but right now it’s just something I’m doing for myself” says Sinelli.
For many people, producing and writing music is more personal, something they use to escape the chaos of everyday life.
Sinelli says “Music and song writing started as a hobby, and still is a hobby for me, and I don’t believe it will turn into the career path, but I don’t want to stop”.
Sinelli would also say to a younger music producer, “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes with your writing because it’s your song, you can always do whatever you want with it. And don’t be afraid to write about your truth. It’s ok to take inspiration from others, but just make sure to put your own flare on it”.
Music production is appealing to many for various reasons, and is subjective to each individual’s ultimate dreams and desires in the infinite world of music.