CM : When did you get into music production and how did you develop your creative and technical skillsets as a young producer ?
David Strickland : I actually got into production through a friend of mine who was an emcee named Rumble . Remember , Rumble and Strong ? So , Rumble had the first SP-1200 in Canada . He brought the first one up and was taught how to use it by Scott La Rock and he was signed to G Street . So , he would sometimes go on tour and leave it for me and my friends to start learning . That ’ s the first time I started to learn about making beats and producing and that ’ s what got me going to the studio . After that , I got into , like , the [ Akai ] MPC and the [ Ensoniq ] EPS , and I ’ ve still got an EOS right here next to me .
FrancisGotHeat : I got into music production around 12 or 13 years old . It was the summer going into grade nine when I found out about music production . I had already played piano and violin and percussion and all that from when I was younger ; when I was like three or four . So , when I got into production , it was more so just learning how to use software , and how to get ideas from my head into the computer .
As a kid , I was already really into computers and technology .
Whenever I get a program , I explore everything to see what it does . So , with production , it was the same deal . I would just spend all hours of the day figuring it out . Like , what this plug-in did , or what is a WAV file ? What is MIDI and all of that ? There weren ’ t really YouTube tutorials on how to make beats , but there were videos of producers like Ryan Leslie or whoever working in the studio . I would study those videos ; what they ’ re doing in the studio and what they ’ re using and all that . I ’ d try to emulate it . So , by recreating my favourite songs or sounds , I learned a lot of technical things on how to achieve that specific sound , but in my own style . So , in a way , I was learning how to do things but also developing my sound .
London Cyr : At 13 my friend who was very musically inclined showed me how to use a DAW and we would record different kinds of music . From there I taught myself how to record and make beats , which I did on and off throughout high school . I then went to school for it for nine months post-secondary but felt like I could make a better use of my time being in the mix . I then worked with a couple of different artists and ended up meeting WondaGurl , who really taught me a lot about producing and the game from just being around her .
Prezident Jeff : I ’ d say I got into it in tenth grade . A bunch of my friends were all involved in music . I actually started out writing and rapping . And so , it got to a point where we ’ re looking for beats , and that was back in the day of , like , LimeWire and you have to search torrent sites to download instrumentals . So , it was just a natural curiosity . I was like , “ I wonder how I can make this kind of stuff , too ?” This is like 2005 or 2006 when I really got my start and then I didn ’ t really take it seriously until maybe 2012 or 2013 . But in between , how I developed my technical skill sets was a ton of trial and error .
Taabu : I started playing the drums when I was about five years old . Exposure to rhythm and timing really helped shape my production today . I ’ d say the process started there for me , too , by learning from my drum teachers , having an upright piano in my living room , and listening to my dad ’ s radio all the time . My childhood was absorbing and listening , and that exposure was so special . I started to dabble in basement recordings around age 13 . Although I didn ’ t know it was called “ production ” at the time , being in production and recording environments from a young age instilled an obsession in me . It inspired me to see my 17-year-old brother ( at the time ), Trevor , recording at home as well .
As a young producer , I was exposed to so much different music .
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