Hi there! Our names are Fiorella Chacon and Isabel Stitt and we are seniors at The Chapin School in Manhattan, New York. In the fall, we will be attending Columbia University (Fiorella) and Tulane University (Isabel). As seniors, we were given an entire week to participate in internships across the city so that we could become accustomed to the workplace before entering college. We were so excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to work with Building Beats this week, although it was a short period of time!

During our four days at the office, we were introduced to Soundtrap and learned the basics of beat-making, got to make our own music using the program and our own original sound samples, we learned how to produce MIDI sounds and how they could be used to make your own remix, and finally, it all culminated in a project that will be launched on the Building Beats website.

Our project was a microsite titled “Soundtrap Toolbox.” The purpose was to create a page where the Building Beats team could consolidate all of the MIDI files and Sample Packs into one space, rather than have multiple different pages with different files. We created two original Sample Packs, one titled “Sounds of Summer,” featuring sounds from around the neighborhood in Brooklyn, and the other titled “Sounds of a Bodega,” featuring sounds we found inside a small deli not far from the office. We also found and embedded three songs in MIDI format to add to the three songs already available for download on the site. Our goal was to provide the tools necessary for Building Beats students to create and mix their own music on Soundtrap.

While we had to learn to work and cooperate with Squarespace and learn the ins and outs of Soundtrap, we came out of this week feeling even more versed in the music industry and what it means to be a musician. We learned how meticulous it is to be a music creator, a beat maker, and a DJ.

To future interns, we have some tips and tricks of the trade if you ever choose to work at Building Beats:

1. Spend time learning how to use Soundtrap! While doing any of your projects, it is important to have a basic skill set that will help you. There’s a high probability that your project will involve tracks, so learning how to edit them and make sure they are in the right file format is very important. Experience with Soundtrap will help make this part a lot easier. If you need to make your own beats to add to your project, then there’s no better way than to use Soundtrap.

2. Respect the industry! Go into this kind of a job with an open heart and an open mind. The preconceived notion is that creating music and DJing isn’t as highly regarded, but the reality is that it takes a lot of work to DIY music. It takes a lot of patience, and the people who work in this industry deserve to be respected for the hard work and talent they put into music. We definitely learned to appreciate music in a different way and respect the music business on a whole different level.

We want to thank Building Beats for giving us this incredible opportunity, and for being so willing to open the doors into their world for us. We are so grateful to have been able to see music in this light and will never forget the experience! We wish you all the best! And enjoy the site :)

Visit our page down below!

https://www.buildingbeats.org/soundtrap-toolbox