Since middle school, senior Alexander Levin has been fascinated by the world of electronic music. While his hobby started simply to fulfill a middle school art credit, Alex has taken his passion far beyond the confines of a classroom. Now, he runs the Beatmaking club, creates his own music, and collaborates with an impressive array of artists.
Guided by performing arts teacher David Zucker, Alex was introduced to FL Studio, a premier Digital Audio Workstation. “I fell in love with the idea of digital music-making, how you can create something out of thin air,” he said. Alex also attributes Mr. Zucker to initially fostering and supporting his interest.
When COVID-19 affected his eighth-grade year, Alex found himself with lots of spare time. “I worked every day on my craft, and I made an Instagram page devoted to beats, where I networked pretty heavily,” he said. As a way to share his passion with the KO community, Alex founded the Beatmaking club in his sophomore year, which connects students interested in exploring digital music with access to various tools.
Although Alex is very involved in his club, he also makes time to work with talented producers actively producing music. At one point in his life, he noted direct messaging around 50 people a day for networking opportunities, also creating an Instagram account devoted solely to beatmaking. “My biggest accomplishment was a placement with Yung Fazo,” he recalled. “The song I did with him and another producer got over 100,000 streams on SoundCloud, which I’m very proud of.” Yet another impressive feat was the opportunity with Nadddot, a producer who has worked with rapper Trippie Redd.
Specifically, Alex described his music as being very melodic with heavy synthesizers, as opposed to having a more trap sound. “As I started networking more, I realized that the main way of making connections is by sending loops, which are unfinished beats,” he said. By doing this, other artists can listen to a beat on repeat, and the melody itself doesn’t change.
Despite all his successes, Alex eventually realized the significant time commitment of balancing school, extracurriculars, and networking. “It takes a lot of time if you really want to be at the top of your game and be 100% involved,” he said. While digital music and producing might not be his main career, Alex definitely sees himself continuing to pursue beatmaking as a hobby. “I could get embedded locally, and possibly work with more local artists once I’m in college,” he considered.
Additionally, he noted the toll that beatmaking took on his personal life. “During COVID, I wasn’t seeing people or having a lot of social interaction, which is why beatmaking became the main focus in my life,” Alex said. “When you start getting sucked into the virtual world and begin comparing yourself to people who have more placements or who have worked with more people, it just gets superficial.” Ultimately, he came to understand that digital music couldn’t consume all his time. “I realized that I wasn’t really living life, so I took a step back from it,” he said.
Alex explained how he would introduce a newcomer to the world of digital music. “I would show them any song produced recently on Spotify and show them how it was made on a computer,” he said. “All the greatest hits since the 1980s and ’90s have been made using synthesizers.”
Ultimately, Alex recognized that music is an ideal way to express yourself and to connect with like-minded people. “It’s a way to reveal yourself artistically and show your passion for beatmaking,” he said.
