Win a pair of Yamaha studio monitors for your music-making project
Our friends at Yamaha have kindly agreed to donate a pair of HS7 studio monitor speakers to one lucky winner.
This is a top-quality pair of speakers that would be an asset to any studio setup – but don’t just take our word for it. Read on to see what songwriter and producer Jonny Lattimer has to say about the importance of good studio monitors. Jonny has worked with artists including Ellie Goulding, Tom Odell and Rag’n’Bone Man, and recently made a couple of special guest appearances at Youth Music projects to share his expertise!
To be in with a chance of winning, simply comment below and tell us – in 100 words or less – what difference a pair of Yamaha HS7 studio monitor speakers would make to you and the young people you work with.
Entry deadline: Friday 16 February
This prize draw is open to all Youth Music Network members and is not limited to current Youth Music grantholders. The winner will be picked at random once entries close on Friday 16 February. Good luck!
Photo: Jonny (fifth from right) with young musicians from The Grit School project run by School Ground Sounds.
Jonny Lattimer Q&AHi Jonny. Tell us a bit about yourself and your background in music production…
I’m a songwriter and producer specialising in co-writing with artists. I write music and lyrics with artists in all styles of music and generally try to help them create the songs they want to write! I was lucky that one of the first people I ever co-wrote with was Ellie Goulding which really gave me a good springboard for my career.
I got into music production just through recording the songs I was writing – each time I made a demo I would learn something new and figure out a new technique. This led me to be able to have more of an input to the overall sound of a track rather than just the music and lyrics. Production is something that is more and more important and if you don’t have a handle on it then you run the risk of your song not coming across properly.
What was your first studio setup like?
To start with I was just using Logic on an iMac and running that into an aux input on my hifi with my hifi speakers! I had a cheap interface to record guitars and vocals and an old midi keyboard. I’m not a very technically minded person so I didn’t read up on anything or watch tutorials, I just learned by doing.
Why are studio monitors important to you?
A good pair of studio monitors is essential in any recording setup – they can make a huge impact to your sound because they allow you to hear your mix more clearly and help you to work out what needs to change.
When I made the switch from listening through a hifi to studio monitors I could really hear the difference and it helped a lot with my mixes. Before that if I listened to a mix on a different setup it would sound completely different to how I thought it did because hifi speakers don’t give you a clear representation, they usually colour the sound in some way. Using studio monitors means you should be getting a more unbiased representation so your mix will be more translatable to different systems.
Youth Music are giving away a pair of HS7 studio monitors in partnership with Yamaha. What difference do you think a pair of quality speakers like these could make for an aspiring young producer?
I think along with a decent microphone a good pair of studio monitors like these is the most useful thing a producer can own. They would make a real difference to your ability to focus in on particular sounds to ensure you’re balancing your mix in the right way.