An empty hall, over-lit with fluorescent lights: not the greatest spot for the party to end all parties, right? Even with just a little understanding of how atmospheric lighting works, you can create the right wedding party vibe. Here, guest blogger and wedding DJ Sebastian (also known as NightArchitect) lets us in on some trade secrets when it comes to what kind of lighting and effects can work and how they work.

Guest blogger and songwriter Jemy Gijsman takes us through the next step on your journey to success: recording a demo. Once the song is written, the lyrics are finalised and you’ve got the chords down on paper, you want to go further, so you need to get out there and start hustling. Since you don’t have your own studio and only have minimal knowledge about the production and mixing process, you need to do some research and find a studio that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and can help you record your demo. Once you’ve found the right studio, what do you need to prepare? And how can you find the right musicians to help you get the job done?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could generate a predictable monthly income with your music? With a subscription-based business model where fans support you in exchange for special perks, you could do just that. Guest-blogger and musician Mirjam Sieben is here to tell you how it works.

If you mix it just right, you can turn a solid song into a bona-fide banger. The problem is that mixing isn’t easy, so if you’re struggling to make your tracks sound more professional, then you’re probably not using the pro-level technique known as mid/side processing. Thankfully, guest-blogger and producer Rutger Steenbergen is here to spill the beans.

House music has been around for almost half a century now. Originating from the east coast of the United States, it’s a style with an interesting backstory, so let’s dive into how it came to exist, how it has developed over time, who pioneered it and what kind of crowd feels drawn to it.

Struggling to reach potential fans or need a new way to guarantee income because you can’t play gigs for a while? Whether you’re a musician, DJ or producer, you can use what’s known as a marketing funnel to gain fans and make more money. Guest-blogger and musician Mirjam Sieben from Onlightning is here to explain the 5-step process.

Is it possible to make music by just playing it by ear and coasting on talent? Do you really not need any knowledge of music theory to become a good musician? There are actually plenty of real-life examples, including Bert van den Brink — one of the Netherlands’ most well-known jazz pianists, who prove that you don’t. While he’s a natural when it comes to making music, Bert did decide to deepen his knowledge and argues that a musician needs both a feel for music and some understanding of the underlying theory.

Putting together a full samba band is no mean feat. The percussion involved covers an array of different drums and other instruments, from bigger bass-drum-style instruments to smaller percussive sound-effects – samba music is characterised by a rich percussive tapestry of counter-rhythms. In this blog, we attempt to summarise some of the essential samba beat-makers.

For any singer, there’s often a tension that lies between flawless technique and singing with real feeling. Is there a way to strike a perfect balance between the two? Guest blogger and professional gospel singer Heleen Spreeuwers takes a deep dive into the age-old singer’s dilemma, looking at how the performance pressure and perfectionism that’s involved in being a vocalist can clash with what probably moves most vocalists to sing in the first place: the ability to tell a story and to emote.

Guest blogger Iris Siemons is a songwriter and vocalist who recently released her debut EP, but becoming a self-sufficient full-time musician was a long journey, and during that journey, she picked up a few nuggets of wisdom and even founded a musical collective in her home town. Having spent years immersing herself in study, including a course in how to become an entrepreneur, Iris has finally come to a point where she can confidently answer the question: “How can I become a professional musician?” Here she offers five must-do’s for the pro-musician in training.

If you’re making music, you’re often going for a big sound, which is exactly why most songwriters tend to only perform with a full band backing them up. But some dare to take everything on themselves, building a one-person ‘one man band’ by playing multiple instruments at once or manipulating some kind of complex MIDI system that can sound just as big as a twenty-member-strong ensemble.

Ever wonder why your beats sound different from tracks dropped by other producers? If you’ve been feeling like your tracks lack a bit of oomph and energy, then it can be worth learning how to analyse other people’s work. After all, why struggle when you can simply borrow ideas, right? Remixes, tracks that feature samples, and songs with classic chord progressions are based on the same idea, so there’s nothing to feel bad about. Read on and allow Dutch guest-blogger and producer Daddynervs to explain how you can analyse a track and recognise the BPM, key, chords and structure.