BALTIMORE — DJ Mighty Mark is a platinum-certified music producer and Baltimore club music pioneer, but he is also a mentor, inspiring the next generation of talent in the music world.
Thursday, he got to surprise some students from The Community School in Remington with an exclusive music production workshop at The Lyric.
“It’s always fun and exciting to come to The Lyric and actually share the knowledge of Baltimore club, rich history, a rich sound and get the youth into it so we can keep it going. So, they had a lot of energy. They had some good ideas and made some really dope beats," says Marquis 'Mighty Mark' Gasque.
Madison Hansel says she was thrilled to learn more about making music, especially the unique Baltimore club sound.
“We did not know that we were going to be doing beats in this class at all. We thought we were just coming here for our regular once-a-month seminar, but to do this is like a great opportunity, and it like opens up a new door of like possibilities for us, as like being young and creative," says Hansel.
The students got to pick each part of the beat and make their own sample music, some even got hands-on with the production equipment learning how it all comes together.
Ebony Evans, the education specialist of The Lyric, says it's important for them to connect the students with real professionals in the arts space.
“We like to bring these artists to The Lyric to show these young people, the possibility of them being in the same positions," Evans said.
Hansel says her favorite part about the workshop was hearing how the music changes with each little piece added.
“You don’t really notice like how much goes into a song to make it sound so good. So, like seeing all these little pieces like come together was really interesting," says Hansel.
DJ Mighty Mark says that’s his favorite part of making music as well.
“When you make something from scratch, and then it materializes into something that you can hear. It’s always fun, it’s always unexpected and I like things to be unexpected," he says.
Another unexpected part of the workshop was one of the student's freestyling to a beat they created.
The students got to name the beats and possibly share them one day in the future.
