It all started from a young kid who wanted to pursue his interest in making music. When I was a freshman at Hollywood Hills High School, I had a computer class, and whenever we had free time, I would go to “guitarcenter.com” and just browse the website, hoping to one day have all the music equipment and instruments I wanted! It was a dream that slowly came into fruition. Continue reading along to see how my Home Studio evolved to what it is today!

2011

I was a sophomore in high school at the time and to be honest, there are times I like to visualize my room like it was because this was one of my most creative times. This was before I had a MIDI controller and was plugging things in manually on the Piano Roll in FL Studio. Ironic, but I had plenty of inspiration and motivation around me whether it was coming from my life and family, or from my experiences in band (peep the marching snare at the bottom right). The Casio keyboard was given to me by a teacher when I was in my Freshmen year of High School. And before I had the Audio Technica AT2020 Condenser Mic, as you see in the left corner, I was recording vocals with a cheap Logitech mic! Crazy huh..you gotta start somewhere!!

2012

This is the year I was given a new desk. That’s really the only major change that happened. I did enjoy every part of that desk though; it had plenty of desk space, a bunch of drawers for storage. Overall it was just what I needed for my workflow being that I also liked to write and journal as well.

After my sophomore year was over, the following summer was an awesome time. The next school year had came, and I was determined to make a change and do better in school. In general I had a positive attitude towards life!

But right in the 1st week of my Junior Year of High School… Hurricane Sandy came along, and that’s when my father unfortunately passed away… That forever changed me and my outlook on life.. It definitely impacted my music and productivity as well..both in a positive and negative way I guess I can say…

2013

My studio didn’t really change much in 2013, that’s until I started inheriting money from my father passing away. Instead of buying Jordan’s, I decided to invest my money on music equipment! Piece by piece, after all the research that I did, it all came together.

First it all started with a Mac Mini, a Samsung Monitor, and the two white 5″ KRKS (studio monitors). Unfortunately, I don’t have a pic of that setup except the one above of me flexing my fresh ink. But eventually I got my first MIDI Controller, the Akai Professional MAX49, as you’ll see in the next picture.

2014

Soon after I got a new Macbook Pro, another MIDI Controller (the MPK MINI), a new mic, which happen to be the Sterling Audio ST6050 (I LOVED that mic)!! And I also got some Auralex Acoustic diffusers and bass traps for the walls and corners of my room; along with a fresh coat of ocean blue paint, and other little room decor to match.

My favorite piece of equipment in this picture had to be the Akai Professional MAX49 (MIDI Controller). That was my pride and joy. The only problem with me was that the touch faders weren’t as responsive as I wanted them to be and the drum pads were set 3×4. I liked the classic 4×4 drum pads t hat the classic MPC’s had.

2015

Sometime in early 2015 I first had laid my eyes on the Akai Professional MPK249 at my local Guitar Center in Hallandale, FL. I was immediately sold when I saw the 4×4 drum pads like I mentioned before. I was amazed by the different colors the pads illuminated. I had to get it!!!

I sold my MAX49 for the money, which was painful to do because I loved that MIDI controller, but it was time to move on and adapt.

I eventually didn’t like how my wooden desk took up a lot of space in the room, so I got rid of it and replaced it with a simple glass desk by Mainstay that I got from Walmart (which is what you see in the picture above).

I also tried putting my set up in corner to make space, but it turns out, it was a bad idea because of the fact, corners build up bass frequencies and it’s a bad environment to mix in!!! I actually changed the set up later as you will see…

2016

This is what my studio looked like in 2016. As I was doing my research on Minimalism, and Tiny Homes, I started to be fond of the idea of “taking advantage of all the square space” in my room. So I looked up loft beds, and found what you see above, from IKEA. This loft bed/desk combo was awesome at first, but I eventually got rid of it as you will see later.

The other major change of my set up was getting a Special Holiday Edition of the Akai Professional MPK249. I saw the red color and I had to get it as soon as I could!!

2017

Although the IKEA Loft Bed/Desk combo was nice and convenient, it was no longer comfortable for me, so I went back to a regular desk setup, with everything setup on the other side of the wall. Nothing really changed besides that..

2018

I actually recieved the On Stage WS7500 Series Workstation Desk as a gift for the Christmas of 2017, but this is what my setup looked like for most of the beginning of the year.

I actually replaced my white Samsung monitor with a TV. But as you can see from the picture below, it didn’t take long for me to change things again, as I went the total opposite direction..

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Around April 2018, in efforts to minimize my set up, I bought a cheaper black glass desk, and resorted to a laptop. The goal was to have all my works in one place. But due to the low specs of this HP Laptop that I bought, I had no choice but to resort back to a Mac Mini setup, once again, as you’ll see below…(My mom said I’m crazy by how much I buy and sell things…lol)

Around the end of 2018, after saving up money from doing some Holiday work, I upgraded my studio again, getting rid of my laptop and going back to a Mac Mini, with a new Samsung 43″ 4k TV to go with it!

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I actually got a Nintendo Switch on Christmas Eve, which I was dying to get ever since its launch in 2017. Due to some technical reasons on FL Studio on the Mac OS, I had to sell my switch to get a laptop AGAIN, just so I can properly work on my beats.

2019

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My home studio ended up being a fusion of where I started with the basic Laptop setup and where I’m going, with the big TV and Mac Mini set up. Shout out to my bro for giving me his old XBOX ONE, that you see on the bottom right. Yes I put the XBOX on a box lol It only makes sense right? XD

Around the end of 2019 is when I got rid of my Laptop and Mac Mini, for a 2017 iMac, to put everything back into one device again!

2020

In the video above you will see the 2017 iMac, as well as a new white desk. My idea was to get all white furniture, paint the room white again, get LED lights, so that you can make the room any color you want. I decided to just wait until I move the HQ somewhere new to do that idea though!

2022

Not much changed after 2020, except the fact that I got a Nintendo Switch again in January of 2021. I also got a drum pad again along with a pair of sticks to practice my drumming. The guitar was given to me by a friend in 2020. I moved things around every now and then, but as of now, this is the current setup of the “Lil Brian Productions” Headquarters!!!

I hope you enjoyed reading about how my Home Studio evolved, but to be honest, this is only the beginning from here!

I would write a list for all of those wondering what is needed to start making music, but that’s a blog for another day!

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“Lil Brian” is an independent Music Artist/Producer, born and raised in Hollywood, FL!

To begin, music and rhythm always gravitated to me at a young age.

My earliest experience with music and performance started in my Elementary School’s “Singing Stars” choir program at Pasadena Lakes Elementary School.

Although I only participated in my 4th grade year, this was around the same time I started to have interest in writing songs, being inspired by the early music of the 2000’s; specifically by artists such as Eminem, Usher, Ne-Yo, and Sean Paul.

I was also inspired by my cousins that recorded their own reggaeton music! They definitely helped spark the idea to write songs in my mind, so shout out to those guys! I wrote a few songs at that point, but I didn’t take off with my writing, until later in life.

My interest in music continued on to Driftwood Middle School, where in 6th grade I played the Alto Saxophone, then in 7th grade, I switched to playing percussion.

Around the end of my 7th grade year is where I decided to start writing lyrics again, except this time, I knew I wanted to take my interest in music serious, specifically in the hip hop/rap genre.

[One of my main inspirations of this time came from discovering a CD named “The College Dropout” by an Artist named, Kanye West. At first I skimmed through the album, until I found a familiar track that I loved, which was “Jesus Walks,” and after realizing Kanye was the man behind one of my favorite rap songs, I decided to give the CD a chance. That’s when I thoroughly went through the album and the rest is history… This album is one of the main things that sparked and inspired me to become, “Lil Brian”]

I shared many great experiences and performances with my fellow bandmates throughout my years at Driftwood Middle School, but this was not the end of my pursuits and passion for music.

I continued on by joining the drumline of the Spartan Pride Marching Band at Hollywood Hills High School.

Freshmen year, I started as the 2nd Bass, then moving on to Snare Drum for the rest of my high school career. These are the years that sparked most of my dreams, visions, and creativity.

From performing with the band in Orlando at the “Battle of the Bands” event..

And always performing every year at my high school’s talent shows!!!

As well as going my 1st time out of Florida to Chicago, to march at the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade..

These are the times I learned the most about showmanship and what it truly means to be a musician and a performer.

Alongside from being a musician in my school’s Band Programs, I spent much time doing research on what was needed to record and produce music of my own. Slowly, I transformed my bedroom, to my “home studio,” where I made all of my earliest works.

Click image to read “Home Studio Evolution” Blog

Besides music, my mind wasn’t too much on school, but I always had a bright mind and ideas of being an entrepreneur and being a provider to my family, being that my family didn’t have the best financial situation at home. My mother was a single mother and my father was in and out of my life. He tragically passed away in 2012 when I was in 11th grade. I was only at the age of 16 years old. This truly affected me in my life…

Although I wasn’t the best student academically, I excelled in my school’s music programs all throughout Middle School and High School.

After high school, I enrolled to Broward College in attempts for an AA in Music Technology. As I began my first classes in the fall of 2014, another family related issue struck, which distracted me from my studies, and resulted me to eventually drop from my classes. At that point, I felt so anxious to do something about my situation at home and provide to my family, rather than sit at a school desk and let time pass by…

This is when I decided to do my own research on success, financial freedom, and what it takes to run a music business, sell music, sell beats, and everything in between!

And in September 2016, after much research on music and the industry behind it, I decided to go independent and I officially founded “Lil Brian Productions LLC” setting off my future career in the music industry and my pursuits to impact the world through my music, thoughts, and expressions!

From that time up until now, I’ve been experimenting, improving my business. I actually went through a bit of rebranding with my business, in efforts to better represent my message.

At this time, I am currently preparing my official catalog of music and beats for its official debut!!

Follow me on Social Media to stay up to date with all of my pursuits by clicking the links below!