“I feel like I’m a constant student.” Crafting songs across a range of genres, Tampa-born, Los Angeles-based producer and songwriter TRINITY finds comfort in versatility. “I spend most of my time producing multiple styles of music. I’ve done rock records, I’ve done pop records, I’ve done hip-hop records,” she says. “But, putting the music first is so important. The business is the business, but I never want to lose touch with my 8th grade self and why I love this so much.”
Raised in a family of music lovers, it was TRINITY’s earliest days playing in her school’s marching band and beginning to DJ in her teens that would eventually pique her curiosity for production. “I’m hearing these records like, how are these records being made?” she said.“By the time I got to college, I was throwing some of the biggest parties in Tampa. I was like, if I know how to throw a party and I know how to DJ, then I know how to get my records played.” Armed with a keen ear and determination, she’d go on to develop a creative workflow that would eventually include both Studio One Pro and Splice.
By 2012, a chance trip to L.A. initially meant to last only a week would change the trajectory of TRINITY’s career. “I bought a ticket to come out here and work with an artist that never showed up to the studio, so I was just here and I had to find my own way,” she explained. As a new producer in a new city, TRINITY quickly understood just how important technology was to her creative process. “All I had to make music with was my laptop, a MIDI controller, a little beat machine, and some headphones,” she explained, adding that Studio One Pro was her go-to production tool. Eventually, she was introduced to Zach Katz, the former head of BMG and music-tech investor who would become her mentor. “He really helped me mold my music out here, helped me become a better producer, helped me understand how to get there. This was all during the stages of me first being in L.A. and understanding how music comes together.”
With the latest release of Studio One Pro 7, featuring innovative integration with Splice’s vast sample library, AI-powered Stem Separation, and more, TRINITY says its still a tool that lets her creativity run free. “It allows you to say, I have this crazy idea and maybe I don’t play this instrument but I know I can use this sample royalty-free, or find this sound, and then execute my ideas a lot quicker than before,” she explained.
Crafted with producers and beatmakers in mind, Studio One Pro 7 builds on the power of AI and intuitive essentials with over 30 new features including a new virtual instrument called Deep Flight One™ featuring some of the most popular sound sets, and AI-powered Stem Separation to isolate sounds from existing tracks with ease. Other features like Global Transpose allows producers to change the keys, chords and notes of a song in real-time with a single click, while the Integrated Launcher can record and import live audio using drag-and-drop functionality to later edit the resulting arrangements all at once. For producers like TRINITY, who often incorporate live music into the productions and herself plays the congo drums and violin, musicians using vintage or modern analog synthesizers can control their instruments directly from Studio One Pro 7. “I’ve worked on rock records before where they might not have the drummer one day, I went in there and used a loop out and then later they played everything over to get a live cut,” she said.
For TRINITY, the perfect sample is often the starting point for her work; a process she says is much simpler with Studio One Pro 7 and Splice. “I feel like the Sample Discovery tool helps me, like, ensure that I’m finding the craziest shit. I’m excited about that, because it’s like a big-ass record store,” she explained. “The hip hop portion of it has these vintage samples now that sound like they came straight off an actual record.”
More than its individual features, the accessibility of Studio One Pro 7 and its integration with Splice makes it easier to explore production without the need for an extensive, and often costly, setup; a reminder for the producer of her early sessions using just her laptop. “Imagine you’re a songwriter that’s like man, I have all these ideas but I don’t have a producer to work with right now. With this, you can drag samples over, record an idea, and then you’re on your way,” she explained. “I’m also excited for young people that want to be music producers. I remember being young and being like, this shit looks crazy. But this is like an entry point.”
As with many creatives in 2024 and beyond, TRINITY sees AI technology as a helpful tool that serves to connect technology to her existing craft; building years of hands-on experience and her own refined ear. “With Hip Hop especially, people used to sample the same song 50 times and what Pete Rock would do is different from what Metro Boomin would do,” she explained. “These are all tools to help you, but your music is going to have a spirit that nobody else’s has.”
