We were lucky to catch up with Devan Diltz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Devan, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I started teaching myself music production in the spring of 2020. When quarantine first started I was let go from my job and decided to use the extra time on my hands to learn a new craft. What I thought was going to be a hobby quickly turned into a new found love for me. Before learning how to produce I had about 10-15 years experience playing instruments and composing so I at least had a strong musical background. I think having that background in music theory and classical training really helped me pick up production quickly. One of the biggest obstacles starting out was learning how to use my DAW (Logic Pro X) and learning how to mix/master to get my music on a competitive level sonically. After hours of practice and learning though, I quickly caught on and have since started to make a live-able income from producing and mixing/mastering.

Devan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a music producer, songwriter, audio engineer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. I offer a wide variety of musical services and specialize in production/audio engineering. I offer a beat store that artists can purchase beats from that offer trap, R&B, and hip-hop beats. I also offer another service where artists can have a custom-made by me one on one over Zoom video call. This gives the artist the opportunity to have a beat made uniquely tailored to their style and they get to offer ideas of what they like and don’t like. One of my favorite ways of doing this is having the artist send me there acappella vocals and making a new beat around them. A lot of times artists will lease a popular beat from YouTube and later down the road that beat gets bought out by another artist. The artist who leased the beat would then have to take their song down when their lease expires, so this is a great way for artists to bring a song back to life after having to take it down. This service also includes exclusive rights to the beat meaning they are the only artist who will have rights to use it. I also include a free mix & master of the song once recorded which can help save money for artists on a tight budget.

Music has been a part of my life since early elementary school and carried me throughout middle and high school. I attended Garland High School, where I participated in the Mighty Owl Band directed by Bob Beshears. Throughout high school, I found a passion for music theory, composition, and learning as many instruments as I could. By the time I graduated in 2015, I had learned ten different instruments, composed countless piano pieces, composed for full orchestra, and was ready to continue my studies in college to be a film composer. In March of 2020, I found a new love when I decided to take on music production.

At the break of the COVID-19 pandemic, I started making hip-hop instrumentals on my MacBook using a Digital Audio Software called Logic Pro X. I decided music production was something I wanted to start my career in and started building my social media platforms to network with hip-hop artists and fellow producers/composers. I now produce for artists all over the world and I also produce my own beats for songs I make, which I have distributed to all streaming platforms.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think the biggest things society could do to support artists are pretty simple… Sharing goes a long way. I’ve made a lot of new fans and clientele just from word of mouth alone! Adding independent artists to your favorite playlists also goes a long way as it helps our streams and helps bump us up in the algorithm. And buying artists merch/show tickets is another great way of supporting your favorite independent artists.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started really focusing on my social media platforms in 2020 when I decided to take music production serious. Instagram, Facebook, & TikTok were what I primarily focused on, Instagram being the one I was most comfortable with. My advice for an artist or producer starting out would be to focus on a few things: 1. Engage with accounts that fall into your niche and leave meaningful coments on content that resonates with you. Not only will this help bump your content in the algorithm it’ll also open doors for networking with other creatives. 2. Experiment with different content styles and find what works best. You can also study trends in your niche and make them unique to your brand or even try starting your own trend! 3. Focus on quality and consistency. To really start seeing results it’s like anything really… you have to show up every day or at least consistently each week, and you need to constantly improve and experiment with how you present yourself. 4. Treat you and your music as a brand. By doing this and being authentically you, you will automatically stand out from people who do the same line of work as you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/ddiltzproductions?fbclid=PAAaafVNjqf5_hb3SNk-siTXZG38JIRpBUKIev-YUjAVbMIHjn8IIQQor6GrI
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ddiltzproductions/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProdDDiltz
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@DDiltzProductions

Image Credits
Jak Lumix