{"id":15149,"date":"2021-03-08T15:56:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T20:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=15149"},"modified":"2021-03-08T16:01:25","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T21:01:25","slug":"girls-make-beats-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/girls-make-beats-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiffany Miranda on Girls Make Beats and their music placement in Coming 2 America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Girls Make Beats (GMB)<\/strong><\/a> is a nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to empowering the next generation of female DJs, producers, and engineers.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 2012 by audio engineer Tiffany Miranda, Girls Make Beats hosts educational seminars, production courses, summer camps, industry panels, and more for girls spanning the ages of 7 – 17. In addition to providing ways for students to further their careers as music producers, DJs, and audio engineers, Girls Make Beats has evolved into a powerful outlet for girls to unite and collaborate within the music industry. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Tiffany Miranda on the organization’s roots, their recent music placement in the major film Coming 2 America<\/em>, the future of music, and more \u2013 read on for highlights, and check out GMB’s hand-selected Collection of sounds here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start, can you tell us a bit more about Girls Make Beats’ roots, and how the organization grew to where it is today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started Girls Make Beats in Miami in 2012. The reason I created the organization was because I initially started in the music industry as a recording artist at the age of 15, and personally experienced the lack of women in the creative control aspects of music. I was the lead singer in my high school jazz band, inspired by the greats such as Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Etta James, and Ella Fitzgerald. I appeared on shows like American Idol<\/em> and The X Factor<\/em> \u2013 and as I started to make my way through various recording studios, I quickly realized how male-dominated the creative process was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the age of 18, I decided to take matters into my own hands and invested in my own home studio, where I honed my music production and audio engineering skills. Wanting to build my professional resume, I started to do internships at various Miami recording studios. I faced many challenges around being taken seriously because of my gender, and was overlooked for opportunities. Often being the \u201conly woman in the room,\u201d I stuck to the grind and eventually worked my way up, engineering for hip hop superstars like DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Lil Uzi Vert, French Montana, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parallel to my journey, I started Girls Make Beats nearly nine years ago to create a space for young girls to explore the male-dominated fields of music production, DJing, and audio engineering. Girls Make Beats humbly began with my sister Christine and I hosting career day workshops at schools consisting of one laptop, one MIDI controller, and one DJ controller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of networking, programs, and pairing with Miami Chapter Leader Stichiz, LA Chapter Leader Whitney Taber, and major music manufacturers, Girls Make Beats has since grown into a fully-equipped classroom where each girl has access to state-of-the-art hardware and software. Transcending beyond the classroom, we connect our girls with music industry professionals such as top label execs, recording artists like Janet Jackson and Janelle Monae, and more. We also offer real-world music placements through our supporters such as Roc Nation, ViacomCBS, and more. We are constantly evolving our curriculum and relationships with industry partners to expand our reach and help more girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the note of real-world music placements \u2013 it goes without saying that Girls Make Beats\u2019 direct involvement in a major film like Coming 2 America<\/em> is an amazing feat, and truly a testament to the great work you all do for your community. Can you tell us about the details of that opportunity, how it came together, and how your community was involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are beyond excited about the opportunity to have a music placement in the new Coming 2 America<\/em> film! The opportunity came about as we were working on our Girls Make Beats compilation album entitled She is Queen<\/em>. The body of work is collaboratively comprised of music from the women and girls in our program, highlighting women of various cultures. One of our advisory board members, Randy Spendlove, who is the President of Worldwide Music and Publishing at Paramount Pictures and a supporter of our organization over the years, made the placement possible. The song chosen, \u201cQueendom\u201d featuring MEANGIRL, was our ode to funk music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the piece, we were inspired by a guitar riff we found on Splice.<\/a> We also found a few cool grooves and fills that played a role in the final production of the track. The song started to take on an Austin Powers<\/em> vibe, and the vocals became very ’70s inspired with its funk flair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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