Although Maria had studied music from a very early age, she did not really discover music technology until she left school and went to college. She had always wanted to study Music technology but her school had not offered it and so she occupied her time with training as a classical musician. She decided that ultimately, she would study music technology, but after taking a gap year to do a course which would hone her performing and writing skills in a popular context rather than classical.

During her time at college she learnt to use Cubase and started picking up the basics of recording, mixing and production. She managed to apply these skills by helping to record the bands she was in, absorbing as much knowledge as she could along the way.

Then when she went to the Royal Welsh College, she spent four years honing these skills. She learnt to use Protools and Logic, Metasynth, Reason along with various plug-ins and synths. She recorded, mixed and produced a wide range of material, including classical musicians, jazz bands, pop bands and even several orchestras in surround sound.

She found that her perfectionism and attention to detail meant that she was good at getting the sound she wanted, by whatever means. She quickly discovered that a trained musician with technical know-how is a very valuable thing! She was an intricate and accurate audio editor and really enjoyed mixing, and could easily lose herself in the whole process for days! She was often requested as a ‘good pair of ears’ by fellow students to listen and advise upon their mixes.

She began to utilise her new-found production skills in her own works. She eventually made the long anticipated switch to Mac, and currently uses both platforms with a variety of different programs, to help her achieve the best sound possible. Maria hopes to continue producing throughout her life, whether her own material or that of others.