Stellenbosch Magazine July 2021

Arts
&
ENTERTAINMENT
Twelve. This is the number of
songs 20-year-old up-and-coming
local artist Zubin Pietersen wrote,
produced and recorded over a period
of just twelve weeks between July and
early October last year.
- by Elmarine Anthony
Pietersen currently has a catalogue of 25
original songs and is working towards
releasing one song per week later this
year. He says he started recording music
as a hobby in 2019. However, at that
point he “wasn’t taking it seriously”, until
he bought a universal plug-in microphone
last year.
Before that, he used to record himself
using his headphone speakers. “I decided
to try it out, not knowing the COVID-19
pandemic would hit”, says Pietersen.
Stellenbosch University, where Pietersen
is a second-year BA student in International
Studies, switched to online classes
and all sport was stopped. This meant he
had more time on his hands because he
didn’t have to physically attend classes
on campus every day. Pietersen says he
watched series on Netflix for two weeks
straight during the initial 6-week break between
the start of the pandemic in March
last year and the beginning of level 5 of
the national lockdown. “I decided I can’t
do this anymore; I can’t just sit around
and do nothing. That’s when I decided to
focus on making beats. I eventually started
recording myself as well.”
According to Pietersen, one of the biggest
contributing factors to his gradual improvement
as an artist was watching a lot of
YouTube tutorials, which he still does. “I
watched other producers make beats and
work in the studio with fellow artists. I
then decided to record and make songs on
a microphone. I also started writing lyrics
along with making the beats.”
He says his process started with playing
the keys on their piano at home and
humming a melody. Reiterating the importance
of the YouTube tutorials, he then
learnt how to make melodies and sing to
beats. Today he mainly uses his laptop
and computer software to make music.
“My first songs that I released were not
that good,” admits Pietersen.
“I believe if you keep doing something
you will get better. Everything takes time.
I am focused on improving myself. In May
2020, I decided I’m going to record a
full song because I was making all these
beats but not really recording anything on
it. I recorded a song from beginning to
end and this was with me not knowing
anything about post-production, which is
mixing, mastering and just making a song.
That was the first song I released,” says
Pietersen who released his music on online
streaming sites through a free distributor.
He decided to release music frequently
because he thought this would also speed
up the process for him to grow as an
artist. He set deadlines for himself and
made a song every week by writing, mixing,
producing and recording all the songs.
His release strategy was also to release
a song once a week on the streaming
platforms. “I made the mistake of doing
that. It was a crazy period and I don’t
know how I came out of it. I put myself
under pressure every week because I love
doing it, but it was impractical for me
to carry on like that. The method wasn’t
working because I’m also studying. That’s
when I took a break from releasing music
but continued to make music. I’m making
enough music so that I have a catalogue
to release. I’ve learnt how to be prepared
now.”
He released his last song at the beginning
of October and refers to it as ‘season
one’. He has since bought a microphone
of a better quality and says he learnt a
lot by releasing the initial twelve songs.
“Every week my sound and the way I
processed my vocals improved. I believe
that improvement wouldn’t have happened
if I just kept all the songs to myself.”
In addition to the new microphone,
Pietersen says he watched more YouTube
videos to become better at mixing music.
He believes everything that’s good or bad
about a song is in the mix or the engineering.
This includes the way the vocals
| Stellenbosch Magazine | July Issue
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