29-year-old Sarah, The !llstrumentalist, gives advice on making your own YouTube channel. Edited by Liz Tracy Photo by TechMe0ut The first instrument that I remember picking up was my grandmother’s upright piano. I always had fun playing little tunes on the piano with my cousins and trying to impress my uncle. I started making beats on my lunch breaks at work, and a lot of people would approach me, asking me what I was doing. So, I made a YouTube channel (youtube.com/Sarah2ill). The best part about having a YouTube channel is the community of supporters and being able to inspire and influence others. I’ve been able to build relationships with brands and start my own brand, No Quantize (noquantize.com). I love sharing other producers’ beats at the end of all of my videos to help support the beat-making culture. Occasionally, I have a disrespectful comment, but for the most part, everyone is family. My advice for instrumentalists thinking about starting a YouTube channel? It’s called “YouTube,” so do you! Don’t try to be like anyone else, or another channel. Make content for you, and if other people happen to enjoy it, it’s an added bonus! Be consistent, and don’t worry about the views or subscribers—they shall come! On March 25, my birthday, I released my first major project, called Conversations. It’s a 20-song beat tape, out on all major platforms. I also launched a beatmaker lifestyle brand. I plan on releasing a series of clothing that focuses on beat machines and beat-making culture. I plan on doing live shows, creating more music throughout the year, and consistently documenting my journey on my YouTube channel.
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If I could make a percussion machine, it would be the baby of the Maschine MK3 and Roland SP-404SX. It would be a beat machine that looked like the Maschine but didn’t need a computer; you can sample directly into it and have cool live performance effects and features. It would have 500GB of storage. It would also have a two-week battery life and take 20 minutes to charge up. It would also be dope to have four big drumming pads to hit on!
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