An average song lasts about three minutes. The time it takes to produce that song, however, can range anywhere from a few hours, to a few weeks.

Facing the difficult task of balancing their musical aspirations and schoolwork, student music producers and DJs attending Diamond Bar High School find their own way to manage their schedule and do what they love at the same time.

Junior duo Arman Shah and Shane Chang bring truth to the popular phrase “practice makes perfect.” They have been working together to produce music since the sixth grade, although Shah developed his interests much earlier from his father who was also once a music producer.

With the knowledge that Shah gained from his father, he introduced Chang to the world of music producing. Over the years, they’ve learned that producing music and learning to DJ does not come easy.

“It’s not easy first of all, it’s not something you can put together in a few seconds with no experience. You have to know what you’re doing, it takes a lot of practice and it takes a lot of heart,” Shah said.

The two first met in second grade when Chang moved to America from Taiwan. Though he couldn’t speak much English at the time, Chang was still able to become good friends with Shah, and he considers him one of his first American friends. Since then, they have found that Shah’s musical expertise and Chang’s business skills make them the ideal team. Albeit all their practice and professionalism, the duo still finds it hard to book gigs.

        “We try to get opportunities as much as we can. The thing is, for young people like us, people don’t really give us respect for doing this type of music. It takes a whole lot for people to understand that we truly have a passion for this,” Chang said.

For senior Jude Lopez, music runs in the family. His love for music has its roots early in his childhood, with his father and grandfather influencing him with their musical preferences.

As he got older, he began attending more concerts, and was exposed to electronic music. From then on, Lopez knew that he wanted to be a producer, and now plans on picking a major that will bring him closer to his goal of becoming a full-time music producer.

For now, Lopez is continuing to produce music using the Fruity Loops Studio software, and posting them on SoundCloud, a popular platform for both rising and established music producers, under the pseudonym DJ Jetboy, as he has been doing for the past three years.

Choosing a pseudonym to publish your music under can sometimes be as easy as picking a few words that fit well together. However, other times these names can tell a story. In the case of senior Sameer Sharma, alternatively known as DJ Kripple, the latter is the case.

After dislocating his knee during football conditioning his freshman year, Sharma was left to figure out how he was going to manage the music at his cousin’s birthday party while on crutches. He learned how to maneuver with his crutches to get through his first job, which ultimately sparked his interest for being a DJ specializing in Electro House and Trap music, for years to come.

        “I thought if I could spread the joy in a musically fun way, why not?” Sharma said.

        Sharma draws most his inspiration from other DJs that focus on the Electro House and Progressive House genres, such as Martin Garrix.

        As far as producing music, Sharma has yet to find enough time to allow him to figure out how to use the producing software, although he hopes to this summer. For now, he is mainly focusing on trying to get various gigs by posting on the Diamond Bar Buzz Facebook page, and asking family and friends to help spread his name.

        Focusing solely on music production, senior Chase Harker aims to use his skills in the recording studio to help out aspiring singers.

        “I own a recording studio, so people come to me with concepts and I make the sound real,” Harker said.

        Harker’s personal recording studio started out as a small setup in his room that he and his friends, who were interested in rapping, used to record vocals. Soon after, Harker decided to expand, and built a sound booth in his room, complete with soundproofed walls. He’s also begun working with instruments in his sound booth in hopes of being able to record artists of a wider variety of genres. Most of the artists he records are friends, though in effort to find more people he has been handing out business cards and posting fliers.

        After working with several artists, Harker has found that the key to a good recording session is making sure the artist knows what they want, as it insures that the track will not come out sounding amateurish. Even after the vocals are recorded, Harker’s job is not over. He spends about one hour editing each minute of a song before putting it online.

As for advice for anyone who wants to follow suit and learn to DJ or music produce, the general consensus is clear: work hard, be passionate, and have fun.