“The first thing I start off with is figuring out the chords like this. As you can see, I put them in manually”: PinkPantheress reveals that she composes and records her chord progressions using her MacBook’s QWERTY keyboard

PinkPantheress and QWERTY keyboard
(Image credit: Sacha Lecca/Rolling Stone via Getty Images)

It goes without saying that, these days, not all successful producers go about their business in lavish studios using expensive gear, but we’ll admit that we didn’t expect PinkPantheress’s setup to be quite as slimline as it appears to be.

Having recently become the first woman to be named Producer of the Year at the 2026 Brit Awards, the chart-topping artist (real name Victoria Walker) has just given us a quick insight into how she created Tonight, the lead single from her 2025 mixtape, Fancy That.

In the video, we learn that PinkPantheress’s setup is basically just a MacBook running Logic Pro (she used to use GarageBand but has now upgraded). And that means no MIDI keyboard – Walker demonstrates how she composed and recorded Tonight’s chord progression using Logic’s Musical Typing QWERTY keyboard option.

Article continues below

“The first thing I start off with is figuring out the chords like this,” she explains as she taps away on her MacBook. “As you can see, I put them in manually”.

i love to produce ❤️thankyou for being so lovely 🥹 shoutout askel arvid and panic at the disco also - YouTube i love to produce ❤️thankyou for being so lovely 🥹 shoutout askel arvid and panic at the disco also - YouTube
Watch On

As we see her concentrating, there’s a caption that reads: “MIDI controllers can be expensive! Inputting [notes] into whatever you use works just as well.”

The bassline was also recorded by using this method, and we learn that Walker ended up pitching the chord progression up a semitone and changing the original piano to a synth sound for the final version, which also samples Panic! at the Disco.

“I’m bad at drums so I got my co-producer, Count Baldor, to do the drums,” she adds.

This kind of workflow might not be to your taste, but seeing it in action demonstrates once again that, in today’s music production world, the quality of your ideas is more important than the amount of gear you have at your disposal. If you’ve got a computer and some software, you’ve already got everything you need to get started.

Ben Rogerson
Deputy Editor

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.