What’s it like to be a woman learning music production? A new documentary, In Ctrl, finds out

It’s a troubling fact that music production remains a male-dominated world, with only a tiny percentage of hit records being produced by women. 

In order to highlight this disparity, and to try and do something about it, UK-based artist, producer and university lecturer LNA (Liina Turtonen) has directed In Ctrl, a new mini documentary, for her YouTube channel, LNA Does Audio Stuff. This follows the journey of artist Hannah Coombes as she takes her first steps into her music production journey, and you can watch it above.

Also featuring Xylo Aria, founder of Music Production for Women, this optimistic short film explores the fears and insecurities that can hold women back from becoming music producers and engineers, and demonstrates that they can be overcome.

“It can feel like it’s not for you, but it is,” says Hannah Coombes, who has just released Good Life, her debut self-produced single, on Bandcamp.

The documentary also features appearances by recording engineer Olga FitzRoy and Ableton Certified trainer Mel Uye Parker.

Liina Turtonen also runs her own online learning platform, Equalize Music Production, which offers online Zoom courses in music production.

Ben Rogerson

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. 

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