Basil Pemberton Earns Senior Spotlight

Montclair High School senior Basil Pemberton catches a glimpse of his future during his four week internship at Yessian in New York City.

Basil Pemberton’s passion for audio production is utilized at Yessian.

Basil Pemberton
Photo courtesy of Gabe Friedin

Those who know Basil Pemberton understand how much music means to him. He has spent countless hours in the comfort of his own bedroom making music with production software such as Logic, Ableton Live and Serato DJ. However it is not so much the music itself that interests Pemberton, but the actual production of sound.

This love for production has led Pemberton away from his homemade studio and into New York City. For the Career Internship Program at Montclair High School, he is getting professional studio experience working at Yessian. Yessian is a global collective of creative minds, ranging from composers and recording artists to producers and sound designers.  

Yessian is a very successful organization, with offices also in Detroit, Los Angeles and Hamburg, Germany. This prestige has not scared the high school senior. In fact, simply being in the studio has brought out the hard-working quality that characterizes Pemberton. “I always know I can do a better job,” said Pemberton. He is enjoying the environment at Yessian as his co-workers have been very welcoming and have truly allowed him to be a part of what goes on at the studio.

“They do sound for advertisements,” said Basil Pemberton. “They will have me do music searches, where I will sift through tracks already in their library. They have us select 10 of those tracks and put them in a folder. From there, they select the best ones from all of us and send them to the client.”

On top of the music searches, Pemberton is allowed to continue to produce on his own. “I spend a lot of the time at the studio making my own music,” said Pemberton.

Throughout his time at Montclair High School, Pemberton spent time as a member of the cross country and fencing teams. He also took AP music theory to enhance his understanding of music. Although a challenging class, Pemberton has used the knowledge gained in the class to help him with production. He has made music that he has played live in concert and that he has posted online on music sharing sites such as Soundcloud.

In the fall, Basil Pemberton will be attending Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. There, he plans on earning a degree in audio engineering. “Hopefully one day I will own my own studio,” said Pemberton. “Or at least work in sound design mixing for other people.”

The Montclair Dispatch is proud to have supported the Montclair High School Senior Option Program for the past 3 years. You can learn more about the four 2016 Senior Option students by reading their article here.

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