Experienced music producer and educator helping musicians turn ideas into finished tracks — Ableton, Maschine, recording & sound design (online or Surrey/Hampshire areas)

Learn more about George

• When did you first develop a passion for music and your favourite instrument?

  It started with a battered, out-of-tune piano left behind by the previous owners at my grandparents' house – trying to pick out the tunes I'd heard on the radio – but I really got hooked when synthesisers like the Roland SH-101 and Yamaha DX7 started appearing in the school music department, around the same time electro, hip hop and house were taking over the airwaves. For someone who'd never had lessons, and couldn't play 'traditional' instruments, this was my way into making music.

• Is there a particular type of music or artist that you listen to on a loop without it driving you crazy?

  Lately it’s been the 'Echo 45' album from Nightmares on Wax – I love how effortlessly they cross genres from hip-hop, to gospel, to dub – that one has been on repeat since it came out.

• Explain to us the most difficult or riveting course you could personally give to a student of music.

  Sound design for experimental, texture-driven electronic music – taking a student from stock plugin presets to building original, signature sounds from scratch. It touches synthesis, layering, processing, and arrangement all at once, and it's where a track stops sounding like a tutorial and starts sounding like the artist. I'm also drawn to hybrid production – integrating software and hardware into the same workflow – and for those who want to go deeper, dub mixing techniques are a particular passion of mine. I can take you from set-up through to a full dub mix: echo throws, spring reverb, tape delay, and the kind of hands-on, live-mixing mentality that's been largely lost in a world of undo buttons and recall presets.

• What do you think is the most complicated instrument to master and why?

  I'm focused on music technology and production rather than instrumental classes; but if I bring it into my world, electronic music production, I'd say semi-modular synthesis. The reason is that it's genuinely open-ended: the 'instrument' itself never stays the same. You're constantly repatching, adding modules, and rebuilding the signal path, so there's no fixed technique to master the way there is with, say, a piano or guitar. You're not just learning to play it – you're redesigning it every time you sit down, which is exactly what makes it endlessly rewarding.

• What are your keys to success?

  Finishing tracks, not just starting them. Most producers get stuck in an endless loop of new ideas and never complete a project. I focus students on practical workflow – arrangement, mixing decisions, and knowing when a track is done – because that's the skill that actually builds a body of work. I've also benefited hugely from mentors along the way – UK producer D Ramirez opened my eyes to what modern production tools can really do, and the idea that a laptop, knowledge, and ideas are all you need to unleash creativity has stuck with me ever since. It's something I try to pass on to every student.

• Name three musicians you dream of meeting in your favourite bar in the early hours of the morning. Explain why.

  Nick Cave, for the existential chat. Paul McCartney, to lead the inevitable singalong, because no one else in the room would know every word to every song like he would. And Grace Jones, to keep everyone on their best (or worst!) behaviour – every big night needs someone who refuses to let it stay predictable.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to music or your days at music school.

  I'm largely self-taught both in terms of instruments, theory and production – never went to music school but definitely benefited from the online training and mentoring I got through the Toolroom Academy in later years, when I decided to step up my production knowledge and skills with the help of professional mentors. That's actually shaped how I teach: I believe everyone has music in them, whatever stage they're starting from, and worrying about grades or 'proper' training just gets in the way of actually making music. For years I was a bedroom producer with no real idea how to get a track released or where to start. Then I entered a remix competition, which led to my track being released on an album on Peter Gabriel's Real World label – and that was the moment it stopped being a hobby and started being something real. It's why I push students to focus on finishing and sharing work early, rather than waiting until they feel 'ready'.

• What are the little touches that make you a Superprof in music?

  I don't just teach the theory – I bring real production experience into every lesson: remixing tracks for artists, designing and sampling original sounds that get used in other people's productions, and beta-testing new tools for companies like Ableton, Sonnox, and Polyverse before they're released. That means when a student hits a real-world problem, I've usually hit it myself and know the fix.