Music Production Tutors
Daisy ValentineDan ValentineDominic TannerGavin HerlihyJonny BatchelorPaul Carnac Poppy RobertsYoss Brady
Daisy Valentine
Music Composition Tutor
Teaches: Music Composition Course.
Daisy Valentine is a singer/songwriter, producer and DJ from Stockport. She received her BA Hons in Music at the University of Liverpool in 2016, and was a founding member and synth player of the band Fuzzy Sun, with whom she toured the UK on headline tours and also as a support act with bands such as Blossoms, Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats.
Daisy left Fuzzy Sun at the end of 2019 to pursue a solo career and is currently working on her debut release. She has been tutoring music lessons, alongside her music career, teaching; guitar, drums, piano, Ableton Live, DJing and songwriting.
Dan Valentine
Music Production Tutor
Teaches: BA (Hons) Music Production & Performance, Ableton Live Short Course & Free Music Production Taster Course.
Dan is an amazing music producer, has a great teaching style and always makes people feel super welcome in his classes. For this reason Dan can often be found teaching people at the start of their music production journeys here at SEM.
Dan also produces in electronic duo Rainer Vale.
Dominic Tanner
Music Production Tutor & Creative Support
Teaches: Private Music Production Tuition.
Dom has been a professional mixing and mastering engineer for over 8 years running Bojanić Audio & Mastering, working alongside local unsigned bands as well as a long list of international record labels. He is an award-nominated voice-over engineer, sound engineer as well as composer for adverts and online promotions for Santander, E.ON and many others.
He has been using Ableton for 18+ years, producing everything from Breakcore to Witch House, Glitch, Punk, Thrash, Ambient and Folk, so can offer a vast amount of creative support spanning many genres, with a plethora of tips and tricks to help you get out of that creative block.
Gavin Herlihy
Music Production Tutor
Teaches: Complete Music Production Courses and Master Music Production Course.
Gavin Herlihy is a producer and mix engineer with 20 years experience in the dance music industry, and releases on some of the world’s biggest house and techno labels.
Initially he had a 7- year stint at the world’s biggest electronic music magazine, Mixmag. He worked as a Music Editor, and introduced artists like Jamie Jones, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano and Loco Dice to a wider audience.
His first track was hailed as one of the techno tracks of the year in 2006. It prompted a move to Berlin, and led to remixing legends like Romanthony, Todd Terry, UNKLE and touring the globe. He’s played in some of the world’s best clubs – Panorama Bar (Berlin), Circoloco (DC10 in Ibiza), D’Edge and Warung (Brazil) and Fabric (London).
As an engineer he has mixed EPs/singles under the name Herling for labels like PMR/Virgin/EMI, and his own production discography includes EPs on Cocoon, Crosstown Rebels, Infuse, Cadenza, Leftroom and Culprit.
Jonny Batchelor
Head of Tech Support & Music Production Tutor
Teaches: Complete Music Production Course, Master Music Production Course, and our Logic Pro X Course.
Jonny Batchelor has been producing music for over 10 years writing, mixing and mastering music in many different electronic genres. He studied at SEM back in 2011, and then went on to obtain a First Class Honours degree in Music Production at Leeds College of Music in 2015. Throughout his studies he has been creating tracks under the name MrJonnyBatch, focused around electronic dance music.
Since 2013 Jonny has also been producing sample packs for companies such as Prime Loops, Samplephonics, Noiiz and Touch Loops, where he has developed his skills as a sound designer creating a wide variety of sample packs from scratch using synthesis and audio recordings. His claim to fame is that many of his samples featured heavily in the Justin Bieber track “What Do You Mean?”
Outside of teaching, Jonny is our Head of Tech Support and manages the school’s studios, equipment and room booking system too.
Paul Carnac
Academic Head & Music Production Tutor
Paul steers the ship with regards to our BA (Hons) Music Production and Performance.
Paul worked as a sound engineer for many successful artists and labels (from Oasis to N-Trance, and Creation Records to Factory) before concentrating predominantly on electronic music.
He has worked on diverse projects from TV nature documentaries to producing grime artist collaborations with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Paul also holds a PGCE, a Masters Degree in Digital Music Technology, and is an all-round music production Boffin with a capital B!
Poppy Roberts
Music Production Tutor
Teaches: Introduction to Music Production Fast Track Course.
Poppy is a producer, song-writer and vocalist with over 10 years of production and live experience.
After graduating from the University of Salford with first class honours in music technology and live performance, she has collaborated with names such as Apollo, R&S, The North Quarter, Scissor & Thread, Wolf Music, Audio Network and many more.
Currently heading up the neo-soul collective Lovescene, she specialises in Ableton, production workflow, live sampling and the general joy of making music …with a personal love for broken-beat, ambient, garage, DnB and of course, everything in between.
Yoss Brady
Head of Music Production & Music Production Tutor
Teaches: Complete Music Production Courses and Master Music Production Course.
Yoss has been producing electronic music for just over 20 years. Influenced by the sounds of Rephlex and Warp Records in the early 00’s, Yoss began making acid techno, and came to study at SEM (then, Manchester Midi School) in 2004. He became a familiar face due to basically never leaving the studios!
His skills in electronic music production gave him an edge, and he soon found himself programming beats for hard dance DJs, and working in a studio run by Durutti Column. This led to producing for bands coming through, and working for various labels and studios, such as the in-house studio of Humble Soul (an independent folk label), Ironworks Studios in North Wales, and Manchester’s 80 Hertz Studio, the largest independent studio in the UK.
Since 2012 his focus has shifted back to producing electronic music using Ableton Live, working as a professional producer, mix engineer and sound designer for various artists, DJs and companies. Yoss has also worked with some notable people over the years, including Peter Asher on a track for Dianna Ross, Matthew Halsall, Mammal Hands, Paddy Steer, Liz Green, Moulettes, John Fairhurst & Denis Jones.
DJing, Audio Engineering, Music Business Tutors
DJ Rasp
Head DJ Tutor
Teaches: Complete DJ Course and Private DJ Tuition.
DJ Rasp first started out on the scratch battle scene, making a name for himself by winning 8 British DJ championship titles (DMC and IDA).
He now captivates crowds in clubs, festivals & events worldwide, with a healthy balance of musical selection, showmanship and technical skills.
He’s got many releases to his name, and a huge amount of enthusiasm and knowledge when it comes to teaching DJing. He’s also an Official Rane Artist and Digital DJ Tips Tutor.
James Bowers
DJ Tutor
Teaches: Complete DJ Course, Private DJ Tuition and DJ Taster Courses.
James is an open-format DJ and Remixer, having spent over a decade filling out main rooms in excess of 1500 clubbers week in, week out, at his Gatecrasher and O2 Academy residencies. He’s DJed with the likes of Zane Lowe, Gregg James, and Stonebridge – and at SEM, he specialises in Digital DJing, multi-genre mixing, dance music History, and harmonic mixing techniques.
James also has over ten years of experience in radio, working internationally as a freelance Music Director, and hosting weekend mix shows on local Manchester and London stations – along with his own podcast, which is aired on radio stations around the globe, and features regular guest appearances from the likes of Seamus Haji (Defected), and Grammy-winner Dave Audé.
Neil Diablo
DJ Tutor
Teaches: Complete DJ Course and Private DJ Tuition.
Neil’s signature blend of leftfield house and spirit-lifting disco has earned him an unshakable reputation as a super-musical, crowd-loving crate-digger who never fails to set it off.
As well as his vast DJ knowledge, he brings to the classroom his experience of how to build a brand and run successful events. His own brand El Diablo Social Club has been a staple on the Manchester scene since 2003, and has enabled Neil to undertake world tours regularly.
Ollie Stonelake
DJ Tutor
Teaches: Complete DJ Course.
Graduating SEM in 2018, Ollie stood out as an extremely capable DJ. Students now benefit from his skills and enthusiasm as he gets involved in the lesson support on the Complete DJ course.
Since graduating at SEM, Ollie has continued pushing his music production skills, releasing on various UK based labels which have helped shape his path to DJing at and co-running successful club nights showcasing new productions and talents.
Currently working on a new, more hardware-based EP, he continues to show how he can adapt and progress into new areas of the music industry.
Tony Rigg
Head of Music Business Education
Teaches: Music Business Course and Event Management Course.
Tony has worked across the spectrum of the music industry, holding command positions in market leading organisations including Operations Director for Ministry of Sound.
Tony has overseen the management of 100+ music venues, delivered thousands of events, has a chart pedigree as an artist producer, and founded the MA Music Industry at UCLan University.
He operates his own consultancy practice and oversees a broad portfolio of music enterprises when he’s not teaching at SEM.
Chris Kolev
Head of Audio Engineering & Music Production Tutor
Teaches: BA (Hons) Music Production & Performance, Audio Engineering Course, Complete Music Production Courses and Master Music Production Course.
Chris began by writing and performing metal, industrial and heavy electronic music before shifting towards sound engineering.
Today he specialises in recording, post-production and sound design for visual media. His biggest passions are in the fields of audio and technological advancements and the future of music technology.
Chris has worked with numerous local and international artists and media companies as both a recording and mixing engineer and is running his own studio eXk Studio when not supporting students at SEM.
Martyn Ellis
Audio Engineering Tutor
Teaches: BA (Hons) Music Production & Performance.
Martyn currently teaches at several Manchester universities.
Outside of teaching he is a freelance sound recordist and editor, working on a variety of film content, including features, shorts, and international advertising campaigns.
Neil Bruce
Music Production & Audio Engineering Tutor
Teaches: BA (Hons) Music Production & Performance and Audio Engineering Course.
Neil is composer, sound designer and audio engineer with a PhD in Acoustics and MSc in Signal Processing. With over 40 million streams and music/sound design that has been used in film, TV and computer games, Neil is heavily involved in all aspects of music and sound production.
He started off his career at Manor Mobile studios, working with artists including Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Al Green, Barbara Cooke amongst others.
Neil currently works with a wide range of artists in the UK, helping with their production and recordings. In his spare time, Neil is a performing guitarist working around the UK and overseas, playing stadiums and everything else in between.
The rest of the crew!
Damian FiedlerPatrick ShambrookLucy IronmongerLawrence Allen Omar FergusonLogan KerrRohaan GreyIan Walpole Ela KolevaRocco HarrisElle Holgate
Damian Fiedler
Principal & Director
Damian is a partner at SEM. He holds the status of Principal.
He works closely with our academic partners and institutions – Pearson, the BAC, and UCLan University.
Like Patrick (the other director), he’s also a keen snowboarder and not too bad on the 1s and 2s!
Patrick Shambrook
Director
Patrick is a partner at SEM, who has helped develop the school since 1996.
Patrick is still involved in all departments of SEM.
“Every day is different – I enjoy working in such a creative industry with like minded staff that are all passionate about their roles at SEM”.
He is also an undercover geek, along with being a complete snowboarding and drum‘n’bass addict!
Lucy Ironmonger
Operations Director
Lucy is Operations Director at SEM. She ensures everything runs smoothly, and is always working to enhance the student experience and develop the training programmes we run.
Lucy works closely with our industry partners Ableton Live and Native Instruments, and with all departments at SEM. Despite this, she is never too busy to speak with students on an individual basis who need guidance or support, as she has previously been at student here!
In her spare time, Lucy is a DJ (since 2007) and promoter for the successful techno night Meat Free (run with 3 other SEM graduates) which was nominated for ‘Best UK Club Night’ in the DJ Mag awards. You’ll catch Lucy teaching the occasional women-only DJ Taster at SEM, as she’s passionate about encouraging women into music.
Lawrence Allen
Head of Course Administration & Student Services
As well as handling the behind-the-scenes course administration, Lawrence is your port of call for all current student enquiries.
He can help you with student status documentation, authorising absences, deadline extensions and deferrals, as well as pastoral care and support.
Outside of SEM, Lawrence is an event manager and DJ with multiple residencies in Manchester and London, as well as a songwriter, producer and recording artist, regularly performing his work live, including at the Warehouse Project, Manchester International Festival and the Royal Exchange Theatre.
Omar Ferguson
Head Course Advisor
Omar is our Head Course Advisor and having originally been a student at SEM, Omar can comfortably guide you through the whole process: from timetables, to funding, to fitting training in around work, along with explaining what it’s like to be a student here.
Omar is also a successful alt-pop/RNB artist bubbling up on the Manchester scene. He’s recently started his own label ‘NRTHRN’ which has received support from MIF as well as most recently playing a sold-out show at Gorilla (supporting Crazy P), featured in over 14 publications including I.D. Mag, Acid Stag & La Belle Musique, and has featured on BBC Introducing and in BBC Hotlist 2019.
Logan Kerr
Course Advisor
Logan and Omar are the course advisor dream-team at SEM – either he or Omar will be your first point of contact if you are seeking course advice.
Logan is the Blackpool lad with the big bushy beard! Lover of all music, you will struggle to find genre he won’t listen to, but he has a special place for all things trance.
Logan also grew up on heavy rock and metal so you will catch him at any alternative night, or at Download Festival on the regular and this is always a big influence in any sets. Trance-Metal.. what a mixture.
Rohaan Grey
Marketing Manager
Rohaan is a very established DNB producer, DJ and SEM alumni.
Since studying at SEM, Rohaan has gone on to release music on a multitude of global record labels that have accumulated over 3 million digital streams. This has lead to him DJing all over the EU and UK, placing in both ‘Top 20 Artists & Albums” of the year by UKF, as well as DJ Times ‘One to watch’.
As well as overseeing all activities within the marketing department, Rohaan is passionate about helping students bridge the gap between studying and work. As part of this, he offers personal 1-2-1 meetings to students to give marketing and branding advice, to create professional rollout plans for their music careers.
Ian Walpole
Marketing & Digital Content Creator
Ian works on all of our social media platforms, marketing, website, video editing and design.
Speak with him if you have any music-related activities that you’d like to see promoted through the SEM social channels.
Ian’s music career spanned the late 90’s and 00′ DJing at venues across the UK and co-running the successful Drum n Bass night ‘Futuresound’ in Manchester.
Ela Koleva
Photographer
Ela is a Manchester based photographer with over 5 years of experience in portrait and event photography. You can usually spot her at SEM during events, open days and individual photo sessions.
She is also the photographer for our Complete DJ Course students when they have their final shoot!
Rocco Harris
Digital Content Creator & Maschine Tutor
Former DJ and music production student of SEM, Rocco is an extremely adept D’n’B DJ who can be found scratching on Bloc2Bloc Radio.
Rocco is also responsible for all our video content and editing, heading up the successful R1 Visuals.
On top of making sure SEM’s video content is on lock, Rocco is one of SEM’s Native Instruments Maschine tutors, working remotely whilst studying for a degree in Film Production.
Elle Holgate
Digital Content
Elle is a vocalist, producer, DJ and regularly contributes to the SEM Blog. You may also spot her as a host for the SEM Sessions!
As a producer her influences range from dreampop, early 90s ambient dance music and shoegaze.
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