Rory Green
About
I’m a Glasgow-based composer, sound designer, lecturer, and audio educator specialising in electronic music production, sound design, synthesis, spatial audio, and creative sound practice.
I currently teach across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at the Glasgow School of Art, where I lead the Electronic Music and Sound Design Masters elective and deliver workshops in synthesis, audiovisual sound, studio practice, and experimental composition.
Lessons are tailored to each student’s interests and goals. Depending on what you want to focus on, sessions can include:
• Ableton Live production workflows
• Electronic music composition
• Sound design and synthesis
• Modular synthesis / Eurorack systems
• Mixing and arrangement
• Ambient, experimental, club, and audiovisual music practices
• Spatial audio and creative sound for moving image
• MaxMSP and generative systems
• Critical listening and creative development
• Portfolio support for art school or university applications
I aim to create lessons that feel welcoming, engaging, and creatively empowering. I understand that everyone learns differently, and I place a strong emphasis on clarity, adaptability, and helping students build confidence in their own artistic voice and technical ability.
Whether you’re looking to learn production fundamentals, develop a more experimental practice, prepare for further study, or deepen your understanding of sound and music technology, I’d be happy to work with you.
Teaching Style
My background combines academic research, studio engineering, and active creative practice. I hold a First-Class BDes and an MRes from the Glasgow School of Art, where my research focused on generative sound systems, phenomenology, modular synthesis, and ecological sound practice. Alongside teaching, I continue to compose, perform, and release music across ambient, experimental, and electronic contexts.
My teaching combines professional technical knowledge with a supportive, student-led approach. I work with learners across all levels — from complete beginners wanting to understand Ableton Live or synthesis for the first time, to advanced students developing complex creative projects, portfolios, or research-led artistic work.
Curriculum
My teaching approach is practical, exploratory, and student-focused. I aim to create an encouraging environment where students can develop both technical confidence and their own creative identity. Lessons are structured around individual goals, whether that means learning the fundamentals of music production, developing advanced sound design techniques, preparing a portfolio, or refining a personal artistic practice.
I strongly believe that technical skills are best learned through creative application. Rather than teaching software or theory in isolation, I integrate concepts directly into making music and sound work. Sessions often combine demonstration, discussion, listening analysis, guided exercises, and collaborative problem-solving. I encourage experimentation and curiosity, particularly around sound synthesis, texture, space, and unconventional workflows.
I teach across a wide range of experience levels and adapt lessons to suit different learning styles. For beginners, this might involve building foundational skills in Ableton Live, arrangement, mixing, or synthesis in a clear and accessible way. For more advanced students, lessons may focus on composition strategies, critical feedback, generative systems, modular synthesis, spatial audio, or developing a distinct artistic voice.
I also draw from my experience as both a practicing artist and an educator within higher education. This allows me to support students not only technically, but also in areas such as creative confidence, project development, critical thinking, and long-term artistic direction.
Recommended texts and resources vary depending on the student’s interests, but often include:
• Curtis Roads — Composing Electronic Music
• Michel Chion — Audio-Vision
• Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt — Oblique Strategies
• Allen Strange — Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques and Controls
• Kim Bjørn — Patch & Tweak
• R. Murray Schafer — The Soundscape
• Denis Smalley — writings on spectromorphology
• Tutorials and documentation for Ableton Live and MaxMSP
• Listening studies across ambient, experimental, electronic, film, and contemporary sound practices
I also encourage active listening, experimentation, and creative reflection as core parts of learning. In many cases, developing a strong artistic practice comes as much from curiosity and sustained engagement as it does from technical mastery alone.
Credentials & Affiliations
• Master of Research (MRes), Glasgow School of Art (2025)
Research specialism in generative sound systems, modular synthesis, spatial audio, phenomenology, and ecological sound practice. Awarded Dissertation Prize for Design.
• Bachelor of Design (First-Class Honours), Sound for the Moving Image, Glasgow School of Art (2021)
Awarded Dissertation Prize for Design.
• HND Music Performance with Production, Riverside Music College (2018)
Graduated with A/A/A grade profile.
• Course Leader – Electronic Music and Sound Design (Masters Elective), Glasgow School of Art
Responsible for curriculum design, delivery, assessment, and student support across cross-school postgraduate provision.
• Visiting Lecturer – Glasgow School of Art
Teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sound design, audiovisual practice, synthesis, spatial audio, studio practice, and critical theory.
• Workshop Facilitator/Librarian – GLOSS (Glasgow Library of Synthesised Sound)
Delivering practical workshops in synthesis, electronic music production, and sound design.
• Studio Engineer – La Chunky Studios
Recording, production, mixing, and technical studio support across commercial and experimental music contexts.
• Co-Founder / Chair – Sàimh Sound Arts
Artist-led sound arts collective delivering installations, performances, and community arts projects across Scotland.
• Active practitioner in electronic music, sound art, ambient composition, and audiovisual performance, with ongoing work across galleries, studios, festivals, and community arts contexts.