// My Personal Statement \\

I was raised into a very musically driven family, and as such I have had a strong passion for music since I was young. I'm a self taught keyboard and vocalist, percussionist, melodica player and pianist, and have been taught bass and guitar; although my true ardour lies in composing, and as such most of the instruments listed I play for song writing purposes.

As I grew up I found sanctum in a keyboard, using it as a creative outlet for my emotions. One of the biggest things I've discovered from music is the opportunity to shape people's mood, so I got into writing comedy music to make people smile, taking inspiration from people such as Tim Minchin and Bill Bailey.

From GCSE level and above, I started taking every opportunity my school had to expand my musical interests. I took Drama, and ended up writing soundtracks for the productions we put on to complement our performances;  took Economics to allow me to become more aware of how challenging it would be to take a place in the music industry; and engaged in as many extra-curricular activities as I could.  I played in my secondary school's orchestra, concert band, several choirs, and personally led ensembles that played my original compositions in concerts.

Outside of school, I write for online flash video games. My ambition in life is to be a self-employed composer for the gaming industry, combining my two biggest interests - Gaming and music. I collaborate with developers from sites such as Newgrounds and Kongregate to create music with various software and styles, and upload some of this music to YouTube, which landed me a following of 300 subscribers and over 80,000 views.
This career path would suit me nicely as I can also write from the perspective of the gamer - I currently play for several European, online competitive gaming teams, and administrate a league that provides such an experience to tens of thousands of people every year.

Earlier this year I went to Tech Music School rather than doing A levels to give myself the fastest route to getting into the industry. I earned a place as Student Rep for my course, started teaching music theory and keyboard skills voluntarily in out-of-lesson classes, and started studying music production in greater detail to allow me to publish my music in a more professional format than ever before. After this year I would like to continue this at degree level so that I can learn even more about the intricacies of production so that I can work my way as seamlessly as possible into a full time career.

I believe I am right for this course as I have both the experience of studying production in the past, as well as the initiative to take part of my education into my own hands and take opportunities for myself in the music world.