Why Teaching
Looking back at how education has always played an essential part in my life, at first it feels like a long chain of random events. It is far from it, though. It’s my obsession with learning and dedication to teaching that keeps pulling me to situations, and arranges events in my life around, education.
Early Days
One day, about 28 years ago, my drum teacher was explaining how teaching leads to a better understanding of concepts. I found that fascinating. He suggested I started private tutoring. And so at the age of 15, I did. I went on to teach drums for years. Fast forward 10 years, I was living in London as a freelance music producer, and ran into an ad offering free tuition at a school one day. I got myself an interview and it was then that I was asked the question:
“So, why did you come here? You could teach music production.”
That kicked my brain into thinking. Could I perhaps apply for a course at a college or university? And so I did, for the Music Composition Program at the University of West London. Being a professional music producer with 20+ electronic music releases on vinyl and CD under my belt, I purposely did not pick the Music Technology Program. I wasn’t looking for something I was familiar with, I wanted to study what I had little knowledge in instead. So, at the interview, my interviewers were confused. Turns out, I had too little knowledge in composition to be offered a place in composition. Fair enough. The rejection letter came quickly in the post but was soon followed by a phone call from the Media Technology Program. My assumption that I would be bored studying what I already was doing was proven wrong during my interview. Actually, I could not have been more wrong.
University of West London
Hailing from Eastern Europe, I had never previously seen such a forward-thinking school! I was blown away. The assignments were skillfully crafted to trigger creativity, so I could not wait to get started on them. This was the first school I didn’t hate but I actually loved. I remember I started working on the first assignment on the way home on the subway—I literally could not wait to get home. It was during this time that I came to the realization that a good educator is someone that gives you an assignment in such a way that you can’t wait to get started on it.
imPro Budapest School of Music Technology
I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to move back to Budapest, but during my university years I kept saying that if I ever did, I would take up private tutoring, just so I can share with people my excitement about this modern form of education and instructional design. When some time later life threw me back to my hometown, Budapest, Hungary, I started teaching English in a corporate setting for managers and executives for companies, and I set out to work on my plan to offer private tutoring in music production and audio engineering. I sat down in a cafe with a pen and a notepad and I tried to lay out some sort of a plan. As my coffee diminished and my scribbles grew elaborate, I looked at my notes and went:
“This is not private tutoring. This is a school.“
And so the idea of imPro Budapest School of Music Technology was born—inadvertently, I might add. It took me a year to build it and I finally opened in 2010. The instructors were well-known, respected music producers, audio engineers, sound designers, and DJs in the Hungarian music scene. It was a hit. The timing was right. The curriculum was something previously unseen in the country. 6 years later I moved to Los Angeles and left the school in the capable hands of some talented people. It makes me happy that I created a solid foundation to what is still a very strong community and a successful institution today.
Los Angeles Film School
When I quit my job at a music house in Los Angeles in 2018, the first thing I wrote on my Ikigai map was that I want to work with more people. Teaching always gave me that. An acquaintance of mine was at the time teaching at the LA Film School and recommended me to reach out to them as they were looking to hire new instructors. I got a full-time position as an instructor, which was amazing. I had had a lot of experience in teaching but doing it 9-5, 5 days a week just gave it all that turbo boost. Since I enjoy developing courses and writing curriculum, I always volunteered for those kinds of tasks. A year later, when I was offered the position of Associate Program Director of Audio Programs, I was beyond excited and took the job.
Private Coaching
I’ve been in my new position for almost a year now and I love it because it enables me to work on every aspect of the education that students receive and the specific ways that they receive it. But if there is something I miss, it is teaching. Nerding out with people, showing each other tricks and techniques, and most importantly: proving that when something feels overwhelmingly complex, once broken down to manageable chunks, it suddenly seems easy, and the anxiety evaporates in a second. Just like when, at the age of 15, people told me: “I could never play the drums because I could never get my limbs to play different patterns”. But that is what drumming actually is. It’s like saying “I could never paint because I can’t paint”. That’s something you have to learn and practice and, over the course of some time, you slowly get better and better at it. That is what education means to me. It enables us to be a better version of ourselves.
So, today, I am happy to offer Coaching. I have limited capacity; I work full time at the LA Film School and I produce music and do mastering in my free time, but I intend to have a select few students that are dedicated to improving their production quality and learning more about music and audio. If this sounds exciting to you, head over to my Coaching and let’s get started!