I am a Composer, Producer & Arranger working from my home studio near Oxford, UK. My diverse experience includes orchestrating scores for Film and TV projects, performing nationwide as a guitarist, singer, pianist and bass guitarist, and producing children's music + gamified content for e-Learning platform, Yousician.
Hi,
I love the process of finding what makes a piece of music tick and enjoy bringing ideas to life! I have many years experience of getting under the skin of a composer's film score as an orchestrator on high profile movie and TV projects, and arrange & produce songs in a wide variety of genres with collaborators. I have performed around the UK and as a session musician on piano, guitar, bass guitar and as a singer and have also produced content for e-learning platform, Yousician, one of the worlds leading instrumental tuition apps.
Typically I am able to complete most requirements for a project from my home studio and can produce every part of a piece of music; from writing/composing, to performing/recording, to mixing & mastering; so please get in touch. I'd love to hear more about your project and might well be able to help in more ways than one.
Greg
Tell me about your project and how I can help, through the 'Contact' button above.
2 Reviews
Endorse Greg Hooper
Firstly, Greg is an excellent musician! He worked for me as Musical Director, Orchestrator and keyboardist. Greg’s skilful orchestration achieved the perfect sound with the minimum number of musicians, and Greg’s creative communication with the orchestra, enabled them to quickly reach a high standard on all pieces. In performance, he adroitly managed to combine conducting, keyboards, sound effects, and cues. Beyond his high level of musical ability, Greg was always a pleasure to work with, maintaining authority with the musicians, but always with good humour and a smile.
Working with Greg is a dream! Collaborating with a producer who has such high-level skills as a musician and an arranger is very empowering and inspiring. Greg is an excellent listener and instantly understands what my songs are aiming to achieve, as well as the market in which I’m aiming to place them. Because of this, he can very quickly bring these ideas to life – often by playing the instruments himself – and if my original ideas don’t quite work as I hoped, he very quickly offers a range of suggestions, allowing the creative process to continue within a very relaxed studio setting.
Interview with Greg Hooper
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Lots of questions! Depends on the song...
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Just get in touch and tell me what you need and I'll tell you what I can do.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Arranging is the first stage of mixing. Make sure you get the arrangement right. Don't try and solve everything in the mix.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Currently either children's music or film soundtrack style projects.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Arranging
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: My goal is always to bring the heart and soul of a track to life. That could be with a faithful arrangement, coaching the right performance, using the right sounds, or doing the right mix. All parts contribute towards the whole in the end.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: If working on the complete production of a song I often start by mocking the song up using predominantly MIDI tracks - this allows for easy changes to arrangement and tempo, but is does depend on the song. Sometimes it's better to start in a different way. Once happy with how everything sounds I move onto recording and editing. If possible, I ideally like the mixing process to be a separate one (once editing is complete) as this allows me to step back from the track a bit an mix quickly and intuitively without distraction. Again, it's nice to have time to step back a little before Mastering... if there's time! Just recording instrumental parts is simpler of course.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I'm very proud of my UA Apollo 8p audio interface and work in a room with acoustic treatment, allowing a faithful mix to be created. I have a 2017 iMac with 2 screens and monitors + MIDI keyboard, 2 x acoustic guitars (Taylor & Tanglewood), 1 classical guitar, a 'Gibson Firebird Non-Reverse Studio' electric guitar, a Fender Precision Bass Guitar, a HiWatt Guitar Amp and a MarkBass Bass Amp (+ several percussion instruments). I've also recently bought myself to an electric drum kit and have an acoustic upright piano at the back of the room. Everything I need to create music is close at hand!
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Fully producing songs, either my own or those of a collaborator. Previously I have worked as an orchestrator arranging scores for film music sessions and as an educational arranger/transcriptionist for Yousician.
I was the Composer & Arranger in this production
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- PianoAverage price - $70 per song
- Singer - MaleAverage price - $70 per song
- Acoustic GuitarAverage price - $70 per song
- Bass ElectricAverage price - $70 per song
My typical turnaround time for recording an instrumental track should be under a week. Of course bigger projects are more complicated to predict. Producing a full track would take a few weeks.
- UA Apollo 8P Audio Interface
- Taylor Acoustic Guitar
- Gibson Firebird Non-Reverse Studio Guitar
- Fender Precision Bass
