David Soltany

Hey Everyone! I’m David Soltany, a professional composer and guitarist from Strasbourg, France.

I was 4 when I began playing the cello with the Suzuki Institute, a great concept that involves working songs with your ears without any scores. Then at the age of 6, I went to the conservatory and created my first composition at age 9 for the 3rd cycle exam. But the cello did bother me when I turned 15, because I was more into rock and metal, and for my 17th birthday I bought my first electric guitar and start learning music from bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Angra, etc.

I learned all by myself for couple years and started to give guitar lessons in music schools in 2002.

Then in 2005, I won a national guitar competition with Kiko Loureiro as the judge, and at the same time released my first album “Diversity” which received some cool reviews here and there. At that point, I knew I didn’t want to only be a guitar teacher. I was enjoying composition so much that I couldn’t imagine not being able to find a job in that field.

In 2007, I began working as a composer with video games for different studios (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Apple, etc.).

In 2008, I won the “Best Vocal Production” award in the Spectrasonics contest.

All these different opportunities gave me the chance in 2010 to work with cinema, particularly Europacorp (Luc Besson).

In 2011, I won the “outstanding achievement award” for a Spectrasonics competition with renowned judges and creators of the contest library such as Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, Jordan Rudess, etc.

Today I’m working on a new album for a famous record label, I hope to be able to release it this year, time will tell!

My gear is pretty simple. I play with an old ’72 Martin D28 acoustic guitar. For electric, I’m endorsed by DG Guitars and they make amazing guitars. I should receive my first model soon. I also have a MusicMan JP6 and a Suhr classic.

My favorite guitarists and musicians/bands/composers are guys like Andy Timmons, Marty Friedman, Andy McKee, John Petrucci, Bireli Lagrène, John Williams, Elliot Goldenthal, John Powell, Thomas Newman, Debussy/Ravel/Faure, Pat Metheny, Marian Petrescu, Radiohead, Bjork, Meshuggah, etc.

I hope you enjoy my guitar lessons. I’m also honored to be listed among the amazing instructors on this great website!

Have fun!
David