BBC Introducing establishes revolutionary partnership with Ayrshire College
Ayrshire College has signed up to a first-of-its-kind partnership with BBC Radio Scotland, becoming Scotland’s first educational institution to collaborate with BBC Introducing in Scotland.
The College’s Music and Sound Production department was chosen to work in partnership with Creative & Cultural Skills (CCSkills) and BBC Music Introducing to help college students obtain meaningful work experience in the creative industries.
The partnership will:
- give students experience of recording live performance to broadcast quality
- support skills development using the college facilities as the recording hub
- create enduring links between local, emerging musicians and emerging recording professionals to help build links across grassroots music scenes
With support from lecturers David McAulay, John McBlain and John Rae, three students at Ayrshire College – Nicole Kilpatrick (HND Music), Elizabeth Paton (HND Sound Production) and Richi Holt (HNC Media) – have been involved in the first project from the partnership; recording a session from the band Pretty Preachers Club at the College’s Ayr Campus.
The performance was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s BBC Introducing in Scotland programme on Friday 11 February 2022 at 8pm and is available to listen to now on the BBC Sounds app and the BBC Radio Scotland website.
The students facilitated the live recording within their newly upgraded Studio G54, which has received significant funding from the Ayrshire College Foundation to help realise the department’s ambitions.
Ayrshire College has enjoyed a productive relationship with BBC Scotland over the years. The College’s decision to create its own record label, Sun Turtle Records, has resulted in several music students achieving airtime on BBC Radio Scotland.
It is hoped this new innovative partnership will result in more opportunities for the wealth of talent studying Ayrshire College’s Music, Media and Sound Production courses.
Patrick Devlin, Curriculum Manager for Music and Sound Production at Ayrshire College, said: “As the sole FE partner in this unique collaboration for the whole of Scotland, we feel honoured and extremely privileged to be involved with CCSkills and BBC Scotland.
“The Music and Sound Production department has been exceedingly fortunate to have been provided extra funding through the Ayrshire College Foundation’s Innovation Fund to the amount of £25,000, to enhance our already first-class recording facilities to be a truly world-class environment for music, sound production and media students to learn.
“From the early days of 2000 when the college was one of only two institutions to have acquired AVID Learning Partner status for industry standard Pro Tools education programme integration, this partnership represents the pinnacle of that journey from that point 22 years ago.
“As a department, we always strive to go further to provide a competitive advantage for our students and this opportunity to work with such a global media partner, doesn’t come around very often. We hope it is the start of a fruitful partnership for years to come.”
Kathryn Willens, Head of Partnerships at Creative & Cultural Skills in Scotland, said: “Work-based learning opportunities are a brilliant way to nurture Scotland’s future workforce, and the team at Ayrshire College is setting the pace. It is always inspiring when effort to connect the nation’s world-class creative employers with new waves of industry talent generates real excitement and energy. We wish Nicole, Elizabeth and Richi – and the next Ayrshire College students to work with BBC Scotland – every success.”
HND Sound Production student Elizabeth Paton said: “I was honoured to be given the opportunity to get a first-hand experience of the industry and couldn’t wait to be part of the team. I thoroughly enjoyed my role as an assistant audio engineer, which included setting up the recording equipment, sound checking for the band, and giving my input and assistance during the recording of the tracks.
“This experience working with BBC Introducing has made me feel more confident in my abilities working within the industry and has broadened my knowledge and perspective of potential career opportunities for myself.”
HND Music student Nicole Kilpatrick said: “I’ve always been obsessed with BBC Introducing live session videos and so to be working behind the scenes for this was amazing!
“During the experience, I felt I was the most professional I’ve ever been in my life. Answering emails, planning and liaising with the band, the band manager and college staff, which I thoroughly enjoyed because I got to develop new skills. It has been an excellent experience and I’ll take forward so much knowledge when it comes time to leave college.”
16 February 2022
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