Industry guests hit the right note

Music Technology students at Newbury College have been laying down the tracks to their future careers with guest lectures and interactive sessions with leading industry experts.

WaterBear, a specialist higher education provider for the music industry, returned to the Monks Lane campus in October to discuss the many ways young people can earn a living from a career in music and how these roles work together.

“It was great to be able to speak Demelza (Mather) and Scott (Reynolds) from Water Bear,” said Georgia Entwistle, a Level 3 Music Technology student. “I really enjoyed learning about how the music industry fits together and how all the roles contribute towards a successful release. I also learnt that it is important to take opportunities when they present themselves as you never know where it might lead you.”

The team from WaterBear are just one of the long-standing supporters of the College’s Music Technology programme, which provide valuable enrichment opportunities alongside other industry experts, such as Reading-based charity, Readipop.

Readipop also returned to pay a visit in October with another Roland X0X Project masterclass. The Roland X0X Project is an electronic music heritage project, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, that celebrates and explores the instruments that helped to inspire the birth of Hip Hop, House, Garage, Techno and Acid and shaped the sound of modern music.

Gavin Lombos, Harrison Screen and Abbie Hill from Readipop demonstrated how to programme synthesisers, drum machines and effects from the 1980s to the present day before giving the students a chance to experiment on their own.

Another long-standing supporter of the Music Technology programme, Nino Auricchio, Senior Lecturer in Music Technology at University of West London, visited with his hybrid digital/analogue modular synthesizer in November. Nino showed the students how to connect, configure and create unique sounds using the different components of this system before connecting it to Logic Pro and allowing them to explore some unique sound creation for their music sequencing assignment.

Working with industry partners is at the heart of the “careers, not courses” ethos of Newbury College and provides valuable insights and real-world experience from subject professionals.

“Industry visitors are such an important element of the Music Technology programme at Newbury College,” said Matt Foster, course leader for music technology at the College.

“They enrich the course delivery, allow students to explore topics in exciting new ways and give them a chance to see how the music industry works and where they might find employment in the future.”

In addition to the guest lectures, Newbury College also offers industry placements and visits across its full-time vocational programmes to allow students to gain hands-on experience in their field of study and provide them with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in today’s competitive job market.

Partnership with industry experts is an important step in achieving that goal, and the College welcomes local employers and organisations to get in touch and get involved.