Building bridges between further education and industry: Coleg Menai Music students benefit from masterclass with Celt
Level 3 Music Technology students at Coleg Menai’s Bangor campus got to see first hand what life in the music industry is like when they worked with Welsh rock band Celt at the college’s very own top spec music studio.
With decades of experience under their belt, Celt gave the students key insights and tips into the creative process of writing and producing music as the students got to work on rearranging a suite of songs for the band.
Celt frontman, Barry ‘Archie’ Jones first heard about the music studio at Coleg Menai from longstanding friend, tutor Rhys Parry. Rhys invited Archie to come and have a look at the facilities.
“I was just gobsmacked by the quality of the equipment,” said Archie. “It was just jaw dropping. We started talking about the students that are on the Level 3 Music course, and what they've been doing and between us we came up with a plan,” he added.
“I had some songs that I wanted to record but I wasn’t too confident about what direction to take them in. So I thought it would be nice to give them to the younger generation to bring their energy into it and see what they can do with them.”
The students worked together on producing Archie’s songs, gaining invaluable experience of working directly with a client.
“Bringing the industry into the college is such a fantastic opportunity for them,” said Archie. “It’s also good for us. We’ve been doing this a very long time and it’s great to get a different perspective on it. “The students get to see musicians in action and collaborate with them. It gives them great employability skills as communication is key when working with clients who have a vision or idea about what they want.”
This isn’t the final chapter for Celt and Coleg Menai as Archie said they are thinking about other ways they can collaborate with the college and continue to build bridges between further education and the world of work, helping students to gain the skills they need to launch their future careers.
Are you thinking about a career in music? There’s still time to start your story with us this September. Head over to our website and find out more about the courses available across the Grŵp: https://www.gllm.ac.uk/courses/music-and-music-technology