Another String to Ayr College Music Department’s Bow

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Ayr College has become one of only twelve education institutions in the UK, and the only one in Scotland, to become certified trainers in prestigious music software Abelton Live.

Music Lecturer Rikki McKee recently travelled to Berlin for an intensive training session with the company, and the College now plans to make the most of his knowledge with a string of new courses in the state-of-the-art software this year.

Abelton Live has quickly become established as one of the leading software packages in the music business. Affordable, flexible and simple to use, Live can be used by musicians at the creative, production and performance stages, lending itself particularly well to DJs and live performers.

Rikki McKee, who specialises teaching music technology, said: “We are really excited about bringing Abelton Live to Ayr College. It is a hybrid piece of software that lends itself to a wide range functions, and a very different type of tool to anything else out there. Our students are loving it, and we hope to share it with theatre students and production companies, as it is a great tool for theatre production too.

“This is the latest in a string of investments we have made in our department. We are one of the few education establishments in the UK able to offer 5.18 Pro-Tools HD studios, and our industry standard facilities are among the best in Scotland. Because of this we attract students from all over in the world; in fact, one of our current HND students is a pop star in his native Pakistan, and travelled to Scotland specifically to study at Ayr College!

“The music technology industry is one of the most competitive, and we need to train our students on the latest industry-standard equipment if they are to stand a chance of finding their dream job. We believe that students should have as broad a range of skills as possible, rather than being pigeon-holed into one technique or piece of software, which is why being able to offer Abelton Live in addition to the standard pieces of software and Pro-Tools is so great.”

Ayr College offers a range of specialist music courses, including HND Music Business and HND Sound Production. Students have the opportunity to follow a number of routes following graduation, including University study at RSAMD, Glasgow Caledonian or the University of the West of Scotland, employment, or self-employment.

For more information on Ayr College’s Abelton Live courses, contact Patrick Devlin in the music department, on 01292 263 889 or visit, http://www.ayrcoll.ac.uk

For more information on any other course at the college call 0800 199 798.