Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Beatles engineer helps college students explore the music industry life at Leeds Beckett
On Wednesday 25 January, around 100 Year 12 students from the Grimsby Institute, New College Stamford, Calderdale College in Halifax, Barnsley College, and Shipley College, will tour the University’s state-of-the-art music facilities at Headingley Campus before getting hands-on music production experience through a practical workshop with Leeds Beckett academics and current music degree students.
Following the workshops, the students will be joined by further local colleges and charities, including Cloth Cat, the inner-city Leeds charity which uses music training to help local people improve the quality of their lives, to attend the talk from Leeds Beckett Senior Lecturer, Ken Scott (pictured top right).
Dr Steve Parker, Principal Lecturer in the School of Film, Music and Performing Arts at Leeds Beckett (pictured top left), explained: “The day is a unique opportunity for young people to gain insight into what they can expect should they choose to embark on a creative career and enrol on one of our courses. The workshops will allow them to explore the technologies available for the creation, production and distribution of music. Ken Scott will then take them through his illustrious career using some of the many recordings he has produced and engineered over the last 50 years and discuss many of the changes that have happened.
“Students who are looking to apply to universities throughout the country, and who may not be able to attend an open day, will find the day informative and will benefit them should they choose to go on to higher education.”
Ken Scott joined Leeds Beckett as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Film, Music and Performing Arts in September 2015, bringing with him 52 years’ experience and a reputation as one of the best in the recording industry. He has been a major contributor to the sale of over 250 million LP/CD sales.
Beginning at the age of 16, working in the tape library at Abbey Road studios, Ken worked his way up to the position of assistant engineer in a short space of time. His first session was on side two of the Beatles’ ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and eventually took over the helm as recording engineer on ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ and the ‘White’ album. He has worked with a host of other big names in popular music, including Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, the Hollies, Procol Harum and many more.
After moving to Trident Studios he received three GRAMMY nominations for best engineered pop album, a Clio Award for ‘I’d like to buy the world a Coke’, and millions of record sales with artists such as Elton John, George Harrison, Harry Nilsson and America. Ken’s move into music production led him to have more artistic involvement in his work, leading to millions of sales worldwide and more GRAMMY nominations for artists like Supertramp.
In December 2016, Changes by David Bowie, engineered and produced by Ken, was inducted into the Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Hall of Fame: Ken’s fourth Hall of Fame accolade following Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side, and the albums All Things Must Pass (George Harrison), The Beatles’ White Album, and Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie).