College releases relaxing playlist of campus sounds for students

Whether it’s students who have been working from home since March or the 1,000 enrolling online for classes starting this month – the hustle and bustle of campus hasn’t been the same since the pandemic.  But Glasgow Clyde College has a novel solution - creating a soothing playlist of sounds to transport listeners back to the hallways, classrooms and studios they’ve been missing while studying.

The five tracks recreate sounds the majority of the college’s 17,000 students haven’t been able to hear since March 2020 and include the calming library, a busy corridor and the energetic campus gym, as well as engineering workshops, dance studios, computing labs and many more.

Each 4-minute soundscape has been specially designed to help staff and students relax while working remotely as part of the college community. It is the perfect background ambience for productive study sessions, lengthy lesson planning or to remind them of what they’ve got to look forward to when restrictions eventually ease.

Many academic studies have proven music to help people focus, improve learning and concentration, as well as cognitive performance while studying. Relaxing the listener, background music can even reduce stress.

From tapping on a keyboard, to the drumbeat of a treadmill or students chatting in a corridor – the entire campus experience has been recreated as rhythmic ambient soundscapes, across a 20-minute playlist soundtracking the college and its courses.

Easing in with a sensory walk down a college corridor, students longing for campus life can unwind to soft tones of mechanised lifts, lockers opening and the occasional rattle of a vending machine. Listeners are then whisked off to the serene library where silence is only broken by the pitter-patter of keyboards, hushed conversations and the gentle rumblings of a printer. The aural tour continues into the engineering workshops, computing labs, dance rehearsals and busy textile studios before finally arriving at the campus gym.

David Marshall, Assistant Principal for Student Experience at Glasgow Clyde College, said: “The vast majority of our students won’t have stepped foot on campus since March last year, so we wanted to remind them what college was like before we started working from home. It’s also a nice welcome gift for our newest students, starting their first classes in February and immediately fostering the sense of belonging we pride ourselves upon at Glasgow Clyde College.

“We designed soundscapes based on daily life across our three campuses – from a bustling engineering workshop, the joyful harmonies of our music studio to the calming environment of the library. They can be listened to as a collection or individually, helping staff and students to reminisce or relax while they go about their day.

“Glasgow Clyde College is a community and, despite students being unable to attend classes, we’re working hard to keep everyone connected as we carry on learning online.

“We can’t wait to be able to welcome everyone back when it’s safe to do so but, in the meantime, these tracks let the college be enjoyed from anywhere.”

The tracks are available to the college’s 20,000-strong student body via Spotify and YouTube.