Audio engineering is the application of science to design, analysis and problem solving in sound recording and audio production, and it is a key aspect of all areas of modern computing, communications and entertainment. If you are technically minded with a strong science or technology background and possess a passion for music and audio, this course is ideal.
The topics you will study on this course have wide reaching impact. Digital signal processing is fundamental to processing and delivering voice and audio in the digital domain. A huge amount of research is being conducted into the way we interact with the digital world, and our Interfaces & Interactivity and Audio Software Engineering modules will explore this area in-depth.
The Acoustics and Advanced Audio Engineering modules will investigate how sound behaves in the acoustic and electro-acoustic domains by exploring loudspeaker design, audio hardware design, building acoustics and environmental acoustics. You will have access to reverberation and anechoic chambers, high-specification recording studios and the latest computing resources for audio engineering.
Research Excellence Framework 2014
Research Excellence Framework 2014: our University demonstrated strength in five emerging areas of research which it entered into the assessment for the first time, including in music, drama, dance and performing arts.
You will have access to an array of the latest equipment, including our reverberation chamber in which you can move panels to control reverberation time and accurately create spaces, while our anechoic chamber will provide you with experience of measuring audio equipment.Thanks to our strong links with live sound industries and audio plug-in development software companies you will hear from industry experts at guest lectures, while our tutors are some of the best acousticians around.
If you are an audio professional, we will help you formalise your knowledge of acoustics and live sound - from setting up PA systems, sound checks and making modifications when the audience arrives, to improving your knowledge of what is happens to sound so you can build a system that gives an audience the best possible experience.
Artist in Residence Programme
The Artist in Residence programme gives our students an opportunity to work with professional artists and gives them a taste of what is it like to work on a professional music project. So far we have welcomed artists Chris T-T, Ian Prowse, I Monster, Tom Williams and Utah Saints.
This course will give you a specialist skill set across software, hardware, acoustics and interfacing. You could find yourself working for audio equipment companies, in technical roles in the TV, film and media industries, in acoustics consultancy, in research roles or in live sound engineering.
The Masters in Sound Design & Audiovisual Practice provides advanced training in creative practice with sound and audiovisual technologies. The programme offers topics relevant to practicing musicians, artists, and the creative industries, such as sound shaping and design, audiovisual composition, field recording, creative and experimental approaches to technology, live performance, interdisciplinary perspectives on sound, and sonic aesthetics. You then develop an individual portfolio of sonic and audiovisual artwork based on your particular skills and interests.
The programme aims to:
The MSc comprises 180 credits as follows:
Semester 1 compulsory courses (60 credits):
Semester 2 compulsory courses (40 credits):
Semester 2 option (one 20 credit course chosen from):
Additionally you will produce an individual creative portfolio over the summer (60 credits).
Teaching methods include small group tutorials, seminars and workshops, lab and studio sessions, and individual guidance meetings.
The attributes you gain will be attractive to employers from the creative industries, and are particularly relevant for contemporary music, sound design and sound production, games, theatre, film and television. Many of our graduates undertake successful portfolio careers as artists and sound practitioners in their own right. The programme also offers an excellent foundation upon which to progress to PhD studies and an academic career.
Something happens when you add sound to an image. And filmmaking depends upon the strength of this relationship. Ultimately it’s what makes a film work – it’s what moves your audience.
MA in Filmmaking (Sound Recording, Post-Production & Design), is housed in a new purpose-built media facility equipped with state-of-the art teaching spaces including a film studio for sound shooting, Pro Tools suites, Audio Postproduction facilities with Foley recording studios, Avid Media Composer, screening rooms and an Avid ISIS SAN network linking all teaching spaces. The new Curzon cinema provides the department with digital projection along with its weekly programme of first-run films.
You'll learn the fundamental technical skills necessary to begin a career in screen sound, both as a location sound recordist and post-production sound designer. But equally importantly, you will gain an understanding of how a film’s narrative relies on the precise partnership between image and sound.
Within this MA programme you'll expand your existing knowledge of sound. Through recording and design you'll investigate what it means to listen with awareness and to translate that experience to your audience. And you'll study how sound is created, how you can manipulate its form, whether it’s natural, synthesised, digitised or analogue, and how to work with sound as a storytelling medium.
The Sound curriculum focuses on the structure of the soundtrack, deconstructing it from its beginnings in pre-production to the final mix, experimenting with the ways in which different components (dialogue, atmospheres, sound effects, music) allow an audience to engage with a film’s story. Through iterative exercises, group reviews and regular feedback, you gain the awareness and ability to construct soundtracks that interpret stories through sound.
As a sound specialist you work on one film each term, ending with a major production. You learn about related fields such as directing, editing, producing and documentary, and work with students across specialisms within Goldsmiths Screen School. As well as developing your awareness of the discipline and learning software such as Pro Tools, the Options modules provide the opportunity to learn the concepts and debates informing the wider filmmaking industry. This means you have the chance to explore your craft with other filmmakers and get used to the unique dynamics of the industry
You'll also benefit from guest lecturers who bring their professional expertise into our classrooms. Last year, specialist classes featured Oscar-winning sound recordist Ray Beckett (The Hurt Locker), film/TV sound editor Adele Fletcher (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) and composer Stuart Earl (The Secret Agent, Lilting).
In addition, MA Filmmaking students collaborate with composers and players from Goldsmiths’ Department of Music who offer a wide range of musical styles from classical to electronic to popular.
Pro Tools tuition is offered to all Sound Recording, Post-Production & Design pathway students giving you the opportunity to achieve Pro Tools Certified User accreditation.
This MA doesn’t just deal with technique and technology and it’s not about objective theory. We explore the space in between. Not only do we want you to acquire the skills and understanding to follow a career in professional filmmaking but also we prepare you to use your new-found expertise in the wider world of media and the arts.
You work in depth on at least one film per term in your specialist role, culminating in a major production towards the end of the degree. You will also lead and take part in a number of other sound-based and music-based projects in Screen Lab. This collaborative framework is designed to stimulate collaborative practice by providing you with a breadth of filmmaking knowledge combined with a high level of expertise in sound recording and design.
For two terms you will spend a full day a week in specialised contact with your specific programme convenor, plus a further day in Screen Lab working with colleagues across the programme in a Talent Campus-style project-led learning structure with:
You will also have a variety of research projects to undertake, as well as other module options.
The third term will be taken up with your final substantive project, and in writing up a process paper on your work and research over the year.
Screen Lab
You will also advance your collaborative skills by working in teams with fiction and documentary producers and directors, edit, cinematography and music students, on a variety of projects and at least three scheduled films across the year.
You will leave the programme with a diverse portfolio of performed work that may span a variety of formats – music video, web series drama, documentary, campaign/commercial, experimental art pieces and feature-scale short fiction films.
Screen School options
As well as your Sound Recording, Post-Production & Design specialism, you will undertake three short courses to enhance your other skills and critical approaches.
The programme is a gateway to any career that involves sound, particularly those that concentrate on narrative storytelling. Our graduates go on to work in a range of fields from film, theatre, radio, and web design, to advertising, documentary, and animation.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
https://www.kent.ac.uk/locations/medway/
The MA in Music at the University of Kent gives you the opportunity to develop an area of specialism alongside rigorous training in key professional and academic skills. In studying for the MA you will choose one of three pathways:
- Research (Musicology or Ethnomusicology)
- Composition
- Performance,
which allow you to undertake two large-scale projects (Specialist Project and Dissertation). Regular one-to-one tutorials and work in small seminar groups enable you to gain confidence and expertise in both theoretical and practical work. Option modules support the development of your specialism. Studies in areas such as composition techniques, musicology and ensemble performance provide an important grounding in relevant fields of inquiry and creative practice.
Visit the website: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/354/music-research-composition-or-performance#!structure
Our students explore both the creative and technical aspects of music and its related technologies and also have the opportunity to work collaboratively with practitioners from other subjects. You take common modules in research methods and postgraduate study skills, while giving you the opportunity to foster your subject skills in specialist modules. Work is developed through individual enquiry as well as sharing and critiquing ideas through group seminars, designed to provide a forum for debate as well as practical instruction.
Our specialist facilities include a large Neve recording studio, a Foley recording space, surround-sound studio and post-production rooms. All have been designed to the highest standard in order to provide an excellent environment for postgraduate work. We have an array of loudspeakers for electroacoustic performance, live sound and collaborative arts projects. Students are encouraged to participate in these music concerts and interdisciplinary events, becoming part of the exciting artistic environment here at the University of Kent.
The programme aims to:
- enable students to develop an advanced understanding of music theory and practice taking into account developments in scholarship over the past few decades. In achieving this aim, students will focus upon theoretical and/or practice-based research methods and, in all cases, will engage a range of current research practices that address music critically.
- provide opportunities for students to develop their work through individual enquiry and through sharing and critiquing ideas
The following modules are indicative of those offered on this programme. This list is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take modules from other programmes so that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas that interest you.
- Specialist Project (60 credits)
- Advanced Audio Skills (30 credits)
- Critical and Historical Perspectives on Music (30 credits)
- Composition Techniques (30 credits)
- Collaborative Project (30 credits)
- Popular and World Music (30 credits)
- Technology in Performance (30 credits)
- Ensemble Performance (30 credits)
- Dissertation (60 credits)
Assessment is by a range of coursework, including individual projects, skills-based tasks, seminar presentations and written work.
A postgraduate degree in the area of music and audio arts is a valuable and flexible qualification, which can lead to career opportunities within the creative industries, music recording and production, audio software development, sound for film, composition and academic careers.
These possibilities are augmented by work in video games, the Internet, live sound for theatres and festivals, audio installations for museums, sonic arts and computer music. Postgraduates interested in a research career are supported by the University’s Graduate School Research Development Programme. The University’s Employability Weeks can also provide valuable support in terms of planning future careers.
How to apply: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/apply/
- Kent is ranked 21st in the Times Higher Education (THE) ‘Table of Tables’ 2017.
- Kent is ranked 22nd in The Guardian University Guide 2018.
- Kent is ranked 25th in The Complete University Guide 2018.
- Of Kent graduate students who graduated in 2016, 98% of those who responded to a national survey were in work or further study within six months (DLHE).
- For research quality, Music at Kent was ranked 13th in The Complete University Guide 2018 and 16th in The Times Good University Guide 2018.
- For graduate prospects, Music at Kent was ranked 14th in The Times Good University Guide 2018.
Find out more: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/why/
We have a scholarship fund of over £9 million to support our taught and research students with their tuition fees and living costs. Find out more: https://www.kent.ac.uk/scholarships/postgraduate/
If you need to improve your English before and during your postgraduate studies, Kent offers a range of modules and programmes in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Find out more here: https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/international/english.html
In the MA for Sound Arts you will explore sound as a creative medium at an advanced level, and focus on the areas that interest you most. We’ll help you develop the technical skills you need, but the course is about sound more than technology, and values lo-tech and no-tech as much as the latest technological developments.
You can work in any music genre, and/or cover areas such as soundscape recording and sound design, interactive audio (for applications such as live performance, gaming, VR, immersive environments and installations), spatial audio, hardware/software (instrument) design and interdisciplinary practice incorporating other media.
The course caters for those working in a wide variety of music genres, and at the same time also covers areas of practice such as soundscape recording and sound design, interactive audio, spatial audio, hardware/software design and interdisciplinary practice incorporating other media. Most students won’t cover all of these areas, but will use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills, experience and top-level work across them.
Most students won’t cover all of these areas, but will use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills, experience and top-level work across them. We believe this to be appropriate to the current employment landscape where many combine traditional roles in music with broader practice in sound and other media. The course also provides the breadth necessary for FE and HE teaching in this field, and provides a basis where required for PhD research and beyond.
In trimester one, you'll gain the skills you’ll need to fulfil the rest of the course. The Skills Portfolio module is built on the idea that you’ll already have technical skills in this area. It therefore allows you to choose a handful of skills projects from a large number of options – these cover skills right across the Sound Arts, Sound Design and Sound Production pathways and include (optional) elements of multimedia.
The Research Methodology and Context module develops skills in postgraduate-level research and writing.
In trimester two, you'll study the Sonic Architecture module. This is intended as an expansion of traditional music composition teaching, where the aesthetic aspects of individual work will be examined and developed.
Alongside this core module, you’ll be offered a wide range of options.The Visual Music module explores the idea that musical thinking can be extended to the visual. Intertextuality in Sound Production, from the Sound Production pathway, explores the overlap between Urban Music production. Post Production, from the Sound Design pathway, explores an industry-level workflow for Audio Post for picture.
There are also choices in Composition, Performance, Musicology and Professional Practice.
In trimester three, you'll complete the course with a independent research project, compromising of a large-scale practical project. Allowing you to develop your own individual and original research area.
For detailed information on modules, please visit the course webpage: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-arts/
Most modules are taught through small-group seminars and workshops, where you’ll benefit from close interaction with tutors and peers. The Major Project and parts of the other modules are taught through individual tutorials where the focus will be entirely on your own practice.
You’ll be assessed entirely on coursework. The majority of this will be practical and creative work, including the dissertation-equivalent Major Project. Some practical projects are accompanied by short informal written assignments, and for the Research Methodology and Context module you’ll produce a more substantial paper.
Our graduates have range of successful careers in production, composition, music for film and TV, sound design for moving image and games, sound art, software development, engineering, further education, higher education and research.
MA Sound is a new course – this is based on MMus Creative Sound and Media Technology, which is its predecessor.
For information on facilities and resources, please go to our website: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-arts/
Explore the creative and technical aspects of location sound, studio sound production and sound design.
There are increasing numbers of freelancers in sound design and this course has been created to help those already working in the industry update their skills in the planning, generation and manipulation of audio soundtracks. At the same time, it meets the training requirements of those new to the field and will help develop and encourage fresh talent.
Working closely with the University's Northern Film School and guided by a highly-skilled teaching team with extensive industry experience, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with the University's MA Filmmaking students at all stages of the filmmaking process, including shooting, editing and post-production. This hands-on experience will be complemented by academic and practical studies in sound design.
You will also benefit from our links with local and national music, arts and festival organisations, which will provide plenty of opportunities to practise your skills in a live setting.
Research Excellence Framework 2014: our University demonstrated strength in five emerging areas of research which it entered into the assessment for the first time, including in music, drama, dance and performing arts.
You will benefit from our links with local and national music, arts and festival organisations, with plenty of opportunities to practise the skills you are developing in a live setting.
You will also have access to a suite of high quality, professional music studios, approved by JAMES - the accrediting body of the Music Producers' Guild and the Association of Professional Recording Services.
Artist in Residence Programme
The Artist in Residence programme gives our students an opportunity to work with professional artists and gives them a taste of what is it like to work on a professional music project. So far we have welcomed artists Chris T-T, Ian Prowse, I Monster, Tom Williams and Utah Saints.
A range of job roles in the creative and media industries will be available to you on completion of your course. They include foley editor and re-recording mixer as well as:
On this course, you’ll gain practical, theoretical and creative experience of sound engineering, music production and audio technology.
You’ll explore the design, manipulation and production of audio across many platforms, using our state-of-the-art audio-post recording, radio and TV studios to study a mix of sound engineering and theory modules.
The aim of the course is to develop the skills that you’ll need to create and deliver professional audio, whilst under pinning these skills with a sound theoretical background.
94% of our postgraduates go on to employment and/or further study within six months of graduating.DLHE 2009 and 2010
This course entails both practical based and theory modules. The modules are delivered in the recording studios, the audio technology suite, audio post production suite and lecture theatres.
DURATION
September start
MSc (one year full-time or up to three years part-time)
PgDip (nine months full-time or 18 months part-time)
January start
MSc (16 months full-time)
PgDip (one year full-time or up to two years part-time)
Teaching and learning involves a mix of lectures and practical sound engineering work, involving individual and group learning, There is an emphasis on motivated students' self-study.
Assessment involves a mixture of practical work, report writing and project work. By the end of the course students will have built up a substantial portfolio of audio, video and new media work.
Assessment is approximately divided across the course as follows:
This degree is based in MediaCityUK,the new home for the BBC, ITV, Coronation Street and parts of the University of Salford. MediaCityUK is located at Salford Quays on the banks of Manchester's historic ship canal. The University has the first four floors of a new, purpose built facility that looks over the water to The Lowry theatre, Imperial War Museum North and the new Coronation Street set. ITV occupy the floors above us, with the three BBC buildings on one side of us and Peel Media Studios on the other.
A number of BBC departments are based at MediaCityUK, having moved from London, including BBC Breakfast, BBC Children's, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Future Media and Technology, BBC Learning, BBC Sport and BBC Academy. All of the BBC Manchester operations have also moved to MediaCityUK, including BBC Religion and Ethics, Current Affairs and the BBC Philharmonic.
For more information, check out the Salford MediaCityUK site and the main MediaCityUK site.
Here is a summary of our relevant facilities at MediaCityUK:
On the main campus, we also have a Pro Tools equipped studio recording complex consisting of four control rooms and recording areas. Please see this brochure for more detailed information brochure.
The wide range of skills provided on this course will enhance your employability. Possible career paths include: audio manufacturer research and design, broadcast engineer in audio for radio or TV, audio and visual design and installation, education, interactive media and sonic arts.
Possible career paths include:
Staff have strong links with industry either through collaborative R&D projects with industry through the Acoustics Research Centre and our commercial test laboratories. Our research department is a Centre of Excellence for BBC Research.
Some students could go on to study a PhD at our world-class Acoustics Research Centre. We have been carrying out acoustics and audio research for over 30 years. Our research is funded by research councils, government bodies, and industry. It has fed into audio products that companies make and sell worldwide, as well as regulations and standards used in the UK, Europe and beyond. We are also involved in public engagement - getting more people aware of and interested in acoustic science and engineering.
Create your own story at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Creative Arts!
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