-18.gif "Masters Degrees at Buckinghamshire New University")
The programme will provide you with reflective and research strategies through which you will develop your portfolio as innovators in the field of music production.
Key features of the programme are the provision of:
The curriculum is uniquely designed to focus on the emerging field of research in the art of music production, and to place your own practice at the heart of your studies. You will be expected to be equally active in the production of music, as the reading and research into the theories and contexts that have shaped the development of the music business and its current crises.
Critical Perspectives on Music Production
Positioned at the beginning of the MA, this module is designed to provide you with an understanding of the theoretical and musicological heritage that has framed the study of music production. It comprises investigations into concepts that have shaped the study of music production as well as an examination of the epistemological and ideological frameworks that are impacting upon the evolution of these concepts.
Technology & Creativity
This module enables you to develop an understanding of the ways in which the practice of music production is a recent innovation dependent on the development of recording and related technology. You will engage in analysis, debate and research into the development of the technological tools and explore how they have influenced the development of music production practice. You will also explore how the development of the tools has been influenced by the practitioners, the audiences and the institutions of the music industry.
Producing Recorded Music
This module will deepen and broaden your understanding of the theoretical and musicological heritage that has framed the study of music production. In particular, it will provide you with the opportunity to develop, test and apply theoretical models in your own production practice.
The Business of Music Production
This module critiques the ways in which music is bought and sold. You will examine the influences of the audiences and markets on musical features and products. Following this you will identify paradigms and patterns in the commodification of music that have enabled a musical economy to be developed, and which will support the future of music business.
Music Production Project
This module represents your major project on the MA programme, providing an opportunity to develop your own practice and research relating to music production. In this extended period of practice-based research you are expected to synthesise the practical, reflective and conceptual developments in your work over the course of the programme.
Further information on this course is available in the programme specification. Please note that the programme specification relates to course content that is currently being studied by students at the University. For new programmes, the programme specification will be made available online prior to the start of the course.
York St John University works hard to create an inclusive environment for all our students. We offer a range of learning support services to assist students throughout their studies.
The MA Creative Music Production is aimed at applicants specifically interested in applying studio technologies and production skills to the creation of their own original music (as opposed to “producing” other artists’ music). In addition to equipping students with solid bases in studio technology, processes and practices, the course addresses the purely formal, artistic and aesthetic aspects of music-making, and the specific compositional devices and strategy applicable to DAW-based realisations of original material.
By surveying the defining traits and aesthetic concerns of a number of popular genres centred on electronic composition-production, students develop a sophisticated awareness of current artistic and aesthetic trends, and an enhanced knowledge of the musicology of production. On this course, you will develop a portfolio of original works showcasing your talent as a composer-producer, opening up a wide range of possibilities for your professional career.
Taught sessions will typically cover the following topics:
Graduates from this award will be equipped with a wide range of specialist knowledge and skills in the field of music technology and music creation – from purely technical to creative and intellectual. As such, they will be ideally positioned to pursue a career in the music and media industries, creating their own musical content for production music library, film/TV synch, or commercial release. You may, in addition, consider positions in music publishing, music journalism and criticism, or teaching, or you may continue your higher education at doctoral level.
Lecture, seminars and tutorials are typically scheduled over two consecutive days a week, plus some extra sessions for particular workshops, performance, recording, as necessary. In addition to scheduled sessions, students are expected to engage in continuous self-directed study and studio practice.
The MA Creative Music Production is led by Bruce Aisher. Bruce is a music producer, songwriter, composer, remixer, sound designer and technology journalist whose work is to be found on over 100 commercially released tracks (including a US Billboard Club Chart No.1) on TV programmes such as ‘CSI’ ‘Numb3rs’ and 'Top Gear' and products by Apple, Clavia and Native Instruments.
Our industry partners include:
A good (1st, 2.1 or 2.2) BMus/BSc/BA in Music / Music Technology (or equivalent qualification), or 5 years professional industry experience at the discretion of the admissions or programme tutor. Evidence of solid compositional work with technology prior to undertaking the course is required (determined by the submission of a small portfolio of original compositions with the student’s application).
All international students are required to demonstrate suitable levels of English language competence. This can be through previous study in English, but we often require specific performance in English tests. All undergraduates must be able to prove a minimum of IELTS 6.5 with at least 5.5 in every component or equivalent.
Fees for 2018/19 are still to be confirmed for home students.
Full time: £12,500 for the 2018 academic year
Part time: If you decide to study this course on a part time basis you will be charged £1040 per 15 credits for the 2018 academic year
*Tuition fees are charged annually. The fees quoted above are for the specified year(s) only. Fees may be higher in future years, for both new and continuing students. Please see the University’s Fees and Finance Policy (and in particular the section headed “When tuition fees change”), for further information about when and by how much the University may increase its fees for future years.
For more information about our new MA in Creative Music Production, please contact Bruce Aisher on [email protected]
Build your practical and theoretical experience in the creative and innovative applications of music technology in a studio environment. This course will give you the skills to take your ambition further and provide you with the confidence to work for major record labels and recording artists across a range of genres.
You will work alongside experienced industry professionals, exploring the technical and creative aspects of recording, arranging, mixing and mastering to develop a wide range of commercial and non-commercial musical scores.
You will 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.
In addition to a skilled and experienced teaching team, you will also learn from guest speakers from the music, film and television industries. We have fantastic links with local and national music, arts and festival organisations, which will provide a variety of opportunities to test your knowledge and practical skills.
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 learn from regular visiting speakers from the music and film industries and a highly-skilled and experienced teaching team. We have fantastic links with local and national music, arts and festival organisations, which help ensure you get the most from the course.
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.
Your course will open up career opportunities in music production, interactive media, television, radio, research and education. It also integrates well with digital animation and video, games and the wider music and audio industries, ensuring you will be well placed to get ahead in these competitive fields.
The MA in Music (Popular Music Research) engages with scholarly debates and public controversies around popular music, while examining and developing both traditional and innovative ways of researching popular music.
The Masters provides a grounding in the development of popular music research as a subfield of musicology, and encourages critical thinking about:
The course addresses contemporary issues of significance to academics, musicians, industries and organisations involved with popular music.
You'll develop research skills, critical thinking and rigorous methodological expertise with a range of applications both within the academy (at doctoral level) and outside (in music related industries, marketing, arts management, museums and archives, the sciences).
Although a knowledge of and passion for popular music is vital, it is not essential that your first degree is in music or popular music.
We welcome applicants from a wide range of disciplines: the course is designed to be of benefit not only to those wishing to continue their research at doctoral level, but also those wishing to reflect on their experiences as musicians, listeners, or media and arts industry professionals.
Ben Assiter, a student on the MA in Music (Popular Music Research) was awarded the prize by the International Association for the Study of Popular Music for an essay written as part of his coursework. Read his award-winning essay here.
Find out more about the MA in Music.
Core module
Option modules
You choose two modules from a selection that currently includes:
Dissertation
This well-established Masters is the world-leading course in audio production, highly regarded both nationally and internationally. It is accredited by the leading industry bodies, including APRS, and is the JAMES National Regional Centre – London, an Apple-accredited training centre and a Skillset Media Academy. The course is designed to meet and exceed professional standards and will enable you to reach the highest level in the creative use of audio, and explore how creative ideas and new technologies can be combined, enhanced and redefined.
As the major media education site in Europe, the University's Harrow Campus includes 14 professional recording studios (three surround studios), a new teaching recording studio, Music Lab and an array of TV, post-production, radio, film and multimedia facilities built and equipped to the highest standards.
This innovative course develops your creative abilities in audio across music production, sound design, radio, TV, film and multimedia, all supported by a robust understanding of the technologies involved. You will be able to explore and expand as a creative artist while achieving control and experience of a professional audio environment.
The following subjects are indicative of what you will study on this course.
Modules
We offer fully equipped rehearsal rooms, state-of-the-art recording studios and a brand new live music venue. We aim to give our students first-hand experience of "real world" recording environments and to set them on their paths to successful music industry careers.
Our MA provides a broad range of personalised learning experiences underpinned by professionally relevant research, knowledge exchange and enterprise that is strongly aligned to:
Upon successful completion of the MA, amongst other valuable skills and experience, you will have:
Placement Opportunities
There will be an opportunity for you to engage in live community music projects – a growing employment sector within the music industries – and other live events. Our existing music MA courses already have a significant track record in accessing live, high profile projects for students and graduates, some examples of which are below:
There are four options on our MA course:
Options
The four options on our MA course are:
MA Music (Songwriting) is for students interested in the practice of songwriting and composition, with a focus on practice-based / inquiry-based research, collaboration and the cultural contexts within which songwriters work. You will work towards the release of an album or equivalent professionally focused output.
MA Music (Sound Production) is for students with an interest in the technical aspects of music production. Working in our professional-quality studios, you will develop skills and competencies intended for work in environments including:
MA Music (Industries) is for students with an interest in the businesses, processes and developments that underpin work within the music industries as well as the creative and cultural industries more broadly.
MA Music is our bespoke degree and for those that have a broad interest in the creative, technical and industrial elements of music. You will be able to design your own flexible and personalised curriculum, drawing from modules across the three specialised fields of:
Teaching & Assessment
Our MA Music course is delivered across a range of methods. Some of these methods include:
You will reflect on your learning using a combination of tutor and peer feedback.
Be part of a lively popular-music research community that embraces everything from metal music to film scores and work alongside performers, composers and studio producers.
You will join peers with backgrounds in cultural studies, sociology, music and the creative arts to explore today's local live music scene and its connection to the wider industry. From researching gigs and events to composing scores for film and television, you will discover how a variety of communities fuse together to create this vibrant and expanding scene.
Whether developing your songwriting and music editing techniques in our studios or organising events and liaising with artists at Leeds Festival, you will gain the hands-on experience employers are looking for while gathering evidence to carry through into your major research project.
With its combination of research and practice, your course will provide the perfect springboard to discover the interconnectivity of popular music and culture and engage with the vibrant and varied music scene in Leeds.
As well as having access to modern, professional music studios, you will benefit from being taught by a highly-skilled and experienced teaching team, including Professor Karl Spracklen who is Secretary of the International Society for Metal Music Studies and the Editor of Metal Music Studies.
You will also have the chance to network with industry professionals during our guest lecture series. Previous speakers have included Leeds Festival boss Melvin Benn and chart-toppers Rudimental. We also have fantastic links with local and national music, arts and festival organisations, which help ensure you get the most from your course.
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.
With more festivals and independent production companies than ever before, understanding the links between popular music, culture and the rapidly changing music industry is increasingly important, whether you are a researcher or practitioner. You could use the course to further your research interests by studying for a PhD or take up employment opportunities in sound engineering, performance, teaching, songwriting, production, music for film and television, music journalism, marketing and PR or events organisation.
*New for 2017, subject to final approval.
Develop your own signature sound and production style, through this forward-thinking, cutting edge music composition and production course. The MA Sound Production programme is tailored towards individuals who are keen to hone their composition and production skills inside an intertextual and cross-disciplinary framework that pushes at the stylistic boundaries of genre.
The content will cover aesthetic considerations as well as technology and techniques utilised in modern music making. The award is deliberately unbounded by genre and there are opportunities to take an interdisciplinary approach to sound production, including contemporary electronic music, studio and field recording, experimental music and sound design for composition.
The programme encourages interdisciplinary and collaborative working methods with students from the wider music community at Bath Spa, as well as visual media and other departments within the University. While the programme has a music production focus, it also covers key areas of practice such as:
• Sound design
• Electronic music composition
• Soundscape and field recording
• Traditional studio practices
• Sound engineering
• Spatial audio and sound design
• Composition for visual media
You won’t be expected to cover all of these areas. You’ll be able to use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills, experience and top-level work across them.
The course is part of a suite of courses available across music and sound, operating alongside ‘sister’ pathways in Sound Design and Sound Arts, which allow further specialism in these areas.
For more information on the 'sister' pathways please refer to the website: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-production/
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. It is designed to give you the tools for an onward journey in academia, but not to be, in the colloquial sense, ‘academic’.
In trimester two, you’ll advance the knowledge gained in the the first trimester and begin exploring the intertextual possibilities of music composition. In addition, you’ll develop a creative project that will further extend the work undertaken on the trimester 1 Skills Portfolio module.
The module Intertextuality In Sound Production aims to capture and contextualise emerging trends and innovation at the forefront of sound production and composition, and develop composition skills that extend beyond the limits of genre.
Alongside the Sound Production modules there are additional optional modules that you can study from the other pathways. From the Sound Arts pathway, the Visual Music module explores the idea that musical thinking can be extended to the visual, and encourages students to develop multimedia projects that explore this idea. From the Sound Design pathway the Post Production module explores an industry-level workflow for audio post production for picture.
In trimester three, you'll complete the course with a independent research project. While most Masters level courses consist of a substantial written dissertation component, the MA Sound Production programme focuses more on high-level practical work and the concept of ‘practice as research’ through the creation of a large-scale practical project.
The project will fulfil the same function as the traditional dissertation; you’ll develop individual and original research, but through the creation of a portfolio of works, rather than through the written word.
For more information on modules and course structure please visit the course webpage: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-sound-production/
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 the for the Research Methodology and Context module you’ll produce a more substantial paper.
You can use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills. This will equip you for the current employment landscape, where a combination of traditional music roles are required alongside broader practice in sound and other media.The course also provides the breadth necessary for FE and HE teaching in the field, and provides the basis required for PhD research and beyond.
Edinburgh College of Art: Postgrad study in Art, Design, Architecture, Music, History of Art
