Aims
Music Technology is a rapidly evolving field of study with a diverse and expanding range of possibilities.
The MSc in Audio Technology is designed to go beyond the simple provision of training, and to instead enable you to engage with current debates and actively participate in some of the most vibrant areas of contemporary research.
Throughout the course you will be encouraged to demonstrate self-direction and autonomy as you critically explore and define your position within the wider field. One overarching aim is that you should leave the course as not only an adept user of various hardware and software technologies, but as someone able to actively shape and develop their own, responding as necessary to future developments.
Thus, in addition to developing your theoretical and methodological understanding, the MSc in Audio Technology features a strong emphasis on practical work in a number of different (but related) areas. For example, you will study modules in Advanced Studio Practice, Sound on Screen, Music Computing and Musical Human-Computer Interaction. These are supported by a technology-orientated Research and Development module that provides robust foundation for the final Audio Technology Project.
Acting as summary of all that you have learned and a portfolio going forward, the Audio Technology Project provides an opportunity to plan and execute a substantial project in an area of personal specialism or interest. Innovative projects are encouraged, and there exists the potential for interdisciplinary and/or collaboration with practitioners in other fields.
Fees and finance
2015/6 Home/EU International
Full time £5,750 £11,960
Part time £2,875
These fees are applicable for new entrants in 2015/6. Fees are for the academic year only, any subsequent years may be subject to an annual increase, usually in line with inflation.
The University also offers a postgraduate loyalty discount: If you have completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Wolverhampton, you may be eligible for a 20% discount on the first year of a taught postgraduate programme.
Employability
The course will actively equip both graduates and those already in industry with a diverse range of skills to enhance their career prospects. It will also develop a range of opportunities for experience and employment in areas such as studio recording, media production and content creation, video game and software development, education (FE/HE), research assistantships/studentships, and employment in HE institutions.
In addition to subject-specific practical skills, you will also acquire a range of transferable skills relevant for pursuing a research degree. These include critical, analytical, project management and research skills from the study of a broad spectrum of literature, research, and external projects.
Outcomes
- Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of a variety of issues in the expanded field of contemporary music technology, taking an independent and rounded perspective.
- Apply theoretical discourse relating to aspects such as technologised production and performance, reactive/interactive/non-linear media, and computational creativity (etc.) to practice through a systematic understanding of historical, contextual, philosophical, technical and scientific theory.
- Select, interpret, develop and apply a variety of research methodologies appropriate for their work.
- Critically evaluate and use a wide variety of hardware and software technologies, and, where appropriate, develop their own.
- Exercise personal autonomy in learning through effective self-organisation and management of workload in both individual and group scenarios.
- Understand the possibilities afforded by the contemporary, expanded field of music technology (including its gaps and trends), and be able to position their own work, interests and aspirations within this wider context.
Why Wolverhampton?
The course offers an explicit and concerted move away from the notion of “training” in how to use specific software and/or other music technologies in favour of a more balanced synthesis of theory and practice.
The proposal for the Audio Technology Project is developed in the Research and Development module, providing time and opportunity to consider the project’s direction thoroughly, and to explore possibilities for collaborative/interdisciplinary working.
Course staff specialise in both traditional/well-established areas of music technology (studio production, film sound, audio synthesis and processing) and flourishing areas of contemporary research (musical interaction, generative music).
A wide range of career routes are open to graduates of the course. These are largely dependent upon the nature of the work the student chooses to produce, but may include: studio production, sound for games and film/video/animation, interactive media, interaction design, creative software development, design for music technology, post-compulsory and higher education.
The University of Wolverhampton continues to develop state of the art facilities to greatly enhance your learning experience. The Performance Hub, opened in 2011, has a diverse range of fully equipped music teaching, performance and practice rooms (accommodating single person to large band / ensemble), two high-end professional recording studios, and two bespoke technology suites boasting sixty Apple iMacs running industry standard software including Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Max, Pure Data and SuperCollider.
Our two recording studios offer the perfect blend of digital and analogue technologies giving students the opportunity to combine classic analogue recording technique with the flexibility and reliability digital technology provides. As well as a dedicated live room each for recording, for increased flexibility and choice of room acoustic, any of the music rehearsal rooms surrounding each studio can also be patched into the studio's control room.
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