Applied Sound Principles

Building on first-year music production skills, this module refines students’ technical proficiency and workflow efficiency in professional studio environments. Emphasising industry best practices, it explores advanced techniques in audio and MIDI manipulation, synthesis, sampling, mixing, and mastering. Students develop critical listening and session management skills, preparing them to produce high-quality recordings using industry-standard DAWs.

Music Production

This music production focused module teaches students how to use digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Ableton to create multi-track recordings and mixes, a key skill in the modern music industry. By exploring MIDI sequencing, virtual instruments, software synths, beat programming, and mixing techniques, students can learn to create polished and innovative recordings suitable for various genres and applications.

Live Sound Engineering

This module focuses on live sound operations for music concerts, a practical skill in high demand in the industry. By learning to plan, set up, and operate a sound system for live events, students can develop skills transferable to other sound engineering areas, such as theatre, broadcasting, corporate events, and houses of worship.

Marketing and Promotion

This module is important for freelancers and entrepreneurs in the music industry, as it provides a toolkit of offline and online marketing techniques to help them build their careers. By exploring effective networking, social media, and resources for creating a professional marketing presence, students can learn to promote themselves and their work in a competitive industry.

Professional Development for Sound and Music Producers

This module helps students to explore potential employment opportunities in the music industry and build an awareness of their professional strengths and identity. By developing a strategy for success, students can become versatile and enterprising professionals equipped to pursue various career opportunities in the industry.

Recording Studio Technology

This module is important for sound engineers, music producers, and musicians, as it explores the recording techniques and technology used in a range of settings. By learning studio setup procedures, investigating recording equipment used by industry professionals, and exploring pre-production planning, students can become competent with the audio equipment used to record audio sources to industry standards.

Sound Engineering Fundamentals

This module provides essential knowledge of sound engineering practices, covering both technical and creative aspects. Students learn to manage production sessions effectively, ensuring safe and professional operation across various settings.

The Music Industry

This module provides an introduction to the structure of the music industry, including revenue flows, employment opportunities, business activities, and growth potential. By analysing income streams and assessing which revenue streams are relevant to their own personal career goals, students can gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of the industry and the potential income opportunities available to them.

Advanced Music Production

Building on first-year music production skills, this module refines students’ technical proficiency and workflow efficiency in professional studio environments. Emphasising industry best practices, it explores advanced techniques in audio and MIDI manipulation, synthesis, sampling, mixing, and mastering. Students develop critical listening and session management skills, preparing them to produce high-quality recordings using industry-standard DAWs.

Advanced Sound Design

This module focuses on sound design for film, animation, and interactive media. Students gain practical experience in dialogue recording, Foley sound, sound editing, and mixing, learning to create immersive and expressive audio for a variety of media projects.

Advanced Sound Engineering

This module develops the problem-solving and technical skills required to plan, set up, and manage complex sound engineering projects. Students oversee two productions in contrasting environments, gaining expertise in system design, compliance, personnel management, and high-quality audio reproduction. The completed projects contribute to their professional portfolio, with client feedback providing valuable industry insight.

Creative Research Project

Students conduct an in-depth research project on a contemporary music industry topic, developing skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods. Through a mini-dissertation, they gain experience in academic writing and critical analysis, preparing them for further study or professional roles that require research and strategic thinking.

Live Mixing

Expanding on first-year live sound techniques, this module explores advanced live engineering and the interpersonal skills required for professional concert mixing. Students learn to create input lists, stage plans, and technical riders, build PA systems, and manage front-of-house and monitor mixes. Emphasis is placed on effective communication with performers and crew, ensuring a seamless live performance experience.

Mixing and Mastering

This module provides in-depth training in professional mixing and mastering techniques, focusing on optimising audio for public release across multiple platforms. Students learn to balance, enhance, and finalise multi-track projects, preparing mastered audio for broadcast, digital distribution, and physical formats. The module ensures students can deliver industry-standard audio products for a range of media applications.