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MA Music and Audio Production

Name: MA Music and Audio Production
Availability: InStock

If you’re seeking to advance your career in music and audio production, this course gives you the opportunity to study record production, sound design, audio-visual composition, sound art, creative audio production and music business, amongst other exciting topics. Through your studies, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your personal organisation skills, self-discipline, time management and dedication to succeed in a competitive field.

You will be able to enhance your team-working skills, demonstrating to employers the ability to devise creative solutions and work effectively with others, and can hone your communication skills to form concise, compelling and coherent arguments. Stay updated with all our latest BNU Audio and Music news by following us on Instagram @bnu_music

two men looking at two screens in a music studio

Why study this subject?

The Recorded Music sector offers a range of different roles in different environments for you to explore. The UK music industry contributed £5.8bn to the UK economy in 2019, (Music By Numbers UK Music) and employed an estimated 315,000 people in music, performing and visual arts (DCMS 2020) so the opportunities open to you are great.

Whether you see your future in studio and live production or within a record label, you can be sure you’ll gain skills and knowledge that can prepare you for the career of your dreams.

Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?

BNU have a 25-year history of teaching music courses, so we have a wealth of expertise and you will be taught by staff, associate lecturers and guest speakers with a track record of music industry success in music and audio production. Our MA Music and Audio Production will allow you to sharpen your production skills, enabling you to confidently pursue your goals.

The MA Music and Audio Production will provide you with an opportunity to learn about advanced recording and production techniques, exploring new methods of sound creation and manipulation using industry standard software. You will also be provided with the opportunity to develop your own production skillsets in composition and signal processing techniques, as well as refining your knowledge in recording, mixing and sound design.

All our music degrees at Buckinghamshire New University come with membership of UK Music’s Music Academic Partnership (MAP).

UK Music is the collective voice of the UK’s world-leading music industry. We represent all sectors of our industry – bringing them together to collaborate, campaign, and champion music. The members of UK Music are: AIM, BPI, FAC, The Ivors Academy, MMF, MPA, MPG, MU, PPL, PRS for Music. UK Music also has an informal association with LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment).

MAP is a ground-breaking collaboration between educational institutions and UK Music, and is designed to maximise the relationship between the industry and educational institutions in order to inform the next generation of industry professionals.

MAP does this by nurturing collaborative projects, such as research and careers events, panel events, various education and skills work, policy work, and career opportunities. Fundamentally MAP provides extra opportunities to individuals who want to build careers out of their passion for music. This helps to future-proof the music industry by ensuring new entrants have the right mix of experience and skills.

What facilities can I use?

Our state-of-the-art recording studios and Dolby Atmos certified sound lab give you access to the space and technology you need. From individual edit rooms up to large Pro Tools Ultimate studios with attached live rooms and vocal booths, we have it all to help you gain hands-on experience.

Studio 1 boasts a Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 speaker system and an Avid S6 console. We are one of the first Universities in the UK to adopt Dolby Atmos into a music environment.
Studio 2 features an Audient ASP8024 Mixing desk, with outboard equipment by Neve, Universal Audio, Teletronix, Focusrite, Tegler, Maag, Manley and others. It also has monitoring by Genelec and Adam Audio.
Studio three and the Electronic Music Studio are based around Avid S3/S4 control surfaces and UAD Apollo x8 audio interfaces.
The edit booths are equipped with microphone preamps from Avid.

What will I study?

This programme has been designed to allow you to develop a detailed understanding of the professional environment of the audio and music production sectors. You will learn how apply newly acquired knowledge and skills creatively in order to exploit current opportunities as well as instigate new lines of professional activity. Through developing conceptual understanding, you'll be able to evaluate methodologies employed within audio and music production and critique them.

You’ll study topics including sound art, composition and approaches to recording and mixing. Additionally, depending on the modules you pick, you can delve into the live music industry, recording performance, sound design, and social media marketing, amongst other area.

You can choose to study this course full time over one year or part-time over two years.

How will I be taught and assessed?

Our teaching staff have a wealth of professional and academic experience, with many still actively working in the music industry. You’ll also engage with our dynamic programme of visiting lectures and can benefit from live project briefs, master classes, and plenty of networking opportunities.

A variety of assessment methods will be used as appropriate to the modules you take, including:

Practical assignment
Report
Essay
Portfolio
Reflective commentary
Research proposal
Dissertation
Practical project

MA Music and Audio Production Programme Specification

What are the course entry requirements?

A typical applicant will hold a 2:1 and have an interest in pursuing a career in music, or have several years’ experience in the industry at an appropriate level.

Modules

This provides a guide of the modules that make up your course. You can find more information about how your course is structured on our Academic Advice section.

Year 1

Core Modules

Credits

Approaches to Recording & Mixing

20

Credits: 20

You'll explore the histories, technologies, techniques and philosophies of record production, and examine the foundational aspects of sound recording, including acoustics, spaces, ambience, the physiology of instruments and recording devices. You'll workshop ideas presented during lectures and develop your own auditory ideas over the course.

Sound Art & Composition

20

Credits: 20

Through analysis and practice you'll study experimental approaches to music creation and look at the history and practices of experimental producers, performers, and composers in the sound art world and how they cross genres. You'll critique experimental audio works and their production techniques to implement similar ideas in your own work.

Immersive Audio Production

20

Credits: 20

You'll study advanced immersive audio production in music technology, using industry appropriate hardware and software. From binaural audio to Dolby Atmos, immersive audio is becoming more prevalent in the industry. The skills taught will help you stay at the front of technical developments in the industry.

Research Methods

20

Credits: 20

Extended Independent Work

60

Credits: 60

You'll undertake project work at a strategic level in or for an organisation. You'll consider how you might bring about evidence-based change or innovation in your practice area. Using a step-by-step approach, you'll critically think about why your topic is important, how you might implement it and how the proposed change will be evaluated.

Optional Modules

Credits

The Recording Performance

20

Credits: 20

You'll investigate the performances and relationships between artist and engineer in the creative recording environment, and be encouraged to research the psychological and interpersonal issues of creating the right atmosphere for the communal activity of creating recorded music to happen.

Future Production Technologies

20

Credits: 20

This module encourages you to research modern production skills whilst utilising a cutting-edge performance environment to develop advanced techniques on modern performance technologies. You'll finish by designing, managing & executing either a musical performance for broadcast using multicamera livestream technology, or a multimedia installation.

Sound Design for Linear Media

20

Credits: 20

This highly practical module introduces and builds on skills specific to the production of sound and music for moving image and other linear media forms. You'll work on sound design projects in areas like film production, theatre and performance, or animation and VFX, which may involve working with learners on relevant other programmes.

Social Media Marketing

20

Credits: 20

You'll study core concepts in social media marketing at Level 7. This module will focus on using social media to promote brands or services and on building relationships between a business and their customers.

The Live Music Industry

20

Credits: 20

This module aims to provide you with a systematic and structured knowledge of the framework of the live music and entertainment business, and the impact the law has on it. You'll also focus on a practitioner’s statutory obligations and the development and applicability of legislation and established good practice models.

What are the tuition fees

Home

Home, Academic Year 2024 - 2025: £10,500 per year

International

Overseas/International, Academic Year 2024 - 2025: £15,550 per year

Additional course costs and financial support

Most courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees.
You could benefit from financial support through a bursary or scholarship during your time as a student. For more details visit our financial support, bursaries and scholarships section.

What are my career prospects?

This course will prepare you to work in a number of freelance professional roles such as Recording Engineer, Mix Engineer, Studio Technician, Sound Editor, Sound Technology Educator, further postgraduate study or research.