Foundation Degree

This module will introduce students to the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for the planning, setting up, and running of a music project, as well as the entrepreneurship theory that underpins these skills. Students are encouraged to investigate career opportunities within the music industry, as well as research various skills that can be applied to a music project. Students will produce a portfolio of work documenting their music campaign, including research and financial projections.

Assessment 1: Portfolio 70%
Assessment 2: Evaluation 30%

Sound Practice requires engagement with hardware-based studio recording systems for the recording of live instruments (from guitar to full drum-kit).

This module provides an in-depth and essential study of all the main popular music genres from the middle of the twentieth century to the present day.

In these YouTube-dominated times, it is essential that a modern musician is able to create engaging content for platforms like this. In this module, you will be required to produce two videos demonstrating that you can combine creativity and applied technology while working successfully as a member of a production team.

This module informs students of the way brands have impacted the music industry and how they can be used to increase awareness via a social media campaign. Students will conduct a case study and run their own social media campaign based on their findings, presenting the results and evaluating their success.

Each student will research and analyse various production models, production management methods and programme designs, before producing a radio documentary of broadcast quality.

Music & Sound for Video Games provides students with an opportunity to compose music and design sound to a medium that requires additional knowledge and skills outside of those traditionally practiced by composers (e.g. interactive music implementation, composing to brief/conceptual art, techniques for looping music, understanding game development).

This is primarily a practical module, with the assignments being original compositions and/or sound design projects. However, it is crucial that students acquire an awareness and understanding of the general context of working as a composer within the video game industry, therefore, the module aims to develop work that acknowledges the implementation of compositions to video games via middleware.

Assessment 1: Presentation 10%
Assessment 2: Video Game Composition 70%
Assessment 3: Evaluation 20%

Each semester, throughout your studies, you will have the opportunity to engage in a considerable amount of core study on your first instrument. The cornerstone of the foundation degree is technical excellence; so, if you want to develop your playing abilities to a professional level, this is the course for you. Guitar, bass, drum and vocal lessons are all underpinned by high-quality instructional videos written and recorded by the best teachers and players in the UK.

You will study topics that will provide you with a comprehensive grounding in the musical knowledge and skill required to make a well-rounded popular music producer: pop song form; guitar effects and textures; vocal textures; songwriting methods; sonic components; critical listening; acoustics; managing studio personnel; changing trends in music production; the impact of emerging technologies; seminal music producers; increasing commercial potential in music etc.

Production Techniques builds on the music-related themes developed in Music Producer. The bulk of this module is devoted to developing skills relating to understanding harmony and developing songwriting skills.

Studio producers will learn how to record live audio and produce in the styles of: rock, funk/disco, acoustic and a genre of their choice; whereas electronic music producers will study the production styles of House, Trance, Drum & Bass and an EDM genre of their choice.

This module involves studying all aspects of mastering audio for a range of different media (e.g., radio, TV, film, podcast, streaming etc) and learning how to utilise various industry-standard plug-ins and covering vital topics such as levels, crest factor, RMS, compression, EQ, limiting, stereo widening, dither, ISRC coding and ID3 tagging.

Work to a commercial brief to create an effective TV advert, learning how to manage all technical and artistic aspects to present a TV production in an industry-standard format.

Studio producers will learn how to record live audio and produce in the styles of: Soul, Electronic Pop and Metal; whereas electronic music producers will study the production styles of Break Beat, Dub Step, Electronica and an EDM artist of their choice.