- Creative Music Technology
BMus (Hons) — 2025 entry Creative Music Technology
“All sound is music!” Our Creative Music Technology BMus course offers you a route to an exciting career in the arts and creative industries, equipping you with the skills for making innovative music in the 21st century across a wide range of genres, to develop your own unique musical style.
Why choose
this course?
- On this course you’ll be taught by music technology experts and creative practitioners, and work in a unique environment using world-class professional facilities.
- A vibrant, creative community with collaboration across all courses, facilitating performance and composition.
- £1.7m media facilities expansion and improvement.
Statistics
1st in the UK
For Music by the Guardian University Guide 2025
5th in the UK
For Music by the Complete University Guide 2025
Top 10 in the UK
Music is ranked top 10 for overall student satisfaction* in the National Student Survey 2024
*Measured by % positivity across all questions for all providers listed in the Guardian University Guide league tables.
What you will study
On this practice-led course you’ll study the creative use of music technology using a wide range of specialist software and hardware, preparing you for a broad range of careers in the creative industries.
You’ll choose from areas of study such as electronic music creation and performance, recording and production, sound design, music for moving image and creative music programming. Traditional music skills are also an important part of the course, and you may also choose to study traditional instrumental music, including performance.
Our vision is to create ‘thinking musicians’. We’ll work with you to develop analytical and interdisciplinary approaches to composing, performing and working with technology to produce a strong portfolio of creative work.
The skills that you develop will prepare you for professional opportunities in the creative industries as well as future postgraduate education.
Awards and scholarships
Our students benefit from our connections to the music industry. We are a member of the Adam Audio Academic Programme, through which each year an undergraduate student is selected to become an Adam Audio scholar.
Students may apply for the yearly Ableton Prize for Composition and the Ableton Prize for Live Performance.
The academic year is divided into two semesters of 15 weeks each. Each semester consists of a period of teaching, revision/directed learning and assessment.
The structure of our programmes follow clear educational aims that are tailored to each programme. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes.
Modules
Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Modules are subject to teaching availability, student demand and/or class size caps.
The University operates a credit framework for all taught programmes based on a 15-credit tariff.
Course options
Year 1 - BMus (Hons)
Semester 1
Compulsory
This module introduces the theoretical, aesthetic and practical issues of sound design within a variety of electronic music contexts. Subject areas include the use of creative sampling in composition and the exploration of various forms of synthesis techniques. Seminars are divided between seminars devoted to sound design software and theoretical and historical aspects of synthesis.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to enable an understanding of the basic principles of common-practice harmony.
View full module detailsThis module is one of a two at Level 4 designed to develop your music technology skills in relation to compositional creative practice. You will examine both established and emerging histories of this field and develop strategies for implementing contemporary approaches to computer-based compositional practices. The module includes elements of reflective compositional practice based on your own musical background and listening history.
View full module detailsOptional
This module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to introduce students to aspects of the Western classical and popular music repertoires, increasing levels of cultural awareness, and to develop transferable skills. The module provides a foundation for Topic Studies 1A and B and historically based work at FHEQ 5 and 6.
View full module detailsThis module equips all students with the knowledge and skills necessary to arrange pre-existing music, including the vital ability to work collaboratively, that is so useful in many avenues of work, not just the arts. All students learn about the Department’s culture and ‘infrastructure’ around performance, such as the ways in which our concerts are managed and the various ensembles available for students to play in. The module builds resilience, as students reflect on their work as arrangers, performers and assistants at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved, thereby laying the ground to develop further in future modules. All students learn from seminars given by invited speakers, in which a range of sectors within the music industry are represented, and from writing reviews of visiting artists to the Department where they can witness professional performance at first hand. The module has two pathways: ‘arranging’ suits students with a focus on composition, connecting to and applying knowledge acquired during Harmony 1 and building a foundation for the specifically compositional activities in Pathways in Musicianship B in semester 2; ‘arranging and performing’ suits students with all-round skills looking to develop their instrumental or vocal technique through one-to-one lessons with a specialist tutor. In both pathways, students experience performing as part of large or small ensembles and become involved in the performing culture of the Department. The module builds students’ confidence and resilience as musicians, preparing them for the more specialised performance and composition modules in years 2 and 3.
View full module detailsSemester 2
Compulsory
This module is one of a two at Level 4 designed to develop your music technology skills in relation to compositional creative practice. This module continues the technical and aesthetic examinations of both established and emerging histories of this field and develops strategies for implementing contemporary approaches to computer-based compositional practices begun in Composing Electronic Music A
View full module detailsThis module introduces students to key principles and skills related to audio recording and music production within a creative and practice-based context. The module lays a foundation for skills used throughout the Creative Music Technology programme, including application of understanding the basis of sound propagation and reproduction and the principles of digital audio. Students will undertake audio recording and music production within the context of the creative practice that they learn about in other core Creative Music Technology modules such as Composing Electronic Music A and B.
View full module detailsOptional
This module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThis module has a flexible, three-pathway, format that allows students to improve their musicianship in ways that reflect their musical interests and skills. The module also ensures there are opportunities for all students to acquire knowledge, skills and experience in key areas: collaboration (between composers and performers), group work (when performing in an ensemble or taking part in concert management activity), documentation and presentation skills (in compiling a record of performance activities during the semester). Students will continue to be exposed to the Department's culture and 'infrastructure' around performance, such as the role of concert management and the different types of ensembles available to participate in, but will be starting from a more familiar base than in semester 1 with the potential to contribute more visibly and impactfully to music making in the Department. The module continues to build resilience as students reflect on their work as ensemble performers and assistants at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved, thereby laying the ground to develop further in year 2 and 3 performance modules. All students continue to learn from seminars given by invited speakers, in which a range of sectors within the music industry are represented, and from attending concerts by visiting artists to the Department where they can witness professional performance at first hand. The module has three pathways: 'composing' suits students with some experience in composition, providing an opportunity not only to consolidate key techniques in developing musical ideas but to work in slightly larger musical forms according to broadly defined models; 'composing and performing' suits students looking to acquire experience or build confidence in composition whilst continuing to develop their performance skills - here, the initial compositional exercises that underpin the first half of the module provide accessible building blocks of compositional technique; 'performing' suits students who prefer to focus on performing through combining their one-to-one lessons with intensive practice time. In all pathways, students experience performing as part of large or small ensembles and become involved in the performing culture of the Department. The module further builds students’ confidence and resilience as musicians, preparing them for the more specialised performance and composition modules in years 2 and 3.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to acquire knowledge of approaches to the research, discussion and writing about popular music at FHEQ Level 4. This is pursued through the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides a foundation for the study of popular music at FHEQ Levels 5 and 6. An indicative case study is Adele¿s output, studied from a range of perspectives such as music analysis, lyric analysis, video analysis, the contemporary music business, cover versions, authenticity in popular music, the popular music canon, gender and sexuality, and popular music on film.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is for students to acquire knowledge of approaches to research, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition at FHEQ Level 4. This is pursued through the study of a single work or a small group of works and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically-based study at FHEQ Levels 5 and 6. An indicative case-study is Beethoven¿s Ninth Symphony, studied in detail and contextualised within Beethoven¿s overall development as well as musical and historical developments more broadly. Perspectives include analysis, reception and historically-informed performance practice.
View full module detailsOptional modules for Year 1 - FHEQ Level 4
Module Selection for Year 1 - FHEQ Level 4
In Year 1 students take all compulsory modules and select three optional modules, one in Semester 1 and two in Semester 2. In Semester 2 students choose either MUS1039 or MUS1038, PLUS either Music Project 1B MUS1033 or Pathways in Musicianship B MUS1036.
Year 2 - BMus (Hons)
Semester 1
Compulsory
This module is one of two at Level 5 within the Creative Music Technology degree that builds on the understanding of creative practice and technical skills in relation to making electronic music acquired at Level 4. The module deepens your knowledge and understanding of contemporary compositional repertoire involving technology, enabling you to further develop your creative practice in an informed manner. In the module we also examine a varied range of technical skills in order to enrich your understanding of the aesthetic, technical and theoretical basis of historical and contemporary electronic music.
View full module detailsThis module follows on from the module Recording and Production 1 and reinforces and extents the key principles and skills related to audio recording and music production within a creative and practice-based context. The module furthers the foundation of skills used in the Creative Music Technology programme, including application of understanding the basis of digital audio production and recoding skills. Students will undertake audio recording and music production within the context of the creative practice that they learn about in other core Creative Music Technology modules such as Creative Music Technology Practice 1.
View full module detailsOptional
The module provides an overview of the structures that support and shape the arts and creative industries in the UK and introduces current issues and debates in cultural provision. It introduces the arts funding system in the UK, government policies for the arts, and the support infrastructure for music in the UK. It also provides the opportunity for discussion of the issues that shape and influence the arts professions and impact upon arts workers and audiences.
View full module detailsThis module introduces you to a range of fundamental compositional techniques and concepts, applicable in many stylistic contexts.You will encounter and expand your knowledge of a diverse range of global and historical musical practice on the acoustic and electronic domains, as well as theoretical concepts that unite and delineate such broad approaches. In so doing, you will not only learn to emulate specific compositional practice, but also to forge an individual, informed and contemporary compositional voice.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in learning event management activities and basic skills in conducting. Writing skills enabling you to produce persuasive reviews will be developed. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars (alongside individual instrumental or vocal lessons), in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars will help to develop confidence in performance. Some seminars may be given by invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. Writing reviews of professional concerts allows you to witness high level performance at first hand and judge its level of success.
View full module detailsThis module provides an opportunity for the in depth study of harmony within the context of Anglo-American popular music of the past century from the standard jazz repertoire to progressive pop, rock, fusion and contemporary jazz.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to build on the knowledge and skills you have acquired in FHEQ Level 4 in research methods, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertories through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study at FHEQ Level 6. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsSemester 2
Compulsory
This module introduces the history and practice of creating music and sound design for the moving image in a variety of contexts. Skills in this area are introduced alongside key concepts in visual literacy for 'reading' a film and other examples of the moving image. Contexts examined will include an overview of the principles of musical design for commercial work, as well as those for more experimental moving image repertoire and techniques. Appropriate theories and critical responses to music and sound design for the moving image will also be a core part of this module.
View full module detailsThis module is one of two at Level 5 within the Creative Music Technology degree that builds on the understanding of creative practice and technical skills in relation to making electronic music acquired at Level 4. The module deepens your knowledge and understanding of contemporary compositional repertoire involving technology, enabling you to further develop your creative practice in an informed manner. In the module we also examine a varied range of technical skills in order to enrich your understanding of the aesthetic, technical and theoretical basis of historical and contemporary electronic music.
View full module detailsOptional
In this module you will be introduced to the theory, aesthetics and technical considerations of electronic music improvisation. Topics will include history of live electronics, design of hardware and software instruments and practical improvisation. You will work in small groups, developing improvisation skills, workshopping and performing ideas together.
View full module detailsThis module develops your knowledge and practice of compositional techniques and concepts, and their application in a range of stylistic contexts. You will encounter and expand your knowledge of a diverse range of global and historical musical practice on the acoustic and electronic domains, as well as theoretical concepts that unite and delineate such broad approaches. In so doing, you will not only learn to emulate specific compositional practice, but also to forge an individual, informed and contemporary compositional voice.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to build on the knowledge and skills you have acquired in FHEQ Level 4 in research methods, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertories through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study at FHEQ Level 6. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in learning event management activities and basic skills in conducting. Writing skills enabling you to produce persuasive reviews will be developed. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars (alongside individual instrumental or vocal lessons), in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars will help to develop confidence in performance. Some seminars may be given by invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. Writing reviews of professional concerts allows you to witness high level performance at first hand and judge its level of success.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to introduce you to creative coding skills for music. Using specialist software, the module covers techniques and processes for designing and programming computer-based composition environments. This includes the design of bespoke user interfaces for the creation of algorithmic and generative music. As well as including transferable programming skills, the module encourages you to broaden your musical horizons through the creation of non-linear computer musical environments.
View full module detailsOptional modules for Year 2 - FHEQ Level 5
There are four compulsory modules at Year 2 with a total value of 60 credits. Students are required to select two optional modules for Semester 1 and two optional modules for Semester 2.
Year 3 - BMus (Hons)
Semester 1
Optional
This module is designed to provide students with the technical knowledge, musical/artistic sensibility and breadth of repertoire to enhance the quality of their music to the threshold of professional level. This is achieved by covering a limited number of topics in depth, each delivered by a different member of the Department's composition staff, allowing students to benefit from a breadth of knowledge, experience and expertise. Typically each topic is delivered over several weeks to allow sufficient time to explore it from diverse perspectives and thereby increase its potential as a compositional methodology for all students. Students are shown many ways in which they can engage with these topics: through live performance, arranging and manipulating recorded audio, working with live electronics, using improvisation and employing various types of notation. The module content draws on techniques and case studies from a wide range of practices including classical, popular and non-Western musics with topics changing frequently to match lecturers' own compositional projects and research. This close link between the module content and the lecturers' own practice as composers aligns the module with aspects of 'real world' musical practice; this is to the benefit of students because it helps to show how ideas and techniques from the module can be applied.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in co-ordination of performance/event management. Your writing skills will be expanded to include reflective writing that connects your reviews of performances put on by the Department with your own development as a musician. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts; identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars, in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars and lunchtime recitals will help to develop confidence in performance. Seminars may include invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. The Department hosts concerts by students as well as, occasionally, by visiting artists; students learn to appreciate the qualities of public performance first hand by attending concerts and writing reviews.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThis module centres on a range of immersive sound contexts and practices, including binaural audio and multi-channel audio, moving beyond the familiar use of ‘stereo’ sound within a creative context. Building on listening and production skills developed over the course of Level 5, students will be introduced to a selection of diverse musical repertoire and gain experience in technical and practical aspects of immersive audio work in line with current creative industry practices.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to further extend the creative coding skills developed in the Creative Coding A module. After a period of revision and consolidation, students are encouraged to develop their own computer music projects with the assistance of the module lecturer. The module introduces the possibilities of bespoke compositional environments that interface with other hardware and software music systems. Using such systems for live performance is also an area of exploration in the module.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to critically engage with and employ your knowledge of research, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertoires at HE Level 6. This is pursued through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsSemester 2
Optional
You will develop your understanding of the theory, aesthetics and technical considerations of digital performance. Topics will include the design and construction of electronic music systems and effective performance strategies and approaches. This will develop independence, resourcefulness, and resilience in the field; enhance digital skills, and provide a wider awareness of cultural practice, enhancing creative ideas, technical development and employability in future work.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to provide students with the technical knowledge, musical/artistic sensibility and breadth of repertoire to enhance the quality of their music to the threshold of professional level. This is achieved by covering a limited number of topics in depth, each delivered by a different member of the Department's composition staff, allowing students to benefit from a breadth of knowledge, experience and expertise. Typically each topic is delivered over several weeks to allow sufficient time to explore it from diverse perspectives and thereby increase its potential as a compositional methodology for all students. Students are shown many ways in which they can engage with these topics: through live performance, arranging and manipulating recorded audio, working with live electronics, using improvisation and employing various types of notation. The module content draws on techniques and case studies from a wide range of practices including classical, popular and non-Western musics with topics changing frequently to match lecturers' own compositional projects and research. This close link between the module content and the lecturers' own practice as composers aligns the module with aspects of 'real world' musical practice; this is to the benefit of students because it helps to show how ideas and techniques from the module can be applied. Composition 3B is identical in design to Composition 3A but covering a different set of topics. Taken as a pair the modules allow final year students to specialise in composition, making the most of staff expertise and Departmental opportunities to drive their development as composers and preparing them well for postgraduate study in composition if they wish.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in co-ordination of performance/event management. Your writing skills will be expanded to include reflective writing that connects your reviews of performances put on by the Department with your own development as a musician. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts; identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars, in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars and lunchtime recitals will help to develop confidence in performance. Seminars may include invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. The Department hosts concerts by students as well as, occasionally, by visiting artists; students learn to appreciate the qualities of public performance first hand by attending concerts and writing reviews.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to critically engage with and employ your knowledge of research, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertoires at HE Level 6. This is pursued through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsThis module enables students to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the major currents of 20th- and 21st-century music in the Western classical tradition through the exploration of key composers and repertories as well as key documents in the critical reception of the repertoire. It draws on analytical skills acquired in previous modules such as Encounter Music History and Nineteenth-Century Music as well as Music Project and the Topic Study modules. It also consolidates students’ experience of 20th- and 21st -century music encountered elsewhere on the programme. Intersections with global cultural developments form a significant strand in developing an understanding of composers’ decision-making. The module facilitates further development of students’ writing skills, and their ability to assess the significance of scholarly work, including that in the digital domain.
View full module detailsSemester 1 & 2
Compulsory
The purpose of this module is to provide you with the opportunity to develop further the skills and experience you have acquired in electronic music making and to advance towards a professional level your individual creative practice. This module enables you to undertake an individual project over a full academic year, with the assistance of an assigned supervisor. The extended scope of the individual project work required by this module, commensurate with its credit weighting, will be discussed in seminars and agreed via individual tutorial support.
View full module detailsOptional modules for Year 3 - FHEQ Level 6
Students are required to take one compulsory module, and to choose optional modules to complete the programme of study according to the following rubric,:
- Select two modules in Semester 1 and three in Semester 2
OR
- Select three modules in Semester 1 and two in Semester 2
Year 1 - BMus (Hons) with placement
Semester 1
Compulsory
This module introduces the theoretical, aesthetic and practical issues of sound design within a variety of electronic music contexts. Subject areas include the use of creative sampling in composition and the exploration of various forms of synthesis techniques. Seminars are divided between seminars devoted to sound design software and theoretical and historical aspects of synthesis.
View full module detailsThis module is one of a two at Level 4 designed to develop your music technology skills in relation to compositional creative practice. You will examine both established and emerging histories of this field and develop strategies for implementing contemporary approaches to computer-based compositional practices. The module includes elements of reflective compositional practice based on your own musical background and listening history.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to enable an understanding of the basic principles of common-practice harmony.
View full module detailsOptional
This module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to introduce students to aspects of the Western classical and popular music repertoires, increasing levels of cultural awareness, and to develop transferable skills. The module provides a foundation for Topic Studies 1A and B and historically based work at FHEQ 5 and 6.
View full module detailsThis module equips all students with the knowledge and skills necessary to arrange pre-existing music, including the vital ability to work collaboratively, that is so useful in many avenues of work, not just the arts. All students learn about the Department’s culture and ‘infrastructure’ around performance, such as the ways in which our concerts are managed and the various ensembles available for students to play in. The module builds resilience, as students reflect on their work as arrangers, performers and assistants at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved, thereby laying the ground to develop further in future modules. All students learn from seminars given by invited speakers, in which a range of sectors within the music industry are represented, and from writing reviews of visiting artists to the Department where they can witness professional performance at first hand. The module has two pathways: ‘arranging’ suits students with a focus on composition, connecting to and applying knowledge acquired during Harmony 1 and building a foundation for the specifically compositional activities in Pathways in Musicianship B in semester 2; ‘arranging and performing’ suits students with all-round skills looking to develop their instrumental or vocal technique through one-to-one lessons with a specialist tutor. In both pathways, students experience performing as part of large or small ensembles and become involved in the performing culture of the Department. The module builds students’ confidence and resilience as musicians, preparing them for the more specialised performance and composition modules in years 2 and 3.
View full module detailsSemester 2
Compulsory
This module introduces students to key principles and skills related to audio recording and music production within a creative and practice-based context. The module lays a foundation for skills used throughout the Creative Music Technology programme, including application of understanding the basis of sound propagation and reproduction and the principles of digital audio. Students will undertake audio recording and music production within the context of the creative practice that they learn about in other core Creative Music Technology modules such as Composing Electronic Music A and B.
View full module detailsThis module is one of a two at Level 4 designed to develop your music technology skills in relation to compositional creative practice. This module continues the technical and aesthetic examinations of both established and emerging histories of this field and develops strategies for implementing contemporary approaches to computer-based compositional practices begun in Composing Electronic Music A
View full module detailsOptional
This module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThis module has a flexible, three-pathway, format that allows students to improve their musicianship in ways that reflect their musical interests and skills. The module also ensures there are opportunities for all students to acquire knowledge, skills and experience in key areas: collaboration (between composers and performers), group work (when performing in an ensemble or taking part in concert management activity), documentation and presentation skills (in compiling a record of performance activities during the semester). Students will continue to be exposed to the Department's culture and 'infrastructure' around performance, such as the role of concert management and the different types of ensembles available to participate in, but will be starting from a more familiar base than in semester 1 with the potential to contribute more visibly and impactfully to music making in the Department. The module continues to build resilience as students reflect on their work as ensemble performers and assistants at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved, thereby laying the ground to develop further in year 2 and 3 performance modules. All students continue to learn from seminars given by invited speakers, in which a range of sectors within the music industry are represented, and from attending concerts by visiting artists to the Department where they can witness professional performance at first hand. The module has three pathways: 'composing' suits students with some experience in composition, providing an opportunity not only to consolidate key techniques in developing musical ideas but to work in slightly larger musical forms according to broadly defined models; 'composing and performing' suits students looking to acquire experience or build confidence in composition whilst continuing to develop their performance skills - here, the initial compositional exercises that underpin the first half of the module provide accessible building blocks of compositional technique; 'performing' suits students who prefer to focus on performing through combining their one-to-one lessons with intensive practice time. In all pathways, students experience performing as part of large or small ensembles and become involved in the performing culture of the Department. The module further builds students’ confidence and resilience as musicians, preparing them for the more specialised performance and composition modules in years 2 and 3.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to acquire knowledge of approaches to the research, discussion and writing about popular music at FHEQ Level 4. This is pursued through the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides a foundation for the study of popular music at FHEQ Levels 5 and 6. An indicative case study is Adele¿s output, studied from a range of perspectives such as music analysis, lyric analysis, video analysis, the contemporary music business, cover versions, authenticity in popular music, the popular music canon, gender and sexuality, and popular music on film.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is for students to acquire knowledge of approaches to research, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition at FHEQ Level 4. This is pursued through the study of a single work or a small group of works and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically-based study at FHEQ Levels 5 and 6. An indicative case-study is Beethoven¿s Ninth Symphony, studied in detail and contextualised within Beethoven¿s overall development as well as musical and historical developments more broadly. Perspectives include analysis, reception and historically-informed performance practice.
View full module detailsYear 2 - BMus (Hons) with placement
Semester 1
Compulsory
This module follows on from the module Recording and Production 1 and reinforces and extents the key principles and skills related to audio recording and music production within a creative and practice-based context. The module furthers the foundation of skills used in the Creative Music Technology programme, including application of understanding the basis of digital audio production and recoding skills. Students will undertake audio recording and music production within the context of the creative practice that they learn about in other core Creative Music Technology modules such as Creative Music Technology Practice 1.
View full module detailsThis module is one of two at Level 5 within the Creative Music Technology degree that builds on the understanding of creative practice and technical skills in relation to making electronic music acquired at Level 4. The module deepens your knowledge and understanding of contemporary compositional repertoire involving technology, enabling you to further develop your creative practice in an informed manner. In the module we also examine a varied range of technical skills in order to enrich your understanding of the aesthetic, technical and theoretical basis of historical and contemporary electronic music.
View full module detailsOptional
The module provides an overview of the structures that support and shape the arts and creative industries in the UK and introduces current issues and debates in cultural provision. It introduces the arts funding system in the UK, government policies for the arts, and the support infrastructure for music in the UK. It also provides the opportunity for discussion of the issues that shape and influence the arts professions and impact upon arts workers and audiences.
View full module detailsThis module introduces you to a range of fundamental compositional techniques and concepts, applicable in many stylistic contexts.You will encounter and expand your knowledge of a diverse range of global and historical musical practice on the acoustic and electronic domains, as well as theoretical concepts that unite and delineate such broad approaches. In so doing, you will not only learn to emulate specific compositional practice, but also to forge an individual, informed and contemporary compositional voice.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in learning event management activities and basic skills in conducting. Writing skills enabling you to produce persuasive reviews will be developed. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars (alongside individual instrumental or vocal lessons), in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars will help to develop confidence in performance. Some seminars may be given by invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. Writing reviews of professional concerts allows you to witness high level performance at first hand and judge its level of success.
View full module detailsThis module provides an opportunity for the in depth study of harmony within the context of Anglo-American popular music of the past century from the standard jazz repertoire to progressive pop, rock, fusion and contemporary jazz.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to build on the knowledge and skills you have acquired in FHEQ Level 4 in research methods, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertories through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study at FHEQ Level 6. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsSemester 2
Compulsory
This module introduces the history and practice of creating music and sound design for the moving image in a variety of contexts. Skills in this area are introduced alongside key concepts in visual literacy for 'reading' a film and other examples of the moving image. Contexts examined will include an overview of the principles of musical design for commercial work, as well as those for more experimental moving image repertoire and techniques. Appropriate theories and critical responses to music and sound design for the moving image will also be a core part of this module.
View full module detailsThis module is one of two at Level 5 within the Creative Music Technology degree that builds on the understanding of creative practice and technical skills in relation to making electronic music acquired at Level 4. The module deepens your knowledge and understanding of contemporary compositional repertoire involving technology, enabling you to further develop your creative practice in an informed manner. In the module we also examine a varied range of technical skills in order to enrich your understanding of the aesthetic, technical and theoretical basis of historical and contemporary electronic music.
View full module detailsOptional
In this module you will be introduced to the theory, aesthetics and technical considerations of electronic music improvisation. Topics will include history of live electronics, design of hardware and software instruments and practical improvisation. You will work in small groups, developing improvisation skills, workshopping and performing ideas together.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to introduce you to creative coding skills for music. Using specialist software, the module covers techniques and processes for designing and programming computer-based composition environments. This includes the design of bespoke user interfaces for the creation of algorithmic and generative music. As well as including transferable programming skills, the module encourages you to broaden your musical horizons through the creation of non-linear computer musical environments.
View full module detailsThis module develops your knowledge and practice of compositional techniques and concepts, and their application in a range of stylistic contexts. You will encounter and expand your knowledge of a diverse range of global and historical musical practice on the acoustic and electronic domains, as well as theoretical concepts that unite and delineate such broad approaches. In so doing, you will not only learn to emulate specific compositional practice, but also to forge an individual, informed and contemporary compositional voice.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in learning event management activities and basic skills in conducting. Writing skills enabling you to produce persuasive reviews will be developed. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts, identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars (alongside individual instrumental or vocal lessons), in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars will help to develop confidence in performance. Some seminars may be given by invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. Writing reviews of professional concerts allows you to witness high level performance at first hand and judge its level of success.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to build on the knowledge and skills you have acquired in FHEQ Level 4 in research methods, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertories through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study at FHEQ Level 6. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsYear 3 - BMus (Hons) with placement
Semester 1
Optional
This module centres on a range of immersive sound contexts and practices, including binaural audio and multi-channel audio, moving beyond the familiar use of ‘stereo’ sound within a creative context. Building on listening and production skills developed over the course of Level 5, students will be introduced to a selection of diverse musical repertoire and gain experience in technical and practical aspects of immersive audio work in line with current creative industry practices.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to further extend the creative coding skills developed in the Creative Coding A module. After a period of revision and consolidation, students are encouraged to develop their own computer music projects with the assistance of the module lecturer. The module introduces the possibilities of bespoke compositional environments that interface with other hardware and software music systems. Using such systems for live performance is also an area of exploration in the module.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to provide students with the technical knowledge, musical/artistic sensibility and breadth of repertoire to enhance the quality of their music to the threshold of professional level. This is achieved by covering a limited number of topics in depth, each delivered by a different member of the Department's composition staff, allowing students to benefit from a breadth of knowledge, experience and expertise. Typically each topic is delivered over several weeks to allow sufficient time to explore it from diverse perspectives and thereby increase its potential as a compositional methodology for all students. Students are shown many ways in which they can engage with these topics: through live performance, arranging and manipulating recorded audio, working with live electronics, using improvisation and employing various types of notation. The module content draws on techniques and case studies from a wide range of practices including classical, popular and non-Western musics with topics changing frequently to match lecturers' own compositional projects and research. This close link between the module content and the lecturers' own practice as composers aligns the module with aspects of 'real world' musical practice; this is to the benefit of students because it helps to show how ideas and techniques from the module can be applied.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in co-ordination of performance/event management. Your writing skills will be expanded to include reflective writing that connects your reviews of performances put on by the Department with your own development as a musician. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts; identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars, in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars and lunchtime recitals will help to develop confidence in performance. Seminars may include invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. The Department hosts concerts by students as well as, occasionally, by visiting artists; students learn to appreciate the qualities of public performance first hand by attending concerts and writing reviews.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to critically engage with and employ your knowledge of research, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertoires at HE Level 6. This is pursued through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsSemester 2
Optional
You will develop your understanding of the theory, aesthetics and technical considerations of digital performance. Topics will include the design and construction of electronic music systems and effective performance strategies and approaches. This will develop independence, resourcefulness, and resilience in the field; enhance digital skills, and provide a wider awareness of cultural practice, enhancing creative ideas, technical development and employability in future work.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to provide students with the technical knowledge, musical/artistic sensibility and breadth of repertoire to enhance the quality of their music to the threshold of professional level. This is achieved by covering a limited number of topics in depth, each delivered by a different member of the Department's composition staff, allowing students to benefit from a breadth of knowledge, experience and expertise. Typically each topic is delivered over several weeks to allow sufficient time to explore it from diverse perspectives and thereby increase its potential as a compositional methodology for all students. Students are shown many ways in which they can engage with these topics: through live performance, arranging and manipulating recorded audio, working with live electronics, using improvisation and employing various types of notation. The module content draws on techniques and case studies from a wide range of practices including classical, popular and non-Western musics with topics changing frequently to match lecturers' own compositional projects and research. This close link between the module content and the lecturers' own practice as composers aligns the module with aspects of 'real world' musical practice; this is to the benefit of students because it helps to show how ideas and techniques from the module can be applied. Composition 3B is identical in design to Composition 3A but covering a different set of topics. Taken as a pair the modules allow final year students to specialise in composition, making the most of staff expertise and Departmental opportunities to drive their development as composers and preparing them well for postgraduate study in composition if they wish.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop knowledge and understanding of the main methodologies in applied performance research, advance individual learning/preparation skills in the context of your instrument/voice, and develop performing experience. You will also develop practical skills in co-ordination of performance/event management. Your writing skills will be expanded to include reflective writing that connects your reviews of performances put on by the Department with your own development as a musician. The module builds resilience, as you reflect on your work as performers, ensemble members and managers at Departmental concerts; identifying what went well and what could be improved. The creative skills you learn will also contribute to your learning in other modules and the reviewing skills will broaden your knowledge of repertoire. The module is delivered through a series of lectures and seminars, in which all ranges of music will be represented, as well as different historical and research aspects of performance practices. Performance opportunities in seminars and lunchtime recitals will help to develop confidence in performance. Seminars may include invited speakers representing a range of sectors within the music industry. The Department hosts concerts by students as well as, occasionally, by visiting artists; students learn to appreciate the qualities of public performance first hand by attending concerts and writing reviews.
View full module detailsThis module is one of six project-based learning modules within the Music degree programmes. Project-based modules focus on learning in the context of musical practice, based on a professional model of project implementation to realise concerts, compositions and arrangements, conference events, recordings and publications. Project modules will develop a coordinated and managed group activity based on the project theme, such as a large-scale performance or musical outcome, a music creation project with associated conference/performance/material outcomes and documentation. This module is a cross-year, cross-programme group project in which students can pursue their own specialism by agreement with the Module Leader, in the context of a large, coordinated group enterprise. Two project module themes will be available in each academic year. Each theme will only occur once for each student cohort. Themes have included and will be drawn from: Reworking Music – investigations and realisations of the ways in which music has been recycled across a wide range of genres. The Music of Data - studying and experimenting with music based on all sorts of non-musical data from numbers, to patterns, to the natural world. In C – from Terry Riley's minimalist classic to explorations of the continued attraction of C major for composers. Film Music - uncovering and learning to utilise techniques of combining music, image and narrative. The Musical - the study and realisation of musicals of the twentieth twenty-first centuries. Musical Games after John Zorn's 'Cobra' – starting from Zorn's directed improvisation and exploring a range of generative musical procedures. Medieval Music – exploring medieval music in its own time and ours. Meta-Music - music about, and made from, other music. Dido and Aeneas – contextual and analytical study of Purcell's opera, including performances and the creation of new works based on associated themes. Women in Music - female musicians through the ages in popular and classical music. Mahler and Musical Meaning - studying the music of Gustav Mahler, the ways it may be understood and what it can tell us about music's meaning-making potential. Folk Music and Nostaglia - exploring folk music, primarily in an Anglo-Irish context, and its relationship to nostalgia. Words and Music - investigating the many relationships between words and music in both texted and untexted genres in a range of musical traditions. Other project themes may be offered and the above is not an exhaustive list.
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to critically engage with and employ your knowledge of research, discussion and writing about music of the Western classical tradition or popular repertoires at HE Level 6. This is pursued through the study of a single work or a small group of works or the study of a single album or group of tracks and its/their various contexts. The module provides further foundation for historically based study. This topic will change each year and indicative topics may include Popular Music and New Media, Popular Music and Culture, Musical Theatre, Opera Studies, Historical Performance Practice, Studying Music as Performance, and English Music from Elgar to Britten (this is not an exhaustive list).
View full module detailsThis module enables students to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the major currents of 20th- and 21st-century music in the Western classical tradition through the exploration of key composers and repertories as well as key documents in the critical reception of the repertoire. It draws on analytical skills acquired in previous modules such as Encounter Music History and Nineteenth-Century Music as well as Music Project and the Topic Study modules. It also consolidates students’ experience of 20th- and 21st -century music encountered elsewhere on the programme. Intersections with global cultural developments form a significant strand in developing an understanding of composers’ decision-making. The module facilitates further development of students’ writing skills, and their ability to assess the significance of scholarly work, including that in the digital domain.
View full module detailsSemester 1 & 2
Compulsory
The purpose of this module is to provide you with the opportunity to develop further the skills and experience you have acquired in electronic music making and to advance towards a professional level your individual creative practice. This module enables you to undertake an individual project over a full academic year, with the assistance of an assigned supervisor. The extended scope of the individual project work required by this module, commensurate with its credit weighting, will be discussed in seminars and agreed via individual tutorial support.
View full module detailsProfessional Training Year (PTY)
Semester 1 & 2
Core
This module supports students¿ development of personal and professional attitudes and abilities appropriate to a Professional Training placement. It supports and facilitates self-reflection and transfer of learning from their Professional Training placement experiences to their final year of study and their future employment. The PTY module is concerned with Personal and Professional Development towards holistic academic and non-academic learning, and is a process that involves self-reflection, documented via the creation of a personal record, planning and monitoring progress towards the achievement of personal objectives. Development and learning may occur before and during the placement, and this is reflected in the assessment model as a progressive process. However, the graded assessment takes place primarily towards the end of the placement. Additionally, the module aims to enable students to evidence and evaluate their placement experiences and transfer that learning to other situations through written and presentation skills.
View full module detailsThis module supports students¿ development of personal and professional attitudes and abilities appropriate to a Professional Training placement. It supports and facilitates self-reflection and transfer of learning from their Professional Training placement experiences to their final year of study and their future employment. The PTY module is concerned with Personal and Professional Development towards holistic academic and non-academic learning and is a process that involves self-reflection. Development and learning may occur before and during the placement, and this is reflected in the assessment model as a progressive process. However, the graded assessment takes place primarily towards the end of the placement. Additionally, the module aims to enable students to evidence and evaluate their placement experiences and transfer that learning to other situations through written skills.
View full module detailsTeaching and learning
You will gain your skills through a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials. We make appropriate teaching materials available to you through our online e-learning system, SurreyLearn.
Practice rooms, edit suites and self-study areas are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether your classes are practical or theoretical, you will develop your skills through a combination of academic, theoretical and creative practice led by teaching staff who are qualified to approach topics from all points of view.
- Lectures
- Seminars
- Workshops
- Tutorials
- Group work
- Independent study
- Rehearsals and performances
- Practical sessions
Assessment
We assess modules individually and award credits for the successful completion of each one. Assessment takes place through a combination of examination and/or coursework, practical examinations and reports.
Check individual module information to see full details at a module level.
General course information
Contact hours
Contact hours can vary across our modules. Full details of the contact hours for each module are available from the University of Surrey's module catalogue. See the modules section for more information.
Timetable
New students will receive their personalised timetable in Welcome Week. In later semesters, two weeks before the start of semester.
Scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week (Monday – Friday), with part-time classes normally scheduled on one or two days. Wednesday afternoons tend to be for sports and cultural activities.
View our code of practice for the scheduling of teaching and assessment (PDF) for more information.
Location
Stag Hill is the University's main campus and where the majority of our courses are taught.
We offer careers information, advice and guidance to all students whilst studying with us, which is extended to our alumni for three years after leaving the University.
Study BMus (Hons) Creative Music Technology and you’ll develop the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue a successful career in the creative industries, including those centred around digital music, film, TV live-event and computer-games.
In the survey, Graduate Outcomes 2024, HESA, results show that 91 per cent of our undergraduate Music and Media students go on to employment or further study. Our graduates have gone on to become successful film and TV sound designers, producers and composers, and have found employment in music education, business and marketing. They have also achieved higher degrees and qualifications.
Music and Media’s Performing Arts Technology Studios (PATS) underwent a £1.7m refurbishment and expansion in 2022. A wide range of facilities are available for students to use, including edit studios, creative music technology workshop/performance room with multi-system speaker and listening space, a self-study computer room, new mac lab, practice rooms and a multichannel synth studio.
The Synth Lab is a world-class facility containing a unique selection of synthesisers including a vintage Moog modular System 55 and EMS Synthi VCS3, plus brand-new Arp 2600 FS and Expressive E Osmose. The lab was completely refurbished in 2023 and is used predominantly by our Creative Music Technology BA (Hons) students.
You will also have access to specialist microphones and mobile recording devices for location recording. Synthesisers and related equipment are also available for loan. Music and Media houses two Steinway concert grand pianos and a collection of instruments, some of which may be loaned to students.
You’ll have access to a well-stocked audio-visual room, with digital and online listening resources, plus an extensive archive collection of scores, LPs and CDs located in the Library.
Finn West
Student - Creative Music Technology BMus (Hons)
"My favourite thing about this course is its ethos of finding beauty in every style of music possible. The music lecturers are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and their love and passion for what they do is so infectious."
Nas Anderson
Student - Creative Music Technology BMus (Hons)
"I’m passionate about the Creative Music Technology course because it’s so unique. It has taught me to think outside the box and has challenged me to compose within genres of music I didn’t even know about three years ago".
Learn more about the qualifications we typically accept to study this course at Surrey.
Typical offer
Overall: BBB.
Required subjects: Music or Music Technology at Grade B. Applicants with a strong music background who are not taking one of the required subjects may be considered subject to interview. ABRSM Grade 5 Theory or equivalent is recommended.
Please note: A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking are not accepted. Applicants taking an A-level science subject with the Science Practical Endorsement are expected to pass the practical element.
GCSE or equivalent: English Language at Grade 4 (C) and Mathematics at Grade 4 (C).
Overall: DDM
Required subjects: Please contact us to discuss suitability. ABRSM Grade 5 Theory or equivalent is recommended.
GCSE or equivalent: English Language at Grade 4 (C) and Mathematics at Grade 4 (C).
Overall: 32.
Required subjects: HL5/SL6 in Music or Music Technology. ABRSM Grade 5 Theory or equivalent is recommended.
GCSE or equivalent: English A HL4/SL4 or English B HL5/SL6 and Maths (either course) HL4/SL4.
Overall: 75%
Required subjects: Grade 7.5 in Music. If Music not taken in the EB, please contact us to discuss suitability. ABRSM Grade 5 Theory or equivalent is recommended.
GCSE or equivalent: Maths 6 and either English Language (1/2) 6 or English Language (3)7.
Overall: QAA-recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma, 27 Level 3 Credits at Distinction and 18 Level 3 Credits at Merit. Please contact us to check subject suitability.
Required subjects: Please contact us to discuss suitability. ABRSM Grade 5 Theory or equivalent is recommended.
GCSE or equivalent: English Language and Mathematics at Grade 4 (C).
Overall: ABBBB and Grade 5 theory (ABRSM) or equivalent proficiency.
Required subjects: Music or Music Technology at grade B. ABRSM Grade 5 Theory or equivalent is recommended.
GCSE or equivalent: English Language - Scottish National 5 - C Maths - Scottish National 5 - C. In addition, Grade 5 theory (ABRSM) or equivalent proficiency.
Overall: BBB from a combination of the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales and two A-levels.
Required subjects: A-level Music or Music Technology at grade B. ABRSM Grade 5 Theory or equivalent is recommended.
GCSE or equivalent: Please check the A-level dropdown for the required GCSE levels.
Please note: A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking are not accepted. Applicants taking an A-level science subject with the Science Practical Endorsement are Expected to pass the practical element.
Applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) will receive our standard A-level offer for this programme, plus an alternate offer of one A-level grade lower, subject to achieving an A grade in the EPQ. The one grade reduction will not apply to any required subjects.
Applicants can only receive one grade reduction from the published grades, an EPQ grade reduction can’t be applied in addition to other grade reductions made through other schemes such as Contextual Admissions or In2Surrey.
English language requirements
IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall with 6.0 in writing and 5.5 in each other element.
View the other English language qualifications that we accept.
If you do not currently meet the level required for your programme, we offer intensive pre-sessional English language courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.
International Foundation Year
If you are an international student and you don’t meet the entry requirements for this degree, we offer the International Foundation Year at the Surrey International Study Centre. Upon successful completion, you can progress to this degree course.
Selection process
Applicants may be invited to participate in an interview either on campus as part of an offer-holder day or via Teams. During your visit to the University you can find out more about the course and meet staff and students.
Offers are normally made in terms of grades following a successful interview. Depending on qualifications and interview, Grade 5 theory may be included as a condition of the offer.
Recognition of prior learning
We recognise that many students enter their higher education course with valuable knowledge and skills developed through a range of professional, vocational and community contexts.
If this applies to you, the recognition of prior learning (RPL) process may allow you to join a course without the formal entry requirements or enter your course at a point appropriate to your previous learning and experience.
There are restrictions on RPL for some courses and fees may be payable for certain claims. Please see the code of practice for recognition of prior learning and prior credit: taught programmes (PDF) for further information.
Contextual offers
Did you know eligible students receive support through their application to Surrey, which could include a grade reduction on offer?
Fees
Explore UKCISA’s website for more information if you are unsure whether you are a UK or overseas student. View the list of fees for all undergraduate courses.
Payment schedule
- Students with Tuition Fee Loan: the Student Loans Company pay fees in line with their schedule.
- Students without a Tuition Fee Loan: pay their fees either in full at the beginning of the programme or in two instalments as follows:
- 50% payable 10 days after the invoice date (expected to be early October of each academic year)
- 50% in January of the same academic year.
The exact date(s) will be on invoices. Students on part-time programmes where fees are paid on a modular basis, cannot pay fees by instalment.
- Sponsored students: must provide us with valid sponsorship information that covers the period of study.
Professional training placement fees
If you are studying on a programme which contains a Professional Training placement year there will be a reduced fee for the academic year in which you undertake your placement. This is normally confirmed 12 to 18 months in advance, or once Government policy is determined.
Additional costs
It may sometimes be necessary for students taking instrumental or vocal lessons with tutors in the Department (as part of their performance modules) to incur some small travelling expenses to tutors’ homes.
This is only the case with tutors for whom it is advantageous for their students and themselves to teach at home, for example in the case of drum kit and bass guitar tutors.
Scholarships and bursaries
Discover what scholarships and bursaries are available to support your studies.
Apply for your chosen course online through UCAS, with the following course and institution codes.
About the University of Surrey
Need more information?
Contact our Admissions team or talk to a current University of Surrey student online.
Terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the University of Surrey, you are agreeing to follow our policies and procedures, student regulations, and terms and conditions.
We provide these terms and conditions in two stages:
- First when we make an offer.
- Second when students accept their offer and register to study with us (registration terms and conditions will vary depending on your course and academic year).
View our generic registration terms and conditions (PDF) for the 2023/24 academic year, as a guide on what to expect.
Disclaimer
This online prospectus has been published in advance of the academic year to which it applies.
Whilst we have done everything possible to ensure this information is accurate, some changes may happen between publishing and the start of the course.
It is important to check this website for any updates before you apply for a course with us. Read our full disclaimer.