Music Technology and Audio Systems

Ever advancing technologies in the recording and audio industries mean there’s a demand for people with the right skills to help develop the next generation of music and audio technology. This course aims to give you these skills and prepare you for a wide range of exciting careers in music production and technical roles within the music and audio industries.

This popular music orientated course combines a broad range of modules covering the technical aspects of audio system development and the creative process of music production. Having access to industry-standard recording studios and design labs you will develop practical skills that will help you stand out from the crowd. Your study will combine audio theory, recording and production, software and hardware development, business and research skills, digital audio signal processing and acoustics. It’s our goal to prepare you for exciting and rewarding careers in areas such as:

* Audio engineering

* Audio software development

* Product development

* Music production

* Live sound production

* TV and film post production

Although this is our most technically demanding course, the emphasis is very much on the practical side of things with a focus on the use and application of equipment and processes used within an audio production environment. You'll study audio electronics and the hardware and software aspects of embedded system design, all related to the latest musical interfacing and audio processing techniques. In addition, you can study modules covering studio and concert hall recording, mixing, live music production, live event audio/visual systems, acoustics and psychoacoustics.

During your studies, you'll also get to study software development and gain valuable programming skills in several different languages which include C, C++, HTML, and Javascript. This will enable you to explore the use of the software in Music Technology applications such as DAWs and Plugins.

You will have access to industry-standard recording studios and design labs where you will develop both your practical and theoretical skills. These facilities consist of nine fully equipped Pro Tools studios, two production studios, live sound facilities, two audio workstation labs, software and electronic design and embedded systems facilities.

The studios are equipped with a variety of industry standard mixing consoles including SSL, a large format 48 channel Audient mixing console, Allan & Heath and Digidesign. We also have industry standard outboard processors, effects and high quality audio plugins from UAD and Waves.

All tutors on the course have worked in the audio and music industry. Many are members of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) and are active researchers in their field presenting work at both national and international level. You’ll have the chance to draw on their expertise, and gain hands-on experience too. We value research in Higher Education and see this as a key part of your studies, so you'll learn valuable research skills as part of the course.

Our graduates have gone on from the course to work for companies like Adlib Audio working on live sound with major touring artists and Calrec Audio working on new digital mixing desks, while others have gone on to technical positions at companies like Abbey Road Studios.

From creating your own audio plugins for music production to building and testing high quality preamplifiers; from using digital technologies for live music production to assessing the acoustic characteristics of a live environment; this course will equip you with the skills you need to evolve the 21st Century music technology industry. ~ Chris Dewey, Lecturer in Music Technology and Production.

Professional links and accreditation:
This BSc(Hons) course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). This means it fully meets the academic requirements for Incorporated Engineer status (IEng).