Music and sound for screen is a huge and varied industry, encompassing films, video games, tv, commercials, social media, branding and much more! London is at the heart of the industry in the UK, so studying with us will give you a head start.
This hands-on MA degree provides the technical skills, musical understanding and knowledge of the industry to forge a career making music and sound for screen media.
This course is aimed at people who want to develop their understanding of and skills in crafting music and sound for a range of screen media, be it writing orchestral scores for film, producing audio content for video games, or making stings, idents and themes for TV/streaming platform productions.
You might come from any of a wide range of backgrounds, from studying composition or songwriting to music/audio production or studying/working in the media industry.
You will be supported by expert staff and practitioners from the industry. Practical work is focussed on real-world professional practice, standards and briefs.
With London on your doorstep, you will be encouraged to explore one of the world’s hubs for screen media production. You will build a portfolio including real-world collaborative projects so you are ready to take on the industry. You will also have the option to take a placement in a media company.
We have links with companies across the media sector, from screen production to music publishing.
*this course is subject to review. We periodically review our programmes to make sure the content and teaching stay up to date and relevant. Please check this page regularly for updates.
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Across the five modules of this MA you will cover everything from making music for linear productions (e.g. tv/film) and non-linear productions (e.g. video games). You will learn technical skills for making music as well as audio production skills tailored to screen media. You will also undertake independent research into a practical or theoretical topic of your choice. Each core module has an industry focus so that you will understand how music and sound is produced in often complex workflows of screen media production.
You will graduate with an array of practical skills that will equip you for a career creating music and sound for screen. You will have a portfolio of work developed toward industry standards and experience of collaborating with screen media producers. You will have a solid grounding in professional audio production with a specific focus on audio for screen.
The course is taught via seminars, practical workshops and tutorials led by staff and industry practitioners. You will be encouraged to collaborate and to learn from your peers.
Assessment focuses on creative, practical work. Many assessments are designed around industry practice so that students gain experience of what is expected in professional life. As such there are no exams.
In the independent study module, you can explore either practical or theoretical topics.
Your final portfolio is a collection of creative projects.
This course is focussed on creators of music and sound for screen, but the industry is extremely broad and there are hundreds of transferable skills enabling careers in many areas of music, and various strands of audio production such as:
Arthur is a composer of orchestral and chamber music whose music is performed across the UK and in the US and Canada and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He was a recipient of the 2020 Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists and is a London Symphony Orchestra Associate Composer and Philharmonia Orchestra ‘Composer of Today’. His chamber opera ‘The Interrogation of Adam Pollo’ won a Director’s Choice Award from the Boston Metro Opera Company in 2014.
Rob has scored many computer games for companies such as Sony, Disney, Supermassive Games, DR Studios, Frontier Games and Blitz Games. Rob also writes for Film and TV and has scored award winning animation for amongst others BBC, ITV, CITV, Channel 4, Five, Discovery, Triffic Films, Baby Cow and Second Home Animation. He is also an internationally acclaimed musician and tours the world as part of legendary guitarist Steve Hackett’s band.
David Clements is a musician, producer, sound engineer and music programmer. As a producer, David has worked for some of the UK’s most prestigious dance record labels including Fabric, Low Pressings, Mute, Renaissance, Pacha, and many others. David has regularly featured in DJ magazine, Mixmag and other dance music journals. As a DJ he performed across the world, including at classic clubs such as Back 2 Basics – Leeds, Propaganda – Moscow, and radio spots on Kiss FM and Radio 1. David has done various sound engineering work in Leeds and London studios covering various projects including film and documentary platforms across a wide range of music styles from electronic music, jazz and pop to contemporary classical.
We’ll carefully manage any future changes to courses, or the support and other services available to you, if these are necessary because of things like changes to government health and safety advice, or any changes to the law.
Any decisions will be taken in line with both external advice and the University’s Regulations which include information on this.
Our priority will always be to maintain academic standards and quality so that your learning outcomes are not affected by any adjustments that we may have to make.
At all times we’ll aim to keep you well informed of how we may need to respond to changing circumstances, and about support that we’ll provide to you.
