BA (Hons) Music & Sound Production (4 Years with Placement)

at Bournemouth University

Course details
On this course you will be taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This will include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians and research students. You will also benefit from regular guest lectures from industry.

 

Contact hours and assessment
Details of the assessment methods and contact hours for each unit of the course can be found in the programme specification. 

 

Year 1

 

Core units

Composition 1: Focus on the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic elements within your track. Learn how tracks are structured in order to elevate your music above that of the competition.

Digital Media Tools: Develop the fundamental technical knowledge and skills to support your creative work and generate content for an online creative portfolio.

Music, Sound & Culture: Develop an understanding of the political, sociological and technological factors that impact upon music by studying contemporary musical genres, histories and associated music subcultures.

Production & Mixing 1: Develop essential music production skills to become a professional producer. This is the first of three units that will enable you to learn how to mix audio from start to finish.

Sound Design: Synthesis: Create your own signature sound to a professional level by learning how to use cutting-edge music software. You will begin building a portfolio of work that you will develop throughout your degree
Studio Techniques: Working in our state-of-the-art studios you will develop the fundamental skills of audio capture, and hardware and software recording. 

 

Year 2

 

Core units

Composition 2: Develop your capacity to experiment and create through a number of compositional tasks. You will gain skills that can be applied in a range of areas enabling  you to produce and compose music for a variety of stylistic briefs.

Creative Studio Production: Working professionally and creatively on a large scale recording you will explore how to get the fullest creative potential from the studio whilst learning how to manage a production project. 

Music Industry Awareness: Learn how to navigate through the music industry by developing an awareness of copyright, royalties and intellectual property. Develop an ability to identify and analyse new business models, technological developments and new revenue streams.

Production & Mixing 2: Developing an understanding of the historical, cultural and technical influences on music production, you will work in our studios to explore the creative potential of hardware and software based production practices. 

Production Portfolio: Responding to a creative brief, you will collaborate within a team to propose, plan and manage a project, developing skills to reflect on your own creative practice.

Sound Design: Audio: Design and create dynamic, complex and unique sounds. Learn to capture and transform sound and implement sound design strategies for music and visual media.

 

Optional Placement Year

You may choose to complete an optional 4-week placement at the end of your second year or an optional (minimum) 30-week work placement which can be carried out anywhere in the world. The placement year offers a chance to gain experience and make contacts for the future.

 

Final Year

 

Core units

Interactive Music: Create your own interactive software/hardware system for making music whilst developing an awareness of the historical and technological impacts of creating music live with technology.   

Production & Mixing 3: MIx and produce music to a professional standard with a critical understanding of current industry practices. Finish your work for a variety of formats and distribution methods. 

Music, Sound & the Moving Image: Learn how to create music and sound for visual media in a surround-sound format. You will develop a range of practical skills in music, sound design and audio post-production.  

Individual Music Project: Create a substantial portfolio of work based on a personal area of interest. Develop and demonstrate your professional skills and understanding related to research in your chosen area of the music industry.

This course requires 104–120 UCAS tariff points including a minimum of 2 A-levels or equivalent. We are happy to consider a combination of qualifications and grades to meet the overall tariff, for example A-levels A*CC, ABC, BBB or BCC, BTECs DDM or DMM. You can use the UCAS calculator to see how your qualifications equate to UCAS tariff points.

 

English language requirements
If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you can understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

 

For September 2022 and and September 2023 entry: IELTS (Academic) 6.0 with minimum 5.5 in each component, or equivalent.

 

If you do not meet the English language requirement for your degree then why not join our Pre-Sessional English course? Successful completion of our Pre-Sessional English course will meet your English language requirement.

All fees are quoted in pounds sterling and are per year. Your tuition fees will be the same for each year of your course. You can find full information about funding your studies and paying your fees in our undergraduate fees and funding section. That’s also where you’ll find information about the scholarships and bursaries on offer.

 

Fees quoted are for tuition only unless stated otherwise, and we’re committed to ensuring there are no hidden extra costs while you’re at university – that’s why we’re clear about what you can expect us to cover, and what your cost of living will be.

 

Additional costs
We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

• Laptops, tablets and mobile devices and any software used on personal devices. Access to a personal computer is strongly recommended for your study. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, visit our website for information regarding hardship funds.
• Accommodation and living costs. Our accommodation price guide can be found on our website 
• Travel costs for optional field trips, outdoor wear and footwear for mandatory and optional field trips (if applicable)
• Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses
• Travel costs to and from the University campus. An annual bus pass can be purchased alongside your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation or may be purchased separately.
• Travel costs to and from your placement (both in the UK and overseas) if this is part of your course of study. .Placement year funding information can be found on our website.
• Clothing or equipment costs required for your placement if this is part of your course of study.
• SportBU membership.

This innovative course is designed to give you all the technical skills and theoretical knowledge you need to succeed in the music and sound production industry. There is growing demand for skilled graduates in this area within the music and entertainment sector, particularly given the expansion of the multimedia environment.

 

Our music graduates possess a diverse skillset, and have gone on to work in the music industry in a wide variety of roles, both within companies and as freelancers.

 

Students from our music courses have gone on to work for organisations such as Absolute Music, BBC, Allen and Heath, It's Done Technology, Sound Tree Music and Focusrite.