Sound (Design)

Gain a mix of advanced technical skills relating to sound design and advanced audio workflows for film and other visual media, game audio, theatre sound and audio installations.

Learn about contemporary sound design practice to push the boundaries of the field.

We support your continued professional development by working with you to improve both your practical and your academic skills.

Subject areas include:

• Sound sculpting, processing and synthesis
• The language and aesthetics of sound design
• Storytelling and dramaturgy
• Immersive audio.

You can practise a wide range of audio skills including:

• Sound editing / track-laying 
• Dialogue editing
• Foley and field recording
• Advanced audio workflows for:
  
  • film and TV
  • animation
  • gaming
  • sound and audiovisual installations
  • theatre sound
• Dubbing mixing / multi channel speaker arrays
• Surround sound and spatial audio: 
  
  • 5.1
  • Dolby Atmos
  • ambisonics
  • VR
  • binaural audio.

You won’t be expected to cover all of these areas. You’ll be able to use this sound design Master’s degree to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills, experience and high-quality work across them. The course also provides the breadth necessary, where required, to prepare you for PhD research and beyond.

You’ll join a community of students and staff working across a suite of Sound courses, including related pathways in Sound (Production) and Sound (Composition and Sonic Art).

Trimester one

At the beginning of the course you focus on making new work by developing your skills and exploring the contexts in which you work. You begin two modules which run across trimesters one and two. These modules support you over an extended period, focusing on core technical skills and the mutually beneficial links between research and practice. These support the core module in which you produce a portfolio of creative work.

The Sound Skills module is built on the idea that you’ll already have a set of core technical skills that underpin your practice, and offers opportunities to extend your capabilities. You can choose a set of skills projects from a large number of options – these cover skills right across the Sound Design, Sound Production and Composition and Sonic Arts pathways and include (optional) elements of multimedia.

The Research and Practice module helps you interrogate your own practice and think about how it relates to current artistic and cultural contexts, drawing on our programme of visiting practitioners who discuss their work. Focusing on developing skills in postgraduate-level research and writing, it’s designed to give you the tools to reflect on how you work, what you make, and how it exists in the world. It also helps prepare you for further study as a researcher-practitioner if you continue to a PhD.

In the Creative Portfolio module you’ll be involved with the practice of Sound Design. You’ll learn to apply sound design creatively and practically in the contexts of narrative storytelling and sonic immersion. You’ll explore the use of sound to immerse audiences in fictional and non-fictional ‘worlds’ – this could be within a game, film, animation, documentary, or sound installation. The module also involves advanced sound sculpting and processing techniques. You’ll produce a portfolio which focuses on your interests as a sound designer while giving you the space to experiment with new ideas. 

Trimester two

In the second trimester, the Advanced Audio Workflow module explores industry-level immersive audio workflows within the areas of:

• audio post production within film, animation and TV
• game audio implementation 
• sound and audiovisual installations
• theatre sound design.

It covers a wide range of associated skill sets. You’ll be assessed through a Practical Project within one of these areas.

You’ll continue to explore new ways of working through the Sound Skills module, and complete your Research and Practice module with a project summarising the contextual artistic research you’ve undertaken.

Trimester three

You’ll complete the course with an independent research project. While most postgraduate courses include a dissertation, MA Sound (Design) culminates with a large-scale practical project, supported by a reflective journal. The project will allow you to develop your own individual and original research area, through your practice. The exact nature of this work will be negotiated with the module leader. You’ll be able to use it to develop a body of practical work which will serve as a substantial portfolio for the next stage in your career.

This course includes or offers the following modules. Please check the programme document for more information on which modules are core, required or optional.

• Sound Skills
• Practice and Research
• Creative Portfolio
• Advanced Audio Workflows
• Major Project

Our aim is for you to build an extensive portfolio of sound design and audio workflows. For this reason, the majority of assessment is based on your practical coursework.

Some practical projects are accompanied by short, informal written assignments, and for the Research and Practice module, you’ll produce a more substantial paper, which investigates your interests as an artist and helps you understand the contexts in which you work.

You’ll be taught through a mix of activities including lectures, workshops, seminars and online study materials. Throughout the year, we bring in composers, sound artists and industry professionals to talk about their work and deepen your knowledge and understanding of current contexts.

The Major Project is taught through individual tutorials, where the focus will be entirely on your own practice. In the Sound Skills module we make use of a ‘flipped classroom’ model where you work independently through online materials at your own pace, supported by weekly seminars and workshops with tutors.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

We have good links with sound related industries and have regular guest speaker visits from industry practitioners, including Alumni, during the year.

You can use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills. This will equip you for the current employment landscape, where a combination of traditional audio post production roles are required alongside broader practice in sound, music and other media.

Our graduates have had a range of successful careers in:

• Sound design for:
  • film and TV (including documentaries)
  • animation
  • games
  • theatre
• Audio post production
• Sound art and installations
• Composition
• Game audio
• Software development.

The course also provides the breadth necessary for teaching, and provides the basis required for PhD research and beyond.

Based at our Newton Park Campus, you’ll have access to a range of specialist music and sound resources, as well as other University services, venues and facilities. 

• Commons building, with its superb classroom facilities, social spaces, and specialist digital resources.
• Post Production facilities, including: 
  
  • two high-end equipped audio surround suites
  • audio editing suites
  • Foley and dialogue recording room
  • surround viewing theatre
  • video editing/colour grading suites
  • two TV studios.
• Mac workstation room with networked music technology labs with high-spec workstations, running core software including Ableton, Pro Tools, Logic, MAX/MSP, and Adobe.
• Musiclab Studios with three control rooms and a live recording room.
• Michael Tippett Centre, housing a purpose-built concert hall with excellent acoustics and PA.
• University Theatre. 
• Newton Park Library, including a large collection of books, periodicals and CDs with extensive eBook and online journal access.
• Writing and Learning Centre, which provides support for your academic work, including feedback on written drafts and other help with academic writing.
• English Language Unit, which can help you improve your English, reach your full potential and boost your confidence.
• Virtual Learning Environment, which provides online access to learning materials such as lecture slides, assessment information, discussion boards and other resources. 
• Access to our free equipment loan service, which provides a huge variety including field recording, film and other audio related equipment. 
• Access to thousands of business, design and tech courses online via LinkedIn Learning.