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What next for you? > BA (Hons) Music Production for Media > BA (Hons) Music Production for Media

BA (Hons) Music Production for Media

The BA (Hons) Music Production for Media course has been developed following consultation with music industry producers, musicians, engineers and composers. Music industry entrepreneur Harvey Goldsmith has contributed to the development of the course. It is also supported by the Ertegun Foundation, that was set-up by the late Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records who signed major bands such as Led Zeppelin. The Ertegun Foundation will be providing financing for scholarships, marketing and resources.

The course is intended for a new breed of musician who recognises and embraces the radical changes that are occurring in the music industry. It is aimed at the music performers, producers and composers who wish to take their musical learning and adapt it to a number of uses in order to forge a career that will combine both creativity and business acumen.

Opportunities for composers and sound designers have never been so diverse, with original music and sound design required for film, television, radio, advertising and websites, as well as for live performance. However, achieving success amidst fierce competition requires a unique combination of skills; musical talent alone is no longer enough. Those that find success combine raw musical talent with business acumen: an understanding of economic models, both current and future, made possible through the use of digital distribution technologies.

In an industry where the majority of workers are self-employed, modern composers must also be able to manage themselves, their intellectual property and their finances.

This course aims to integrate non-subject specific skills with focused practical learning, including business and administration skills that includes project management, and learning to innovate and problem-solving.

You will work collaboratively with students from other disciplines, and in particularly those on the related BA (Hons) Sound Design course as both courses share a variety of teaching, projects and a range of media products.

Ravensbourne has built up an on-going partnership with the London based arts radio station Resonance 104.4FM. The station, which has an audience reach of 100,000+, regularly broadcasts student work. During 2010-11 BA (Hons) Sound Design and BA (Hons) Music Production for Media students broadcast two hours of as-live programming as part of the Radio Production unit, eight unique band recordings and mixes as part of Mastering the Recording Studio, a 90-minute version of Marlowe’s ‘Dr Faustus’ as part of Audio Drama Production, and a live three hour programme.

Level 1

In level 1 the course aims to develop your compositional ability and introduces you to the basics of composing, recording, mixing and mastering music alongside business and contextual studies.

You will study the following subject areas at level 1:
contextual studies: theory and context; opportunities, trends and ideas; professional context; communication and visualisation; musical language; composition and production skills: popular music; laptop musicianship; and recording studio techniques.

Level 2

Level 2 allows you to apply your compositional abilities to both linear media (drama, film and documentary) as well as interactive, and also introduces orchestral scoring techniques while further developing your entrepreneurial acumen and critical analysis skills.

You will study the following subject areas at level 2:
contextual studies: debate and polemic; contextual studies: dissertation preparation; marketing strategy; advertising and promotions; sound and music for moving image; composition and production skills: electronic arrangement; sound and music for film; and sound and music for interactive media.

Level 3

Level 3 provides the opportunity to study a specific creative industry in considerable depth and offers flexibility in applying compositional skills in a professional context through the portfolio of collaborative work and a self-initiated individual project. The final business and enterprise unit effectively prepares you to emerge into a highly competitive marketplace.

You will study the following subject areas at level 3:
contextual studies: dissertation; enterprise and entrepreneurship – making it happen; major project report; composition and production skills: orchestral Hollywood; modes of production; major project; and negotiated individual project.

Programme Specification

Click here for the full programme specification.

Contextual studies, and enterprise and entrepreneurship

The adaptability necessary to succeed as a design or media specialist comes not only from deep disciplinary knowledge. Graduates also need a breadth of knowledge and skills which some commentators have referred to as being ‘T-Shaped’. These additional skills include the ability to work with and increasingly work across disciplines, entrepreneurial attitudes and a knowledge of the business contexts in which they will operate. All undergraduate Ravensbourne programmes incorporate curriculum and learning activities designed to develop these skills in our students. Cross-disciplinary collaborative projects offer students the opportunity to work in teams with other disciplines.

The course structure draws on the creative synergies and frictions of the different disciplines at Ravensbourne and provides physical and intellectual opportunities for students to meet, learn and work together with students from different disciplines.

Students study subject specialist units, shared units and core units. Subject specialist units focus on subject specialist methodologies, technologies and processes and offer project-based learning that simulates contemporary professional practice.

Shared units are units which bring together courses in analogous specialist subject areas and allow students to gain skills common across these specialist subject areas, or to develop skills complimentary to those of the other specialisms and to work together on collaborative projects in the kinds of interdisciplinary teams common in industry. They therefore begin to introduce students to the real world context of specialism, a world where inevitably specialists work in inter-disciplinary teams.

Core units provide fundamental knowledge, skills and contexts which we believe are necessary for all the creative professionals who graduate from Ravensbourne and set students up with a model of the types of knowledge they will need continuously to update throughout their careers. Core units equip students with the ideation, visualisation and communication skills required in the creative process characteristic of design and media industries and common across our disciplines. They also provide the conceptual skills, theoretical frameworks and professional contexts necessary for students to position their work and develop their professional identity. Additionally, they ensure that students gain the promotional, marketing and enterprise skills necessary to make success happen in the real world.

Three years full-time

Ravensbourne’s BA (Hons) Music Production for Media course is available as a full time three-year course.

Assessment

You will be assessed through the completion of practical and written work including essays and a range of individual or group artefacts, presentations and project reports that focus on practical and business skills. There will also be critical self and peer-evaluation to allow you to reflect on your development, and support to give you feedback and help you succeed.

Learning and support

The course’s learning and support methods aim to develop you both technically and professionally. You will learn through tutorials, master classes, focusing on specific creative and technical skills, workshops, work experience and a mix of group and individual projects. Learning is facilitated by well-qualified teaching staff, sessional staff and visiting guest speakers who bring an important industry perspective to the course.

Laptops

You are required to own or have access to a laptop from the beginning of your studies. Laptops are an essential tool to support personalised learning and give you access, when and where you want it, to many of the creative tools and educational resources you will encounter during your studies.

Laptops are used extensively in all of our courses. You will need one to access our network, and to research, communicate and collaborate during your studies.

Career prospects

The course prepares you for employment creating music as both a self-contained commercial product and in combination with other art forms across a range of recorded and live media. Potential careers include: film and TV music composition; music production for videogames and interactive media; recording studio engineers; music arrangers; performing musicians; music composition and production for live performance and theatre; musical rights, and events management.

You could become a...

View >Soundtrack Composer

View >Music Producer

View >Performing Musician

...and many more!