Sound (Design)

The course delivers a mixture of advanced technical skills related to sound design and audio post production for film and other visual media. It also provides creatively-oriented insights into contemporary sound design practice and encourages students to push the boundaries of the field. Subject areas include:

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

This is in addition to a wide range of more conventional post-production skillsets such as:

• Sound editing
• Foley and field recording
• Production workflows
• Track-laying
• Dubbing mixing
• Surround sound and VR audio.

You won’t be expected to cover all of these areas. You’ll be able to use the course to develop an individually-tailored portfolio of skills, experience and top-level work across them.

MA Sound (Design) is part of a suite of postgraduate courses available across music and sound, operating alongside "sister" pathways in Sound (Production) and Sound (Arts), which allow further specialism in these areas.

Trimester one

Gain the skills you’ll need to fulfil the rest of the course.

The Skills Portfolio module is built on the idea that you’ll already have technical skills in this area, but that students entering the course have differing skillsets depending on background. It therefore allows you to choose a handful of skills projects from a large number of options – these cover skills right across the Sound (Arts), Sound (Design) and Sound (Production) pathways and include (optional) elements of multimedia.

The Research Methodology and Context module develops skills in postgraduate-level research and writing. It is designed to give you the tools for an onward journey in academia, but not to be, in the colloquial sense, "academic". It encourages your research to be around the practical and creative elements core to your practice, and therefore to feed your creative work.

Trimester two

Builds on the knowledge and skills gained in trimester one.

The core module in the second trimester is the Sound Design Practice module. It explores the creative and practical application of Sound Design within a visual narrative and storytelling context. A particular focus will be on the potential of using sound as a tool for narrative storytelling as well as a vehicle to communicate meaning. The module also involves advanced sound sculpting and processing techniques.

Alongside this core module, you’ll be offered a wide range of options. The Post Production module explores an industry-level workflow for Audio Post within film and visual media and covers a wide range of associated skillsets. Intertextuality in Sound Production, from the Sound (Production) pathway, explores the overlap between Urban Music production and what are considered more experimental genres. The Visual Music module, from the Sound (Arts) pathway, explores the idea that musical thinking can be extended to the visual, and encourages students to develop multimedia projects that explore this idea. There are also choices in Composition, Performance, Musicology, and Professional Practice.

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 account.

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.

• Research Methodologies and Context
• Sound Arts Skills
• Sound Design Skills
• Sound Production Skills
• Sound Production Creative Project
• Sonic Architecture
• Sound Design Practice
• Intertextuality In Sound Production
• Visual Music
• Post Production
• Major Project

Assessment is mainly based on practical coursework, with the aim to build an extensive portfolio of sound design and post production work. Practical coursework is typically supported by a written commentary or evaluation. The Research Methodology and Context module is assessed through a more substantial written paper.

The delivery of the course involves a mixture of teaching and learning activities, including lectures, workshops, seminars, online study materials, and guest speaker sessions.

The workshop/seminar sessions will include ongoing peer review and tutor support opportunities. Some parts of the course are delivered using a "flipped classroom" model, where students independently work through online study materials and tasks, which are followed up by practical support workshops.

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

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.

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

Our graduates have a range of successful careers in production, composition, music for film and TV, sound design for moving image and games, sound art, software development, engineering, further education, higher education, and research.

As an MA Sound (Design) student you’ll be taught at Newton Park campus. You’ll benefit from access to:

• Commons building 
• Post Production facilities including: two high-end equipped audio surround suites, two audio editing suites, Foley and dialogue recording room, surround viewing theatre, eight video editing/ colour grading suites, and two TV studios.
• Compton Musiclab Studios with three control rooms and live recording room
• Twiverton Mac workstation room with all the software required for the course
• Newton Park library
• Our Virtual Learning Environment.

MA Sound (Design) students can hire out equipment using SISO, Bath Spa University’s free equipment loan service. We provide a huge variety of equipment, including field recording equipment, film equipment and other audio related equipment.