FdA - Music and Sound Production

This Foundation Degree-level course focuses on providing students with the skills that they need to meet the needs of clients in live music production, studio recording and media-based contexts. You'll develop your potential, further your knowledge and refine your skills in demanding industry. In the UK, we listen to an estimated 60 billion hours of music a year – that’s the equivalent of seven million years As a student on FdA Music and Sound Production, you'll study units embracing studio production, live music applications, audio electronics and sound synthesis. The course explores analogue recording processes, as well as digital. You'll produce work using several of the major music software platforms in current use and will develop academic knowledge of music technology from historical, cultural, social and economic perspectives. It's intended that the course will provide you with a vehicle for creative experimentation as well as training to be able to provide industry applications. You'll also have the option to progress to a BA (Hons) degree by studying for an additional year on our exclusive top-up course. This course aims to expose students to the diverse nature of the challenges faced by those who take on the role of music producer. The working producer may encounter different studio environments, different technologies, different client demands and many different forms of music. Therefore, students seeking a career in this role should prepare to develop skills that are entrepreneurial, freelance and independent – flexible to the needs of clients, creative and contributory with an awareness of culture, and firmly based in theory, practice, and later, experience. To this end, students will be studying a specialist programme focused on music production that offers a broad but interconnected selection of units. This course offers students opportunities to explore old and new technologies, different music forms, recording as documentary, sound as a function within other media artefacts, and music and sound as art and performance (commercial and otherwise). We believe that the ‘craft skills’ of music production and the identity of the music producer should be founded on knowledge and learning through practical application. As part of this course, and in replication of the ’real world’ students will find themselves collaborating with their peers from other disciplines (Dance, Film and Events) to complete project work that places the music producer in a role that is less central than that experienced in the recording industry. There'll be opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning to assure preparation for the wider artistic climate and the development of a clear perception of the role of the sound producerpractitioner within different contexts. The self-confidence required to contribute to collaborative, time-bound creative projects is developed through a secure understanding of the equipment, its function and application, and repeated practice in the working environment. Students will therefore be supported in the development of their strengths, the improvement of their weaknesses and the creation of new opportunities through exposure to a wide range of teaching methods, studio experiences, staff expertise and visiting professionals.