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Music Technology and Composition BMus(Hons)

2024-25 (also available for 2025-26)

It’s not too late to apply for September.
It’s not too late to apply for September.

Start date

16 September 2024

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years inc. placement year

Entry requirements

A Level - BBB-BCC

BTEC - DDM-DMM

See full entry requirements

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. This course is accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES), which means it is approved by leading industry professionals. 
  2. You’ll have the opportunity to work with commercially successful tutors, internationally recognised researchers, and visiting artists. Past visiting artists have included John Warhurst, Oscar and Bafta winning Sound Editor (and Huddersfield alumnus).  
  3. With 21 different studios on campus, you'll have plenty of recording and composition studio space to use; we have a huge range of digital audio workstations (DAWs), plug-ins, synths, mics, and more. 

On our Music Technology and Composition BMus(Hons) course, you’ll develop your skills in both acoustic and digital audio workstation (DAW)-based music creation, as well as in production and performance. You’ll gain a broad view of composing with technology, exploring everything from writing for specific instruments, to using the studio and computers as tools to manipulate sound and multimedia.

The course will give you opportunities to develop a career in composition, sound, sonic arts, or music production and you’ll learn in state-of-the-art professional-standard facilities. With 21 different studios, you'll have plenty of recording and composition studio space to use. We also have a huge range of DAWs, plug-ins, synths, mics, and processing equipment, all of which is regularly upgraded to ensure it’s up to date with industry standards.

Why study Music Technology and Composition BMus(Hons)

Love music? Or perhaps you have a passion for creative music technology, or music composition? On this course, you’ll have the opportunity to work with commercially successful tutors, internationally recognised researchers, and visiting artists who will help you build on your creative talents.

This music technology course is accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES). The course is, therefore, approved by leading industry professionals, providing an indicator of quality to you and prospective employers.

During your studies, you can work with commercially successful tutors, internationally recognised researchers, and visiting artists. Past visiting artists have included John Warhurst, Oscar and Bafta winning Sound Editor (and Huddersfield alumnus), and Nitin Sawhney, producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and orchestral composer.

You’ll be joining a large community of music and Music Technology students on the course, too, including:

  • aspiring classical, jazz and pop musicians
  • recording engineers
  • programmers
  • audio electronic experts
  • interface designers.

As part of the course, you’ll have the chance to enhance your learning and enjoyment of the subject by exploring the latest new music in the annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival too. You’ll also experience electronic music in action at the Electric Spring Festival.

Course detail

Core modules:

Sonic Arts and Electronica 1

This module focuses on sound as a creative medium. As a basis for your own creative work, you will explore electronic music from a range of contexts, including electronica, EDM, IDM, acousmatic music and sound installation work. You will be equipped with the skills to use technology in a creative and imaginative way, leading towards a portfolio of original pieces that demonstrate your awareness of contemporary and historical trends in the sonic arts.

Composition 1

Seminars and small group tutorials will help you explore the fundamentals of musical composition - melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre and texture - supported by performances and workshops by visiting artists and ensembles. Preliminary exercises will help you develop your creative skills towards an original portfolio of compositions for piano, voice, and strings.

Desktop Music Production 1

This module will introduce you to relevant techniques and technologies for computer-based music production, including sequencing, sampling, arrangement, and a variety of other sound processing techniques. A range of practical work - both technical and creative - will develop your critical listening and production skills, and seminars will support you in applying these techniques to your own creative work.

Introduction to Music Research

You will learn how to be a successful and confident independent researcher, gaining the skills to investigate music and musicians across a range of styles and genres appropriate to your course. Lectures and seminars will explore the musical links between aesthetics, society, politics, and technology, and you will focus your coursework on repertoire and issues that matter to you.

Option modules:

Choose two from a list which may include:

Studio Engineering and Mixing Essentials

You will be introduced to the core concepts, theory and practical principles involved in producing, engineering and mixing popular music. You will gain practical experience in an analogue/digital recording studio, developing your ability to record and overdub a variety of sources. For the mix stage of the production process, you will then review the fundamental approaches and techniques involved in effectively processing these signals.

Introduction to Analysis

This module will provide you with a grounding in the basic skills of musical analysis through the study of classical music of the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Both printed scores and recordings will be studied in order for you to develop the complementary skills of score-based analysis and of aural analysis and critical listening.

Performance Skills 1

You will gain hands-on experience of a variety of key musical skills: improvisation; aural awareness; ensemble performance; and evaluating your own and others' performances. A wide range of styles and genres will be explored, and you will work with musicians relevant to your specialism as a pop, classical, or jazz performer.

Entry requirements

BBB-BCCat A Level .

120-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications alongside evidence of prior Music or Music Technology experience (which could be offered either through formal qualifications or a portfolio of creative work).

Merit at T Level.

DDM-DMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.

  • Practical and theory music grades 6-8 will be accepted in the total points.
  • Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
  • 120-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

Entry is also possible for applicants who don't hold standard UK qualifications.

International and mature applicants who don't hold standard UK qualifications can provide a portfolio to demonstrate skills relevant to the course. You can do this by sending us links to any production and/or recording work you have created or collaborated in.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our Where are you from information pages.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

Placements


This course offers you the opportunity to take an optional one-year (48 week) work placement after your second year, in the UK or abroad. This provides an opportunity for you to relate theory to practice and to develop skills in a real work environment. Our teaching staff have developed excellent links with local employers and will help you to find a suitable placement if necessary. Previous placement providers have included Warner Music, Pinewood Studios (Avid), WigWam, Angel Studios, Shoot Productions, the Institute for Music/Acoustic Research and Co-ordination (IRCAM) in Paris, as well as schools, audio electronics companies, radio stations and various media and production houses.

Working for Warner was a great pleasure and a very eye-opening opportunity that allowed me to learn the ins and outs of the music industry. Without this opportunity to learn and have the opportunity to network, I don’t know where I would be currently.

Laurence

Lawrence Berry, Creative Music Technology BMus(Hons) completed placement at Warner

Music Technology Department

Take a look what the Music Technology department at the University of Huddersfield has to offer, from student experiences to facilities. Click images to find out more.

Your Career


Previous graduates on similar courses have gone on to work in a range of careers including studio managers, post-production, freelance engineers, programmers, sound design and professional audio sales. A selection of companies that have employed Huddersfield graduates in recent years include Abbey Road Studios, Calrec Audio, ITV, BBC, Kiss FM, British Grove Studios and Metrophonic.** There is support available after you graduate from our 3M Buckley Innovation Centre where you can get advice on starting your own business. The university also supports students to progress to postgraduate and research study.

*Percentage of our undergraduate students from this subject area go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

**Source: LinkedIn

98% Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Research excellence

Research plays an important role in informing all our teaching and learning activities. Through research our staff remain up-to-date with the latest developments in their field, which means you develop knowledge and skills that are current and highly relevant to industry. Our staff are recognised as leading figures in their fields, as evidenced by major commissions, performances, recordings, and publications.

In the 2021 REF, 89% of music research at Huddersfield was judged to be Internationally Excellent, with 47% of the overall submission ranked as ‘World-Leading’. In addition to a very strong profile of individual research outputs, Huddersfield’s research environment for music received the maximum 4* rating (one of only four institutions to do so), and was ranked above Royal Holloway, Cambridge, Manchester and Oxford. The impact of Huddersfield’s music research received a top-ten ranking. This acknowledged the breadth and reach of research at Huddersfield, with case studies encompassing the new discipline of sound archaeology, New York Experimentalism, and strategies for supporting women and girls working in music technology.

For more information, please refer to our research pages.

Important information

We will always try to deliver your course as described on this web page. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below.

Changes to a course you have applied for

If we propose to make a major change to a course that you are holding an offer for, then we will tell you as soon as possible so that you can decide whether to withdraw your application prior to enrolment.

Cancellation of a course you have applied for

Although we always try and run all of the course we offer, we may occasionally have to withdraw a course you have applied for or combine your programme with another programme if we consider this reasonably necessary to ensure a good student experience, for example if there are not enough applicants to ensure you have a good learning experience. Where this is the case we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible and we will contact you to discuss other suitable courses with us we can transfer your application to. If we notify you that the course you have applied to has been withdrawn or combined, and you do not wish to transfer to another course with us, you may cancel your application and we will refund you any deposits or fees you have paid to us.

Changes to your course after you enrol as a student

We will always try to deliver your course and other services as described. However, sometimes we may have to make changes as set out below:

Changes to option modules

Where your course allows you to choose modules from a range of options, we will review these each year and change them to reflect the expertise of our staff, current trends in research and as a result of student feedback or demand for certain modules. We will always ensure that you have a range of options to choose from and we will let you know in good time the options available for you to choose for the following year.

Major changes

We will only make major changes to the core curriculum of a course or to our services if it is necessary for us to do so and provided such changes are reasonable. A major change in this context is a change that materially changes the services available to you; or the outcomes, or a significant part, of your course, such as the nature of the award or a substantial change to module content, teaching days (part time provision), classes, type of delivery or assessment of the core curriculum.

For example, it may be necessary to make a major change to reflect changes in the law or the requirements of the University’s regulators; to meet the latest requirements of a commissioning or accrediting body; to improve the quality of educational provision; in response to student, examiners’ or other course evaluators’ feedback; and/or to reflect academic or professional changes within subject areas. Major changes may also be necessary because of circumstances outside our reasonable control, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach, where they have a particular specialism that can’t be adequately covered by other members of staff; or due to damage or interruption to buildings, facilities or equipment.

Major changes would usually be made with effect from the next academic year, but this may not always be the case. We will notify you as soon as possible should we need to make a major change and will carry out suitable consultation with affected students. If you reasonably believe that the proposed change will cause you detriment or hardship we will, if appropriate, work with you to try to reduce the adverse effect on you or find an appropriate solution. Where an appropriate solution cannot be found and you contact us in writing before the change takes effect you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the University without liability to the University for future tuition fees. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

Termination of course

In exceptional circumstances, we may, for reasons outside of our control, be forced to discontinue or suspend your course. Where this is the case, a formal exit strategy will be followed and we will notify you as soon as possible about what your options are, which may include transferring to a suitable replacement course for which you are qualified, being provided with individual teaching to complete the award for which you were registered, or claiming an interim award and exiting the University. If you do not wish to take up any of the options that are made available to you, then you can cancel your registration and withdraw from the course without liability to the University for future tuition fees and you will be entitled to a refund of all course fees paid to date. We will provide reasonable support to assist you with transferring to another university if you wish to do so.

When you enrol as a student of the University, your study and time with us will be governed by a framework of regulations, policies and procedures, which form the basis of your agreement with us. These include regulations regarding the assessment of your course, academic integrity, your conduct (including attendance) and disciplinary procedure, fees and finance and compliance with visa requirements (where relevant). It is important that you familiarise yourself with these as you will be asked to agree to abide by them when you join us as a student. You will find a guide to the key terms here, along with the Student Protection Plan, where you will also find links to the full text of each of the regulations, policies and procedures referred to. You should read these carefully before you enrol. Please note that this information is subject to change and you are advised to check our website regularly for any changes before you enrol at the University. A person who is not party to this agreement shall not have any rights under or in connection with it. Only you and the University shall have any right to enforce or rely on the agreement.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the principal regulator for the University.

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