About the course
Reasons to study
- Accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES), our Creative Music Production BA(Hons) course will provide the foundations for a rewarding music production or music technology career.
- You’ll learn in state-of-the-art, professional-standard facilities. There are 21 different studios, so you’ll have plenty of recording and composition spaces to use; our facilities are home to a range of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), plug-ins, synths, mics, and processing equipment.
- You’ll have the opportunity to work with commercially successful tutors, internationally- recognised researchers, and visiting artists, with past visitors including Richie Hawtin, award winning techno producer (and Huddersfield honorary graduate).
Ready to enhance your artistic potential with advanced production and recording techniques? If you want to hone your creative skills, by composing, performing, and innovating in our studios, the Creative Music Production BA(Hons) degree is for you.
On the course, you’ll learn to write original new music using the computer, recording studio, and other analogue and digital music technology. You’ll study DAW or hardware-based sequencing, sampling, synthesis, and sound design.
Whether you’re interested in house, techno, drum and base, hitpop electronica or something completely new, you'll develop advanced techniques ready for work in the music industry. You can also secure both short and year-long industry placements to enhance your prospects.
Why study Creative Music Production BA(Hons)
Accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES), our Creative Music Production BA(Hons) is taught from approved professional-standard facilities. There are 21 different studios, so you’ll have plenty of recording and composition studio space to use; our facilities are home to a range of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), plug-ins, synths, mics, and outboard equipment, all of which is regularly upgraded, to ensure it’s up to date with industry standards.
The course will provide you with industry-standard skills and highly developed creative abilities, preparing you for a range of jobs. These include: * DJ * producer * sound designer * studio manager * mix engineer * remixer * events technician * roles in radio, film, TV, or the media.
You’ll have the opportunity to work with commercially successful tutors, internationally- recognised researchers and visiting artists, who can help you build on your production talents. Past visiting artists include D.Ramirez (releases on Tool Room records and Defected Records), John Warhurst (Oscar and Bafta winning Sound Editor, and Huddersfield alumnus) and Nitin Sawhney (producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and orchestral composer).
You’ll also explore the latest new music in the annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and experience cutting-edge experimental artists at our Electric Spring Festival.
Following this degree, you can explore a broad range of options, from performing and songwriting to recording, music composition, studio production, and live sound. You might also consider further study – in our MA in Creative Music Production, for example – or you may want to explore the vast opportunities offered by the wider creative industries in the UK and internationally.
Course detail
Core modules:
Music, Culture and Society
This module will introduce you to a range of approaches to studying music and music technology. You will develop research, source-handling, evaluation, and critical-thinking skills and apply these to repertoires, cultures, and issues appropriate to your degree course. Linked lectures and seminars will increase your knowledge of key themes and concerns in music studies, give you opportunities to debate your ideas with others, and develop your confidence as an increasingly independent researcher.
Desktop Music Production 1
Studio Engineering and Mixing Essentials
Songwriting 1
Performance Skills 1
Audio Technology
Core modules:
Studio Production and Spatial Recording Techniques
You will be introduced to advanced concepts, theory and practical use of a broad range of equipment used for recording, editing and mixing sound. You will gain practical experience of sound recording in analogue/digital recording studios, in a concert hall and on location. Your ability to edit multitrack audio using advanced post production techniques will be developed, as will the skills required to capture accurate stereo and multichannel recordings in a concert hall environment.
Desktop Music Production 2
Inside the Music Business
Production Analysis and Critical Listening for the Sound Engineer
Option modules:
Choose two from a list which may include:
Performance Skills 2
You will choose one practical option from an array of ensembles, bands, and approaches to performance. Options typically range from conducting, music theatre, and improvisation through to groups like orchestra, big band, brass band, classical and pop choirs, and a huge variety of pop, rock, soul, funk, and folk bands. Specialist performance tutors will coach you towards assessed performances that are open to the public.
Songwriting 2
Sonic Arts and Electronica
Music for the Moving Image B
Live Music Production B
This module will provide you with understanding and practical experience of Live Sound, in terms of system design, setup and operation. You will work with industry-relevant equipment on a variety of systems from different manufacturers. Key principles of routing and mixing (both front-of-house and monitors) will be covered in lectures, with regular practical workshops supporting theoretical content. You will learn to handle all aspects of the production of full-band events.
Choose one from:
Arts and Humanities Placement
The placement year is your chance to gain hands-on experience and build on the skills you’ve developed in your first two years of study. You’ll spend up to 48 weeks (minimum 36 weeks) in a graduate-level role, sharpening your professional skills, exploring career options, and boosting your future job prospects. During your placement, you'll reflect on your performance, develop real-world skills, and learn to approach your role with a critical eye. Your placement will be monitored, and you’ll be assessed on your achievements, setting you up for success in your final year and beyond.
Core modules:
Final Year Project
You will work individually, or in small groups (of normally no more than six), devising, managing, delivering and evaluating your project. You will be assigned an individual tutor, to whom the project proposal is submitted for approval and who is responsible for supporting your independent work through the module, and overseeing the assessment of your project outcomes.
Composition Project
Music Industry and Professional Skills
Option modules:
Choose two from a list which may include:
Performance Skills 3
You will choose one practical option from an array of ensembles, bands, and approaches to performance. Options typically range from conducting, music theatre, and improvisation through to groups like orchestra, big band, brass band, classical and pop choirs, and a huge variety of pop, rock, soul, funk, and folk bands. Specialist performance tutors will coach you towards assessed performances that are open to the public.
Sound Design for Image B
Composition Project (Extended)
Advanced Creative Projects in Musical Cultures
Advanced Research in Musical Cultures
Advanced Music Production and Mastering
Sound for Film
An average 24.4%* of the study time on this course is spent with your tutors (either face to face or online) in lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops etc. Teaching is split between large group lectures and computer and studio based seminars, workshops and masterclasses. Final year studio tutorials are in small groups of one to six students and there's a welcome community of peer evaluation and feedback that is nurtured at all levels across all degree courses.
*based on 23/24 programme specifications.
Study and assessments will be based on your choice of modules; this can include performances, compositions, presentations, examinations, learning journals, portfolios, recitals, essays and technical documents. The final year large project is based on your choice of specialism. Your module specification/course handbook will provide full details of the assessment criteria applying to your course.
Feedback (either written and/or verbal) is normally provided on all coursework submissions within three term time weeks – unless the submission was made towards the end of the session in which case feedback would be available on request after the formal publication of results. Feedback on final coursework is available on request after the publication of results.
Full-time or part-time study
This course is not available to study on a part-time basis on an evening, at the weekend, or via distance learning.
Further Information
The teaching year normally starts in September with breaks at Christmas and Easter, finishing with a main examination/assessment period around May/June. Timetables are normally available one month before registration.
Your course is made up of modules and each module is worth a number of credits. Each year you study modules to the value of 120 credits, adding up to 360 credits in total for a bachelor’s qualification. These credits can come from a combination of core, compulsory and optional modules but please note that optional modules may not run if we do not have enough students interested.
If you achieve 120 credits for the current stage you are at, you may progress to the next stage of your course, subject to any professional, statutory or regulatory body guidelines.
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The University of Huddersfield has been rated Gold in all three aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023. We were the only university in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West to achieve Gold ratings in all three aspects of the TEF among those announced in September 2023. In fact only 13 Universities, out of the 96 that were announced in September 2023, were Gold in all three ratings.
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Further proof of teaching excellence: our staff rank in the top three in England for the proportion who hold doctorates, who have higher degrees, and hold teaching qualifications (HESA 2024). So, you’ll learn from some of the best, helping you to be the best.
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We are joint first in the country for National Teaching Fellowships, which mark the UK’s best lecturers in Higher Education, winning a total of 23 since 2008 (2024 data).
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We won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award, recognising the University’s commitment to world-class teaching and its success in developing students as independent learners and critical thinkers (Higher Education Academy, 2017).
Read more about academic staff at the University of Huddersfield
At Huddersfield, you'll study the Global Professional Award (GPA) alongside your degree* so that you gain valuable qualities and experiences that could help you to get the career you want, no matter what your field of study is. On completion of the Award, you'll receive a GPA certificate from the University of Huddersfield, alongside the specialist subject skills and knowledge you gain as part of your degree, which may help to set you apart from other graduates.
Giving students access to the Global Professional Award is one of the reasons the University won ‘Best University Employability Strategy’ award at the National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2021. Find out more on the Global Professional Award webpage.
*full-time, undergraduate first degrees with a minimum duration of three years. This does not include postgraduate, foundation, top-up, accelerated or apprenticeship degrees.
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. |
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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 International Entry Requirements page.
Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.
Facilities
Our Department
Take a look at what studying in the Music Technology department at the University of Huddersfield has to offer, from student experiences to facilities. Click images to find out more.
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
Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons