Creative Sound and Media Technology (MMus) – (M.A.)

Contents

In full-time mode, the course runs over three trimesters, September to September. The first trimester gives a thorough grounding in research methodology in the Context and Methodology module, and the Skills Portfolio module offers a toolkit of optional skills-based projects designed to allow students to improve on specific technical and creative skills as required.

The second trimester offers a choice; where students can opt to explore sound within a multimedia context in the Visual Music module, or to take the Electroacoustic Composition Techniques module which focuses purely on audio work. All students will take the Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Practice module, which gives an opportunity to work with peers and across subject boundaries, with the possibility of working with other creative disciplines (film- and theatre-makers, dancers and choreographers etc.) as well as musicians.

The third trimester is research-based, with students undertaking an individual Major Project which allows them to explore a chosen area in depth.

Teaching methods and resources
Modules are normally taught via lectures, seminars and practical workshops. The Major Project is research-based and student-led, with supporting tutorials. Visiting speakers and other activities are arranged as appropriate. You are encouraged to make full use of library and IT resources within the University, and ample time will be scheduled in studios and workstation labs for independent study.

Assessment
Assessment takes the form of individual assignments for each module. These generally consist of a portfolio of practical work with supporting written documentation. Context and Methodology and the Major Project also involve small-scale dissertations.

Modules
Trimester 1

* Skills Portfolio

This module is offered to allow students to garner any technical and creative skills they will need for the rest of the course. It is recognised that students at this level will already have a strong skill-set, but also that they may have areas they wish to strengthen, or indeed areas they have not previously engaged with. Students will be offered a selection of skills-based ‘bolt-ons’ – small, self-contained bespoke practical projects based around particular technical (in the broadest sense) skills. The skills on offer will cover a broad range of sound and media skills. This will provide an opportunity for students from different backgrounds to reach a parity in terms of skillset, and will also provide a progression from undergraduate-level project work to the sort of projects that will be undertaken in Semesters 2 and 3. Students will choose three from a wide selection of such projects. In each case, the student will undertake a small practical project and also submit an evaluative log demonstrating their understanding of the technology concerned.

* Context and Methodology

This module is intended to fulfill the requirements of a research methodology module. However, since a large part of the this programme is practice-based, and the methodology for this aspect of students’ work will be covered by other modules in the programme, it is intended to combine a study of research methodology with a study of context in terms of the student’s own practice – specifically of a set of paradigms that characterise the field’s current, creative boundaries. The primary teaching method for this module will be a weekly lecture/seminar, with some tutorial sessions that focus on pathway specialism. The assessment item will be a 5000-word topic review, demonstrating an understanding of the methodologies covered by the module and an awareness of the contextual siting of the student’s own practice.

Trimester 2

* Electroacoustic Composition Techniques (option)

This module will centre around a weekly seminar series. Each seminar will look at a set of techniques and their application within a compositional framework. These will range from classic techniques derived from the fields of Musique Concrete, Elektronische Musik and Computer Music to contemporary techniques from areas such as Acousmatic Art, Soundscape, Microsound and Electronica. Students will produce a portfolio of creative practical work exploring these techniques, as well as a self-evaluative written assignment which will explore the application of these techniques to their individual practice.

* Visual Music (option)

A weekly seminar series will explore the history of visual music, from pre-cinema artists such as Kandinsky and Klee, through Early Abstract Cinema pioneers such as Max Richter, Viking Eggeling and Oskar Fischinger, to the modernist, fluxus and underground artists of the 60s and 70s (the Whitney Brothers, Mark Boyle, Glenn McKay, Nam June Paik etc.). It will also cover contemporary artists such as Kurt Ralske, Jeremy Goldstein and Scott Pagano, as well as more commercial practitioners such as Chris Cunningham, Alex Rutterford and the Pleix and Shynola collectives, and new media creatives. This seminar series will be informed by a range of high-level practical input in areas such as video editing, animation, motion graphics and interativity. Students will produce a portfolio of creative and practical work exploring the concepts and skills explored by the module, and a selective topic review further exploring some of the areas covered by the seminar series.

* Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Practice

This module encourages students to collaborate, with students on the Creative Sound and Media Technology course, with students taking our other MMus courses, or indeed with creative individuals outside of the course. It allows students who are so inclined to look beyond their core discipline and undertake interdisciplinary projects, but can also provide an opportunity to work in new ways within their core discipline through collaborative practice. Delivery will centre around small-group seminars (focused on particular interest areas), and assessment will be based on a portfolio of creative work and a self-evaluation/collaborative process document.

Trimester 3

* Major Project

This double module represents the culmination of the MMus, and a chance for students to work in a research-oriented environment dependent largely on personal direction and working methods. Students will use the skills acquired in their undergraduate work and the first two trimesters to produce a substantial portfolio of practical creative work. The exact nature of this work is to be negotiated with the module leader, but it must represent the quantity of work required by a double module. The practical portfolio will be supported by a dissertation of 5-8000 words. It is envisaged that this dissertation will be used to contextualise the practical work in terms of existing ‘repertoire’ and current practice, and to discuss any issues raised through the creative process. The module will be largely student-led, with most of the work centred around individual practice. Students will receive tutorial support at the beginning and end of the module.