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Bath Spa University School of Music and Performing Arts www.bathspa.ac.uk Commercial Music BA (Hons) Creative Music Technology BA (Hons)Why choose this course? Our programme is clearly focused on the creative application of technology within a wide range of music, sound, broadcast and multimedia contexts. Our students enthusiastically share a common commitment to exploring and harnessing personal creative outcomes and developing innovative approaches to their work. You'll no doubt be obsessively interested in music technology. You'll work and learn with students who are equally committed, and be taught by staff with very high levels of professional practice and expertise. You'll have access to superb equipment and facilities, and you'll be part of a larger vibrant community of students and staff collaborating across subject boundaries. About the course Current and emerging techniques and technologies are studied within the context of their creative applications. Intended primarily for aspiring creative users of these technologies, the programme is ear-led. We do not describe music in 'traditional notation' terms. Though many students will have high levels of instrumental skills and accompanying theory, others will view software and hardware as their 'instrument'. You will be encouraged to question assumptions, work across media, formulate independent judgement in an environment that supports and values personal creative development. In the first two years the modules are compulsory and create a shared content from which to navigate the final year. Year 3 offers several modules from which to select, and you will be expected to manage a larger scale supported project of your choice. Across a three-year trajectory, you will acquire a rich understanding of both music technology and interdisciplinary multimedia. Sample modules: Year 1: Synthesis and Sampling; Creative Practice; Critical Theory; Sound Design for Moving Image. Year 2: Digital Audio Techniques; Sonic Art; Audio Effects Programming delete this and replace with Digital Signal Processing; Multimedia Studio; Professional Development. Year 3: Devised Project; Why choose this course? This course is aimed at original songwriters, musicians and composers who wish to develop their music to a professional level, and gain an in-depth understanding of the workings of the music industry. All students will be expected to perform on stage as part of an ensemble. You will be encouraged to develop as a songwriter and performer, but always with an awareness of the cultural, semiotic and marketing dimensions of your musical output. The course develops entrepreneurial business perspectives whilst deepening critical and academic awareness of the cultures that surround popular music and mass media. The industrial 'management' strand of the course keeps you up-to-date with the workings of the music business. You have access to industry-standard equipment throughout your course - there are five fully-equipped digital recording studios, running Pro Tools HD and Logic Pro on high-end Apple Macs. There are three additional Apple Mac Pro Tools/Logic Pro labs, each supporting sampling, synthesis and hard disk recording; a total of 50 pro audio setups. Each of our five band rehearsal spaces includes PA system with microphones, drum kit, guitar and bass backline/FX and performance keyboards.About the course Each term you will study three modular 'strands' that inter-relate as you develop your artistic, academic and management abilities. Your first year models the 'developmental' stages of a record deal, with its focus on songwriting, performance and production: the raw material that will define the launch and release cycles. During the second year, you write, produce, and record your own original 'launch' material in our recording studios. You are asked to develop your visual and branding assets as you design and edit a promotional video to feature, (with photographic and audio material) as content within your internet presence which you design, build and interconnect with various 2.0 ecologies. With your website and content as a promotional launch-pad, a national tour sees the culmination of the product and promotional cycle as you return for your third year. The third year encourages you to think wider about your skills-set, your intellectual research skills and the ways in which you might deploy your current skills within a more innovative entrepreneurial sense. You will deepen your songwriting studies Creative Music Technology fuses composition, the exploration and use of technology and creative approaches to digital media in relation to audio. You will extend your individual creative voice, your technical knowledge and develop a range of skills required by the creative industries. A vocational course for original musicians and songwriters.from both the traditional, rock and acoustic model to the more contemporary R+B and chart-orientated approach to writing. In support of your unique original identity you will attend a mixture of production and/or performance lectures. Songwriting, performance and production all combine within our outward-facing Portfolio module. The Research module invites you to explore an aspect of music culture and pose an engaging question leading to a final dissertation. And finally, our Creative Enterprise component works with business expertise to design, fund and launch an innovative music product or service. This module catalyses fresh ideas and concepts that graduates bring with them into their working careers. You will broaden your practical and creative palette to give you a broader set of employability skills and options towards graduation. Sample modules: Year 1 - Performance; The Music Workstation and the Studio; Songwriting and Promotional Writing. Year 2 - Image and Product; Staging, Video and Live; Web, Promotion and Tour; Music Business skills. Year 3 - Creative Enterprise; Portfolio; Dissertation."T he program is expertly constructed, and facilitates student engagement with a number of industrial and work-based competencies that are pertinent to the music industry. The vast majority of units also have a strong industry focus, and the impressive professional backgrounds of all academic staff are ideally suited to this program." External Examiner's report, 2010UCAS CodeCommercial MusicW304Course InformationCourse locationNewton Park campusCourse length3 years full-time; part-time availableNo. of applicants (2010) 195No. of places (2010)41More informationwww.bathspa.ac.uk/ugrad/www.bathspampa.comNational Student Survey Score (2010)90% satisfaction with teaching98% overall satisfactionEntry CriteriaTypical offersAt least one of the following: 240-300 UCAS Tariff points (eg BCC; BB +AS a) Candidates without standard qualifications but with music industry experience considered. You will also need: high level of performance or composing skill (assessed via MP3s of your three best original tracks); music technology experience; performance experience. Shortlisted candidates will be auditioned. See page 20 01 Commercial Music graduates 'Kill It Kid' signed to 'One Little Indian' records01 Working at a high-spec mixing deskUCAS CodeCreative Music TechnologyJ931Entry CriteriaTypical offers240-300 UCAS Tariff points (eg BCC; BB + AS a) including A-level Music Technology at grade B or equivalent award in Music Technology or a closely related subject.If you are invited to interview you will be asked to bring examples of music making which demonstrate your interest in Music TechnologySee page 20Course InformationCourse locationNewton Park campusCourse length3 years full-time; part-time availableNo. of applicants (2010) 311No. of places (2010)42More informationwww.bathspa.ac.uk/ugrad/www.bathspampa.comNational Student Survey Score (2010)90% satisfaction with teaching98% overall satisfaction Game Audio; Interactive Audio; Interactive Multimedia in Performance; Composer Project; Composition for Broadcast Media; Production Techniques; Audio Post for Moving Image; Sonic Performance. Careers We aim to develop creative and technically skilled graduates for employment within the composition, recording, entertainment and new media industries. We don't consider ourselves a programme of 'training', but we encourage students to be clearly focused on developing a wide range of employability skills. Employment possibilities include production, performance, composition, recording, software development, game, mobile and web technologies, specialist publishing, education. it's a long and ever changing range of opportunities relevant to a mobile employment landscape in which self-employment and entrepreneurship are likely to feature strongly. 0101Careers Graduates go on to work as songwriters; composers; performing musicians; session musicians; recording artists; engineers; post-production engineers; promoters; live crew and any number of roles within the music industry and related entertainment/media superstructure.