
Key information
UCAS code:
W375
Typical offer:
112-120 points from 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, to include a relevant subject
Showing content for section Overview
Overview
Explore how music and technology come together to shape the future of sound on this dynamic BA (Hons) Creative Music Technology course.
You’ll develop your skills in composition, sound design, and music production while working in professional studios and alongside students from related disciplines.
Whether you’re creating immersive soundscapes for games, designing sound for film, composing and producing new music, or exploring new performance technologies, you’ll graduate ready to take your place in the creative industries.
Course highlights
- Develop your creativity by combining music skills with modern technology
- Create music and sound design for film, TV, and games
- Use world-class recording and production facilities, including the Neve Genesys Black G96 and Dolby Atmos Surround Sound Studio
- Collaborate with students from other creative disciplines to enhance your creative projects
Top 30
for student satisfaction
(Times Higher Education, 2024)
Contact information
Contact AdmissionsEntry requirements
BA (Hons) Creative Music Technology degree entry requirements
Typical offers
- 112-120 points from 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, to include a relevant subject
You may need to have studied specific subjects – .
Selection process
Applicants without a relevant subject or experience will be asked to provide a portfolio to support their application.
English language requirements
- English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.
We also accept other standard English tests and qualifications, as long as they meet the minimum requirements of your course.
If you don't meet the English language requirements yet, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.
We look at more than just your grades
While we consider your grades when making an offer, we also carefully look at your circumstances and other factors to assess your potential. These include whether you live and work in the region and your personal and family circumstances which we assess using established data.
Your facilities
Centre for Creative and Immersive Extended Reality (CCIXR)
Create stunning works for film, TV, music, gaming and immersive reality in the UK's first integrated facility of its kind.

Music and Sound Recording Studios
Our high-end professional music studio complex houses three studios, two live rooms, editing rooms, and a vocal booth.

Careers and opportunities
You'll be entering a field that's constantly creating new outlets for new music - from television and art installations to digital media and interactive applications. When you graduate with experience of the practices, technologies and outlets for your music, you'll be able to show your readiness for careers across the creative media sector.
Graduate roles
Roles you could work in include:
- composer
- performing musician
- recording artist
- music producer
- music technology lecturer
- musical technician
- sound editor
- sound designer
- studio manager
- studio engineer
- music teacher
- game audio professionals (composition and sound design)
Modules
What you’ll study
Core modules
Creating a portfolio of inventive projects, you'll showcase skills in manipulating sound as well as applying music tech and composition techniques. With robust understanding guiding your creativity, you'll develop versatile talents.
You'll reflect on your compositional process and build a well-rounded skillset for today's multimedia landscape.
Grasping key concepts in digital audio, signal processing and synthesis, you'll learn about creative coding. You'll apply technical knowledge and utilise computing skills to produce engaging pieces.
Reflecting on processes and influences, you'll cement well-rounded talents spanning technology and creativity - essential for innovation in audio computing.
This module focuses on contemporary contextual issues and a variety of music genres, with a strong emphasis on the role and impact of technology in creative musical practices.
During this module, you will develop strong research and analytical skills by engaging in critical discourse and debate. The theoretical knowledge gained will be applied in a practical project, allowing for a hands-on experience in music creation and performance.
Applying recording techniques and theory, you'll capture compelling effects and ambiences. You'll manipulate audio to develop versatility in editing, layering, processing and synthesising. You'll learn to convey ideas and emotions through sound, and gain skills in unified mixing, balancing and spatialisation.
You'll evaluate and improve your abilities as you grow as a cutting-edge sound creator.
Comparing approaches critically, you'll select optimal mics and methods for audio outcomes. Creating quality recordings, you'll showcase your technical skills. Identifying and minimizing artefacts, you'll produce professional-grade pieces with polish.
This module cultivates core competencies for the recording studio and beyond.
This module takes you beyond the basics, focusing on a range of recording techniques developed through lectures and hands-on project work.
A significant component of this module involves evaluating and honing your recording, mixing, and production skills, culminating in the creation of a studio band recording. You'll also engage in contextual discussions and analyses, drawing connections between historical precedents and contemporary practices in Music Technology. Additionally, the module covers essential information about employment roles and career paths in the industry.
Core modules
Hands-on application of concepts and skills will deepen your grasp of music principles and practices while building out your portfolio. Place your work in context, evaluating and reflecting critically on achieving project goals.
Find out how to create your own music without always using traditional sheet music. Dive into modern styles while you compose pieces for your own creative collection. Learn how to put together, record, and perfect your music. Improve your musical talent by practicing and performing what you’ve made. Study different compositions to get a better grasp of music, from theory to its background.
After finishing this module, you’ll have your own set of original music and recordings that show off your growing skills.
Let your creativity flow and discover your unique musical style as you enjoy making music.
You'll plan and manage studio projects, honing skills through lectures, workshops and hands-on assignments. Learning to operate in various studio environments, you'll develop proficiency in undertaking client-based recordings from start to finish. This includes post-production techniques to finalise professional recordings.
You'll reflect on processes used to evaluate and improve your technical and creative skills as a recording engineer and producer. This module provides invaluable real-world experience.
You'll discuss research approaches and gain skills to strategise methods for independent study.
You'll formulate plans tailored to your goals, create research proposals and hone your scholarly writing. Investigating your chosen career path, you'll identify opportunities, appraising your skills and interests. This experience provides a robust foundation to initiate an impactful creative project aligned with your aspirations
You'll develop skills using various tools, and approaches to address the technological considerations of a musical performance. This immersive experience enables you to become a versatile performer adept at using technology creatively.
Optional modules
Through a study exchange overseas, you'll manage tasks and projects relevant to your course, working independently or collaboratively as part of a team.
The experience enables you to showcase your talents on a global stage while reflecting on your personal growth. With enhanced employability prospects, you return home with a new perspective to inform your practice.
Join a team of creative students and do a project together. Try new things and see how they can help you.
You’ll also grasp how to use your skills with others. Sometimes you’ll be a leader, sometimes a helper. Talk about your ideas and learn from them. You’ll make something to show what you learned and share it with others.
This module helps you gain new skills and understand other fields. You’ll be a smart and creative person, ready to solve real-world problems.
You’ll choose learning tasks that add up to 60 hours, like internships, volunteering, research, or remote study that match your career plans. Workshops will help you make meaningful goals and think about what you’ve accomplished. Through this, you’ll grow the knowledge, skills, and qualities you need to thrive in the workplace.
By looking at your growth through active participation and reading, you’ll become a perceptive, eager job-seeker who stands out.
You’ll pick up expert ways to make soundscapes and music that adapt to the player’s actions. Look at popular games to see what kind of sound they need, then create your own detailed sounds using recording, Foley, synthesis, and more. Compose catchy melodies and turn them into scores that adapt to the game. Get the right blend and finish for your sound and music to make them sound perfect. Bring your audio to life by putting it into game engines with middleware. Test and refine your work so it performs flawlessly.
By the end, you’ll have an impressive portfolio of interactive audio pieces, made using professional methods. Your creativity will shine as you master the latest techniques in game sound and music.
This module is an exciting chance to learn skills that are in huge demand for the future.
As a team, you will embark on a journey of entrepreneurship, starting with ideation and ending with the launch of your product or service. You will analyse complex factors influencing a successful launch, conduct thorough research to assess feasibility and gain valuable insights into marketing, manufacturing, and sales strategies.
Working together on pitch presentations, you will discover your strengths as an entrepreneur or team member. This module provides transferable skills essential to thrive in creative industries, whether you plan to launch your own company or seek employment with top organisations. You will develop the mindset and abilities to spot opportunities and act on them, which will benefit your career.
Core modules
Demonstrating project management and problem-solving skills, through critical analysis and experimentation, you'll produce a body of work that advances knowledge in your discipline.
Communicating scholarly outcomes with impact, you'll demonstrate your knowledge and abilities, drawing together your learning into a compelling self-directed showcase.
This is the culmination of your degree journey - proving your readiness for professional and academic challenges ahead.
This module provides the freedom to innovate across diverse mediums and genres. You'll write original pieces for instruments and voices, honing advanced techniques like orchestration. Your critical listening will also expand through engaging diverse contemporary styles. By the end, you'll be able to realise your creative ideas as professional-quality scores and recordings. This module provides the space to find and refine your unique musical perspectives.
You'll collaborate with students across creative disciplines, developing music and sound design for their projects using appropriate tools and techniques. With opportunities to work with external clients, you'll manage the end-to-end process like a professional.
Evaluating your creative choices and project management, you'll reflect on how broader contexts and aesthetics inform composition.
This module lets you gain real-world experience while showcasing your talents.
Optional modules
You’ll learn to use game data like player input, physics, and game states to design reactive soundscapes that adapt as you play. Explore how to create non-linear music and sounds that can be generated on the fly. Pick up industry skills in audio middleware to build systems that can mix and switch sounds dynamically.
Make and produce your own music and sound effects that work well with interactive elements. Use coding to create your own audio plugins. Show off your technical and artistic skills with an interactive audio project in a game engine.
This intense training in a specialised area will give you expertise that game studios really want.
The module also gives you valuable experience in managing projects as you turn your sound ideas into reality. Challenge what’s possible in game audio and let your creativity soar.
Building on your existing skills, you'll take charge of managing complex recording projects from start to finish. Evaluating technical resources and aesthetic choices, you'll produce professional recordings attentive to musical style and context.
This hands-on experience, informed by recording history, empowers you to plan, organise and execute music projects to a professional standard. Hone your expertise to thrive in real-world studio environments.
Analysing works by contemporary and historical practitioners, you'll conceive and create an original installation, composition, or multimedia production incorporating innovative sound techniques.
Presenting the finished project, you'll evaluate and contextualise your creative process and achievement.
This module enables you to create an ambitious sound project while honing your critical thinking.
You'll develop complex sound setups using both hardware and software, showing off your high-level musical and technical skills. By thinking critically about your work, you'll see how your synthesis knowledge is improving. The key part of this module is that it helps you put together a collection of innovative audio pieces, proving your skill with modern sound tools.
This training gets you ready for professional roles where you need to use sound synthesis in creative ways.
You’ll apply theories, techniques and technologies enabling sound positioning and movement in space. Using this advanced knowledge, you’ll create aesthetically pleasing spatial audio pieces that transport listeners into vivid soundscapes.
Comparing creative approaches, you’ll hone an artistic appreciation for this medium. By reflecting on the relationship between aims and outcomes, you'll refine your ability to utilise sound spatialisation in achieving desired effects.
Optional modules
During this module, you'll spend 6 months working on your own business venture, then 3 months gaining industry experience. This opportunity allows you to apply what you've learned in a practical setting while exploring different career options. You'll also have the chance to develop professional relationships and expand your network.
Assess your personal strengths and weaknesses to set goals for the future. Throughout the module, you'll demonstrate increasing independence while still valuing the support of others. Gain a broader understanding of the world through real-world experiences and insights. Additionally, you'll earn valuable credits for your CV and enhance your skill set.
By the end of this module, you'll graduate with the practical experience that employers are seeking.
This experience lets you learn firsthand how to set up and run a small business. You’ll absorb professional practices and business situations that matter to your entrepreneurial goals. Make important connections while working independently within set rules. Think deeply about your strengths, weaknesses, criteria for success, and future plans.
This opportunity is useful for your career. It lets you use what you’ve learnt in your degree in the real world and helps you understand your capabilities.
After finishing this placement and the related assessments, you’ll get more credits for your sandwich degree. This practical experience is a valuable step in developing an entrepreneurial way of thinking.
You’ll spend 24–48 weeks at a chosen company, learning from professionals and helping out with actual projects. Gain confidence, knowledge, and skills by taking on more responsibility with gradually less help. As you progress, you’ll make professional connections and think about how you’re doing. Take in what you learn about how industries and businesses work.
This placement is an ideal chance to grow in your career. By using what you’ve learnt in a workplace, you’ll understand more about your own strengths, what you need to work on, and your plans after you graduate.
After this placement and the related assessments, you’ll get extra credits for your sandwich degree. This practical experience is a valuable part of your education.
Evaluating international contexts, you'll critically relate on-site activities to your disciplinary knowledge, gaining global insights. Working independently overseas, you'll complete relevant assignments, refining skills transferable to future creative studies and practice.
Upon returning, thoughtful reflection will reveal your personal growth as you process new worldviews and cross-cultural competencies. This invaluable opportunity provides a chance to broaden your creative knowledge while developing adaptability as a global citizen.
Complete relevant tasks demonstrating your specialised skills and independence.
Gain global perspective, reflect deeply on personal growth, and build valued transferable abilities for professional life after university. Return home with experiences that inspire your practice and understanding of art’s global connectivity.
Changes to course content
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry. If a module doesn't run, we'll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
How you'll spend your time
One of the main differences between school or college and university is how much control you have over your learning.
We use a blended learning approach to teaching, which means you’ll take part in both face-to-face and online activities during your studies. As well as attending your timetabled classes you'll study independently in your free time, supported by staff and our virtual learning environment, Moodle.
A typical week
We recommend you spend at least 35 hours a week studying for your BA (Hons) Creative Music Technology degree. In your first year, you’ll be in timetabled teaching activities such as lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials for about 12 hours a week. The rest of the time you’ll do independent study such as research, reading, coursework and project work, alone or in a group with others from your course. You'll probably do more independent study and have less scheduled teaching in years 2 and 3, but this depends on which modules you choose.
Most timetabled teaching takes place during the day, Monday to Friday. You may occasionally need to go to University and course events in the evenings and at weekends. There’s usually no teaching on Wednesday afternoons.
Term dates
The academic year runs from September to June. There are breaks at Christmas and Easter.
Supporting you
The amount of timetabled teaching you'll get on your degree might be less than what you're used to at school or college, but you'll also get support via video, phone and face-to-face from teaching and support staff to enhance your learning experience and help you succeed. You can build your personalised network of support from the following people and services:
Types of support
Your personal tutor helps you make the transition to independent study and gives you academic and personal support throughout your time at university.
You'll have regular contact with your personal tutor in learning activities or scheduled meetings. You can also make an appointment with them if you need extra support.
If you require extra support because of a disability or additional learning need our specialist team can help you.
They'll help you to
- discuss and agree on reasonable adjustments
- liaise with other University services and facilities, such as the library
- access specialist study skills and strategies tutors, and assistive technology tutors, on a 1-to-1 basis or in groups
- liaise with external services
Our online will help you plan for managing the challenges of learning and student life, so you can fulfil your potential and have a great student experience.
You can get personal, emotional and mental health support from our Student Wellbeing Service, in person and online. This includes 1–2–1 support as well as courses and workshops that help you better manage stress, anxiety or depression.
Library staff are available in person or by email, phone, or online chat to help you make the most of the University’s library resources. You can also request one-to-one appointments and get support from a librarian who specialises in your subject area.
The library is open 24 hours a day, every day, in term time.
If English isn't your first language, you can do one of our English language courses to improve your written and spoken English language skills before starting your degree. Once you're here, you can take part in our free In-Sessional English (ISE) programme to improve your English further.
Costs and funding
Tuition fees
- UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £9,535 per year (may be subject to annual increase)
- EU students – £9,535 a year (including Transition Scholarship – may be subject to annual increase)
- International students – £20,200 per year (subject to annual increase)
Funding your studies
Find out how to fund your studies, including the scholarships and bursaries you could get. You can also find more about tuition fees and living costs, including what your tuition fees cover.
Applying from outside the UK? Find out about funding options for international students.
Apply
How to apply
To start this course in 2025, apply through UCAS. You'll need:
- the UCAS course code – W375
- our institution code – P80
our to apply directly.
You can also sign up to an Open Day to:
- Tour our campus, facilities and halls of residence
- Speak with lecturers and chat with our students
- Get information about where to live, how to fund your studies and which clubs and societies to join
If you're new to the application process, read our guide on applying for an undergraduate course.
Applying from outside the UK
As an international student you'll apply using the same process as UK students, but you’ll need to consider a few extra things.
You can get an agent to help with your application. Check your country page for details of agents in your region.
Find out what additional information you need in our international students section.
If you don't meet the English language requirements for this course yet, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.
Admissions terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the ºÚÁϳԹÏ, you also agree to abide by our Student Contract (which includes the University's relevant policies, rules and regulations). You should read and consider these before you apply.