Music Technology with Foundation Year BA (Hons)

This module offers you the opportunity to develop as a creative user of professional DAW systems. Through the module you will gain fluency in the use of:

• hardware and software
• synths
• samplers
• controllers

You will also grasp the essential concepts required for next level music production.

Recording theory is a broad module introducing a variety of topics vital to the field of music technology. It also serves as a base for the more practical and technically orientated modules in the music technology degree courses at LCM/UWL. It is a key module designed to equip students with a grounding in the core knowledge and techniques germane to the disciplinary nature of the music technology courses.

The module aims to provide the student with a solid grounding in the theory, techniques and terminology associated with contemporary acoustic and digital recording practice, as well as ensuring a fundamental grasp of the basic physics of sound and sound propagation.

This module focuses on the development of your portfolio career. Increasingly, the successful modern freelancer requires a diverse range of skill sets in:

• writing styles
• technique
• arrangement
• production
• the ability to expand your client base and income streams.

Workflow demands will be examined in a time managed ethos to allow best practice. The module also explores creative outlets, future facing opportunities and residual income streams to allow you to pursue a career as a music professional whilst developing your portfolio.

Recording Practice will help you develop the required skills needed to operate studio recording technology to a high standard. The module will further the listening skills covered in Recording Theory and will increase your sensitivity to different recording and musical contexts. It covers a comprehensive overview of contemporary studio technology and the recording process.

The module will also extend ear-training techniques and examine each component of studio technology in detail. In addition, it will address how the techniques of recording are coupled to the technology, providing each student with a backbone of knowledge designed to help the recording demands of the second year.

If you understand how other people’s music works, it will help you develop your own creative vision. Different music genres all have their own particular sonic signature and this module is where you learn how to identify and talk about the elements which have defined recorded music, from past to present allowing you to absorb the techniques and mix aesthetics to build them into your tracks.

This module is focussed on employability and provides you with a deep understanding of the processes involved in musical theatre and play production. The module will focus on the techniques and roles involved within the sound department, from the sound designer through to the sound operators. In addition to this there will also be contextualisation through an introductory study of theatre practice.

This module develops the creative engineering skills gained from the Recording Practice module and to then adds session-planning skills, production/mixing skills, modern recording techniques and remixing. Students will be encouraged to take responsibility for complete productions in a professional-standard recording studio. 

Traditionally, a business led approach has been a key skill for any freelance music professional. Increasingly music industry professionals are also required to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.  As the boundaries of digital technologies and media converge, the need to understand how new concepts are generated and practically applied looks set to be one of the key tools for future creative-content practitioners. This module will focus on digital pioneers who displayed creative enterprise in the modern music industry, and will also break down and explain how best to utilise: music platforms, digital-design tools, social channels, historical context and revenue streams. 

The module is putting the student in the role of a ‘Sound Designer’ and ‘Composer’, an increasingly important role in the life of the audio post-production and music freelancer. This module should serve as a springboard for students to proactively engage in this field. By the end of the module students will have created a body of sound and music to picture work, which can serve as an industry standard tool to promote their work with other film makers and content producers to work to near professional workflow standards and circumstances, reflective of current industry practice.

This module is focussed on employability and provides you with a deep understanding of the processes involved in musical theatre and play production. The module will focus on the techniques and roles involved within the sound department, from the sound designer through to the sound operators. In addition to this there will also be contextualisation through an introductory study of theatre practice.

LCM Music Factory embraces the network and community available within London College of Music and the University to provide real-life scenarios for the production of original music with a contemporary stylistic focus through collaboration. The fundamental aim of this module is to offer the student an opportunity to experience both the pressure and challenges of producing recorded artefacts to a specific musical brief. There is also a significant research aspect to the module, with assessment based upon both practical and theoretical knowledge in equal measures. 

In the final year of your degree course, you will create your own project with a high degree of independence. You will be allocated a supervisor and then given the freedom to create a piece of work, which you feel really represents you as a student. You will be guided and supported, but this is your vision and your chance to show the world what you have achieved while you’ve been at UWL.

Gaming is a fast growing and lucrative area of the entertainment industry.  By the end of the module you will have a solid appreciation of the power of audio for games, combined with the skills to develop audio assets and implement them in middleware. This in turn will form the basis of a show-reel which can be used for future promotion and collaboration within the gaming industry.

Will focus on developing, and specialise on, live music mixing skills to an advanced level. The module provides a practice-based context for the application and acquisition of advanced mixing techniques for a variety of platforms and setting applications to allow the student to manage and troubleshoot technical issues and provide appropriate technical solutions; taking into account contemporary approaches to mixing, professional outputs/formats and also future facing audio consumption requirements.

The module is both practical and theoretical and is designed to give students the opportunity to explore and develop creative techniques to produce sound design, ADR, foley and audio post for a range of post-production requirements.

This module will develop on and off specialisms in mixing to an advanced level, the module provides a practice-based context for the application, evolution and acquisition of advanced mixing techniques for a variety of platforms and format-setting applications, to allow the student to manage and troubleshoot technical issues and provide appropriate technical solutions for the master mix. 

In this module, you will have to design an experiment that generates an audio experience. You will have the freedom to explore and develop individual ideas and abilities in the context of sound, producing a portfolio that shows confident expression and creative risk-taking, but with technical accomplishment.