This distinctive course offers you the chance to develop a range of research and analytical techniques needed to evaluate and evidence the relationship between musical engagement and wellbeing.
Your contextual understanding of the topic will be expanded through the core Music, Wellbeing and its Evaluation module, and you’ll develop the skills needed to conduct independent research. You’ll examine the physical and mental benefits and problems associated with musical participation, exploring current research in the field, and the innovative Applied Professional Practice module will provide you with opportunities to take a proactive and self-reflective role in your work, developing professional relationships with our partner organisations.
The course is ideal for existing practitioners wishing to enhance their skills or undertake continuous professional development, or students wishing to develop their interests by taking a smaller selection of modules than the 180-credit MA Music and Wellbeing course.
We have a variety of excellent facilities to support your learning, including a music psychology lab, rehearsal, performance and practice spaces, recording and electronic music studios, and five libraries that provide access to a wide range of books, periodicals, and online resources.
We have close working relationships with prestigious arts organisations: we host BBC Radio 3 concerts, Leeds Lieder and the Leeds International Piano Competition, and we engage with the flagship DARE partnership between the University and Opera North. We are also closely associated with Leeds Baroque and we engage with many other performing arts organisations in Leeds, which enjoys a thriving music and cultural scene.
Elements of local fieldwork may be embedded in modules that take you outside teaching spaces as part of the learning experience. You might undertake fieldwork as part your 30-credit Short Dissertation.
You'll also have access to Helix, the University's learning innovation hub for students, staff, and the local community. Located in the heart of campus, Helix offers cutting-edge digital provision, including immersive technologies, multimedia production studios, as well as a physical makerspace. You'll be able to bring your own initiatives and ideas to life through collaboration, creation and innovation.
Are you looking for an opportunity to develop technical and creative skills in stage management, lighting, sound and visual technologies? Do you want to work on performance sets and make a production come to life? If so, our technical theatre degree could be the right option for you.
Designed to provide you with the skills you need to establish yourself in the theatre industry, you’ll use all the latest digital technologies to create lighting, sound and scenic design for a variety of staged events. As you progress through your studies, you’ll have the chance to work in a range of contexts, from theatre productions to fashion shows.
Based in our New Adelphi building, our technical theatre degree course is strongly focused on working with professional theatre and events practitioners, as well as students from other creative programmes. And with a range of optional modules on offer, you’ll also have the chance to specialise in aspects of technical production – be that theatre production, production management or small-scale touring.
Throughout this popular music and recording course, you’ll be exposed to a wide variety of crucial insights into the process of creating music, as well as the wider industry. From the fundamentals of performing to applied composition and music technology, this course covers the core concepts you need to launch your career as a professional musician.
As your course progresses, you’ll tailor your popular music degree to focus on the modules that interest you the most.
In your first year, you’ll focus on instrumental creativity and proficiency through ensemble and one-to-one lessons with leading performance specialists. In addition to examining the concepts of style and genre, you’ll develop fundamental creative skills in arranging, applied composition and music technology.
In year two you’ll tailor your popular music degree to focus on the modules that interest you the most, and your third year offers the opportunity to consolidate your learning and deepen your individual creativity in a personal body of portfolio work. Throughout, you’ll be building a practical skillset ideal for a career in the music industry, while also exploring key theoretical concepts associated with popular music.
So, what does studying a Creative Music Technology degree involve? At Salford, you’ll not only develop as a professional musician, but also be equipped with the technological knowledge and skills needed to take your music to the next level.
You’ll begin by focusing on refining your craft, learning about composition, arranging and performance, as well as developing practical musical technology experience along the way. This will give you a valuable skill base as you move into your second and third year, when you’ll dive headlong into our three core areas of study; Studio Recording and Production, Audio for Media and Studio Composition.
In your final year, you’ll work closely with your supervisors and peers, focusing on two areas of specialist study, chosen from Studio Recording and Production, Audio for Media and Studio Composition.
Do you have a passion for storytelling? Are you interested in how different platforms can be used to engage different audiences? At Salford, you’ll be given the chance to study a variety of modules that examine the development of performance in the context of television and radio drama. You’ll also gain an awareness of the technical aspects of media production, including camera work, editing, lighting and sound.
In the first year of your studies, you’ll cover the fundamentals of media and performance, from acting for TV and radio to production skills. As your media and performance course progresses, you’ll choose from a variety of optional modules that will allow you to tailor your Performance and Media degree programme to your interests. For example, our Acting for the Camera course will give you the experience of working with ex-broadcast drama scripts which you will rehearse and record for camera under conditions mirroring industry practice.
You’ll learn through a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshop and performance projects, led by industry professionals with a wealth of past and current experience working in media. Your assessments will include essays, presentations and performances, all designed to enable you to develop a strong portfolio of work in your chosen area.
Sound Engineering and Production explores a variety of practical applications for sound including radio, TV, music recording, live sound, gaming audio and VR.
Building a strong understanding of audio systems, studio recording and live sound in year one, you will progress to explore topics such as audio installations and sound design in year two. By your final year, you’ll study more advanced modules in specialist areas alongside completing a project based on a real-world issue.
With our strong industry connections and links surrounding Greater Manchester, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to gain practical experience and network with industry experts on live music scenes at venues, clubs, and bars.
At Salford, we want you to learn from expert tutors using world-class facilities, so our rich and varied curriculum provides you with access to multi-million-pound standard software Pro Tool enabled studios, TV and video suites and digital media performance labs. This degree embeds theoretical knowledge with creative application to help you capture the best audio possible and deliver an exceptional listener experience.
More importantly, collaboration is core to our values, so you’ll experience small group teaching which ensures that you learn in practical environments around campus. This engaging teaching equips you with professional knowledge and skills to deliver audio at the highest standard, so you are ready for working life after you graduate.
On this course, you will have the option to take an industry placement year between years two and three. Although you will be responsible for securing your placement, our tutors will support you in finding a role, and monitor your progress throughout.
Industry placements are an excellent way to enhance your CV, gain hands-on work experience and build industry connections. We often find that placement students achieve higher final year grades.
The course delivers a broad-based curriculum during the first year with excellent opportunities for specialisation throughout years two and three. Our vibrant masterclass series is designed to enhance your career planning, involving internationally renowned guest speakers and visiting artists from the creative industries.
You will engage with popular music as an academic discipline, developing a detailed understanding of key popular music concepts, techniques and processes, as well as perfecting your practical ability in performance, composition, arranging, and the creative use of music technology.
In your first year, you focus on instrumental creativity and proficiency through ensemble and one-to-one lessons with leading performance specialists. In addition to examining the concepts of style and genre in English language popular music, you’ll develop fundamental creative skills in arranging, applied composition and music technology.
In year two you’re given the opportunity to specialise within the musical fields of your interests and skill set. In the final year, you consolidate your learning, deepening your individual creativity in a personal body of portfolio work.
In the most recent National Student Survey, 97% of students said the course provided them with opportunities to apply what they have learnt (University of Salford analysis of unpublished NSS 2019 data).
As the first UK institution to offer pioneering and distinctive courses in Popular Music and Recording and Band Musicianship, our reputation for innovation and excellence within music education continues to flourish.
This course builds upon our long-standing reputation and offers a full specialisation in the field of music technology and has been ranked the number one Creative Music Technology course in the North West and number two in the UK in the 2021 Guardian university league tables. Plus, overall satisfaction with the course among students is 97% (University of Salford analysis of unpublished NSS 2020 data).
The Studio Recording and Production modules enable you to develop confidence in traditional studio skills, backed up by a solid academic understanding of historical developments and aesthetic considerations. Audio for Media trains you in the specific discipline of composing, arranging and producing audio for film, radio, television and gaming. Studio Composition covers a broad range of technical and genre viewpoints, from popular electronic music techniques to electro-acoustic composition. Thorough technical training and the study of acoustics underpin all of the creative work undertaken through the course.
Building upon our established reputation in music technology, the Creative Music Technology pathway offers a broad-based curriculum in Year One followed by the opportunity to specialise in music technology throughout Year Two and Three. Creative work is underpinned by technical training and study of acoustics.
The normal period of study for the degrees are as follows:
MSc: One year full-time or two years part-time
MPhil: Two years full-time or four years part-time
PhD: Three years full-time or six years part-time
For the MPhil and PhD in Composition degrees students are allocated principal and second supervisors who oversee and guide the development of their work.
Students submit a portfolio of original compositions in place of a thesis. The MPhil portfolio should include one work suitable to form the major item in a concert program.
For the PhD the portfolio should normally include one major work, the performance of which would occupy an entire evening (i.e. an opera). Part or all of the portfolio may consist of computer-based or electronic fixed-media works, interactive work or work involving new media.
There is no requirement for an additional thesis or commentary to accompany the portfolio, but students are required to develop an understanding of the cultural context of their work.
All research degrees require students to work closely with a supervision team. Please browse staff profiles to learn about the research specialisms and outputs of Music staff. If your research is interdisciplinary, look at staff profiles in other subject areas, too. We encourage you to approach staff directly to gauge their availability and suitability as a prospective supervisor.
When making first contact with either a prospective supervisor or the Programme Director, please introduce yourself and mention your research intentions as a composer. If you maintain a professional website or online portfolio, please include a link.
This helps potential supervisors to understand your vision of the scope of a PhD or MScR project, and your understanding of the type of practical - as well as intellectual - matters that postgraduate research entails. This early contact with staff should also be helpful to you, for decisions you will need to make about how to develop your proposal, and with whom you would like to work.
Our BMus is unrivalled in its flexibility, enabling you to tailor a programme that best fits your musical interests and strengths.
We offer a distinctive and rigorous core curriculum in the first two years that will develop your musicianship and critical thinking skills and introduce you to the history of both popular and western art music. You can specialise in performance and composition, and choose from a diverse range of subjects that includes acoustics, music psychology and music technology.
In years three and four this choice is expanded further, enabling you to specialise in particular areas and to benefit from the research expertise of Reid School of Music staff. We currently offer options in performance, composition, music in the community, Scottish traditional music, music technology, music and multimedia, and music psychology, as well as a range of courses exploring the theoretical, historical and political contexts of music. In addition, and subject to availability, you can also select to study subjects from elsewhere in the Edinburgh College of Art or across the University in all four years of your degree.
As a student in the Reid School of Music, you will be part of a vibrant musical community. You will study with scholars, composers, and performers of international renown who are passionate about teaching. You can join one or more of the many orchestras, ensembles, and choirs available at the University, enjoy our varied concert series, and take advantage of the School’s location in the centre of Edinburgh, a city with a rich musical life. You will have the opportunity to work with ensembles such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Edinburgh String Quartet. You can immerse yourself in our unparalleled Musical Instrument Museum, and you can also apply to participate in our Music in the Community projects, which in recent years have involved student visits to the Gambia and Greece.
