Overview
Explore electronic music from its beginnings to current and emerging trends on our full-time Electronic Music BA (Hons) degree in Cambridge. Experiment with music technologies, genres, styles and approaches and create a unique portfolio to launch your career as an electronic producer-artist.
Find out more about teaching options and studying during COVID-19 in the Entry requirements section, below.
Careers
We work with employers to make sure you graduate with the knowledge, skills and abilities they need. They help us review what we teach and how we teach it – and they offer hands-on, practical opportunities to learn through work-based projects, internships or placements.
Find out more about our placements and work experience, or the faculty's employability support.
Our BA (Hons) Electronic Music will equip you primarily for a career as a producer-artist, but the wide-ranging skills you pick up will be transferable to any role involving the recording and production of music or sound.
You’ll develop skills suitable for a variety of roles in the music industries, working on your own music and for clients, creating music for media and performing. You will also gain experience that may lead into music promotion, working in label and live event management, sound editing and sound design.
Modules & assessment
Level 3 (foundation year)
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Foundation in Humanities, English, Media, Social Sciences and Education
This module will provide students with the necessary skills to begin studying at level 4 in courses related to the humanities, social sciences, English, media and education. Students will be introduced to the core skills necessary to succeed in higher education, including thinking critically, researching, and referencing appropriately, demonstrating appropriate numeracy and ICT skills, and communicating effectively verbally and in writing. In addition to these fundamental study skills, Students will be given an introduction to a broad range of disciplines whose skills and theories are widely applicable. Students will study a variety of writing styles in order to recognise, deconstruct and replicate various forms of persuasive, analytical, and informative writing. Students will learn the basics of intercultural studies and how these theories can be applied to real-world problems. Students will consider social perceptions held across western cultures, and the difference between social and self-perception, participating in structured discussion and argument. Students will be introduced to the core principles of psychology and will explore various current applications of psychological theory. Students will also be introduced to ethics and will learn about some of the key theories and thinkers in the development of current ethical considerations in a range of scenarios. This module is made up of the following eight constituent elements: Interactive Learning Skills and Communication (ILSC); Information Communication Technology (ICT); Critical Thinking; Intercultural Studies; Psychology; Composition and Style; Ethics; Social Perceptions.
Year one, core modules
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Basic Recording and Studio Techniques
In this module you will get an introduction to sound recording and performance software and hardware. You will start with a study of the basic system design and signal chain of a typical recording studio, followed by essential software and hardware. We will discuss the basic technical operation of some devices such as recording media and devices, playback media and devices, dynamic and condenser microphones, analogue and digital mixing desks, dynamics processors, reverberation and delay effects, filters and equalisation and studio monitors. We will demonstrate commercial music software packages in lectures and features such as MIDI sequencing, audio recording and importation, audio and MIDI processing and editing. You will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with a range of commercial software and hardware devices available in our studios. -
Electronic Music Production 1A: MIDI
On this introductory module you'll explore electronic music making in the desktop computer environment using Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), focusing particularly on three areas of creative production practice: - MIDI sequencing - examining recording, editing and the creative manipulation of MIDI information in the DAW environment using standard and experimental methods. - Synthesis - exploring modes of sound synthesis and their potential for sound design in electronic music production. - Effects - the creative manipulation of audio signals generated in the DAW environment. While in the taught sessions you'll explore techniques and creative practices through Logic Pro. You are also encouraged to imaginatively explore appropriate DAW or plug-in software of your own choice when undertaking assessments. -
Analysing Electronic Music
Focusing on examples drawn from the broad field of electronic music production, this module will help develop your listening and analysis skills. Central to the module is the notion that as electronic music is constructed through a range of electronic technologies - an understanding of the specific qualities of electronic sound requires tools that move beyond traditional modes of musical analysis. By exploring the sonic qualities of electronic music productions, alongside consideration of appropriate musical components, you will develop a critical approach to electronic music productions, and also develop aural skills to enhance your composition, production and performance abilities. -
Electronic Music History 1
On this module you'll explore the history of electronic music from its earliest origins through to current areas of practice, encompassing experimental and popular musical forms and their inter-relationships. You'll examine technological developments in the manipulation, production and reproduction of sound, and map how electronic musicians responded to the affordances of these technologies as they developed, considering theories and practices of electronic music as they developed through the 20th century side-by-side. The module will enhance your understanding of the historical, technological and theoretical context of electronic music practices, expanding your appreciation of these practices and their potential to inform your own creative exploration of the fields of electronic music. -
Electronic Music Production 1B: Audio
On this introductory module you'll explore electronic music making in the desktop computer environment using Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), with a particular focus on three areas of creative production practice: - Audio - examining recording, editing and the creative manipulation of audio files in the DAW environment using standard and experimental methods. - Sampling - exploring modes of sampling and loop-based production. - Effects - the creative manipulation of audio signals in the DAW environment. While in taught sessions you'll explore techniques and creative practices through Logic Pro. You are encouraged to imaginatively explore appropriate DAW or plug-in software of your own choice when undertaking assessments. -
Electronic Music Styles and Genres
On this module you'll explore the styles, genres and aesthetic categories of electronic music from its earliest origins through to current areas of practice. You'll examine the inter-relationships between experimental and popular musical forms, examining the aesthetic forms, structures and internal features and components of electronic music styles and genres and the wider contexts in which they developed. Your work will be supported by a consideration of cultural theories of style and genre, and how these theories inform debates about the formation and identity of fields of electronic music. Through this, your understanding of the stylistic, generic and aesthetic categories of electronic music practice will be enhanced, expanding your appreciation of the development of musical naming practices and their cultural contexts, and giving you a deeper understanding of styles and genres that will inform your own creative exploration of the fields of electronic music. You will be assessed through a group presentation on a chosen genre topic, and a practical genre project using skills developed in the Electronic Music Production 1A and Electronic Music Production 1B modules, accompanied by a contextual commentary. -
Entrepreneurship for Music 1: Digital
The contemporary musician requires a range of skills alongside composition, performance and production to make their mark in the world of music. Increasingly they need to understand the opportunities that new and emerging digital technologies provide in gaining a profile for their music-making, and as a platform for launching their future careers. This module will help develop an understanding of the potential of digital media platforms for music networking, promotion, distribution and retail, and wider ethical and legal issues concerning online music. You will explore broader issues concerning the music industries and the impact digital technologies have had in their operations. You will be assessed through two exercises. Firstly, you will write an analysis of a chosen topic that draws from material covered in module sessions. Secondly, you will develop an online presence using appropriate digital platforms to showcase your developing work as musical artists and/or your potential as a future music industries employee. The approaches you take must be clearly located in and related to ideas and practices encountered in your degree course. Along with contributing to module sessions, the Anglia Ruskin University Employability Service will provide you with additional module support through drop-in support and CV Surgery sessions. You will also have access to a range of online employability information via the Careers and Employability Portal. -
Electronic Music Performance
On this module you'll explore the live performance of electronic music, including the potential of music software, hardware and DJ technologies to bring electronic music to live audiences. With developments in digital and analogue hardware in recent years, the range of possibilities for bringing electronic music into live performance have grown to include, for example: live improvisation and composition using computers and midi controllers; iPads and tablet PCs; new digital and analogue synthesizer and drum machine technologies; software and hardware grooveboxes; experimental audio processing tools; and DJ controllers. By bringing your music into the live situation in small groups, you'll explore both the theoretical and practical implications of performed electronic music.
Year two, core modules
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Electronic Music Production 2
On this practice/theory module, you'll extend the work undertaken at Level 4 in DAW based electronic music production and studio recording by combining midi and audio production techniques with materials generated from sources beyond the DAW environment. You'll be encouraged to explore the potential of combining a range of diverse materials in creative productions, such as field recordings, musical ideas generated in music apps, audio generated from hardware synthesizers and rhythm machines, vocal recordings or other sampled audio materials. Your own interests, along with tutorial support, will determine the outcome of this production work, from commercial electronic music to electronic dance music, experimental electronica or sound art. To support this, you'll also explore critical technological themes in taught sessions around the impact of digital and analogue technologies on the sound of electronic music, and associated issues concerning intellectual property. While in these sessions, you'll explore techniques and creative practices primarily through Ableton Live. You are encouraged to imaginatively explore appropriate DAW or plug-in software of your own choice when undertaking assessments. -
Electronic Music History 2
On this module you'll examine key artists, theorists and practitioners who have contributed to the development of electronic music, from its earliest origins through to current areas of practice. Your studies will encompass those who have operated in experimental and popular musical forms, examining the inter-relationship of these areas of practice. The module will identify the technological, aesthetic and/or theoretical contributions of practitioners working at key moments in the development of electronic music, helping you understand their contributions to electronic music practice within their specific cultural and creative contexts, as well as deepening your appreciation of approaches to research in electronic music. -
Creativity and Technology 1
This module will introduce you to deeper technological approaches to creativity in experimental electronic music. Using music software (e.g. Max/MSP) that enables the creation of sound from a number of 'low-level' approaches as building blocks for electronic music production, you'll be encouraged to question your existing conceptions of sound and electronic music to extend your knowledge of creative technical possibilities. Through workshop training, you'll gain important insights into the nature of digital sound and technical, aesthetic and compositional principles. You'll also explore principles of sound design both as a means of creating compositions, but also to encourage your sonic reasoning and close engagement with the materials of complex sounds. Through practical compositional tasks, you'll further explore creative techniques encountered in the module. Your assessment will comprise a portfolio of compositions in the form of patches, demonstrating your learning in the fundamentals of computer programming applied to the practical creation of electronic music. -
Cultures of Electronic Music
On this module you'll explore cultural contexts and critical issues relevant to the study of electronic music, considering issues of authenticity, cultural value, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and local, national, globalised and inter-cultural identity. With a particular focus on electronic music forms in the 21st century, you'll interrogate the broad cultural contexts of contemporary electronic music, using theoretical approaches drawn from cultural studies and popular music studies. In module sessions, you'll explore relevant critical issues, concepts and theoretical approaches through key examples and case studies, encouraging you to engage with wider critical and theoretical debate and enhancing your understanding of the cultural contexts of electronic music while expanding your appreciation of the relevance of ethical and cultural political debate to electronic music. To support this, your work will have a particular focus on research practice, exploring research approaches, methodologies and ethics, specifically in preparation for your major project in Year 3. -
Creativity and Technology 2
This module will give you the opportunity, with the aid of appropriate technology, to understand the importance of the role played by the user interface in the manipulation of sound through software and hardware. So far on the course, you'll have experienced a variety of such interfaces but will not necessarily be aware of the structures underlying them, the differences between them, or their own potential for controlling and developing such environments. Using a range of music software - especially music programming software - and hardware (e.g. Arduino) to compare similar techniques, you'll explore sound synthesis from a low-level technical basis, including programming techniques, key synthesis and compositional techniques. You'll creatively explore sound manipulation through practical exercises, then investigate real-time generation, manipulation and algorithmic composition. By exploring these techniques through practical and creative tasks, you'll engage with the nature of complex sounds and their potential use in composition. Your assessment will comprise a portfolio of compositions in the form of computer code and/or computer patches, demonstrating your learning in the fundamentals of computer programming applied to the creation of electronic music. -
Entrepreneurship for Music 2: Placement
This module will support you in finding a placement or internship opportunity that focuses on a potential career pathway in an area of the music industries. Particularly important will be your development and self-evaluation of transferable and employability skills. Supported by module tutors and Anglia Ruskin's Employability Service, you will identify an area of career interest and negotiate, generate and complete a placement opportunity lasting the equivalent of 35 hours. The placement should be clearly located in and related to ideas and practices encountered in your degree course. You will be assessed through two elements: firstly, a presentation that outlines the tasks and activities you aim to undertake on the placement, including research into the context within which your placement organisation operates and an outline of how you aim to develop and evaluate your transferable and employability skills during the placement; secondly, a reflective portfolio that documents and self-evaluates your placement experience. This module combines independent study with lecture sessions and tutorial support that guides you through the placement or internship, with the module Canvas page providing further support. You will also have the chance to attend presentations from visitors who work in roles within the music industries. As well as contributing to module sessions, the Anglia Ruskin University Employability Service will provide additional module support through drop-in support and CV Surgery sessions. You will also have access to a range of online employability information via the Careers and Employability Portal, and be able to access additional placement support through the AHSS Faculty Placements Officer, with drop-in support or scheduled one-to-one sessions. -
Ruskin Module
Ruskin Modules are designed to prepare our students for a complex, challenging and changing future. These interdisciplinary modules provide the opportunity to further broaden your perspectives, develop your intellectual flexibility and creativity. You will work with others from different disciplines to enable you to reflect critically on the limitations of a single discipline to solve wider societal concerns. You will be supported to create meaningful connections across disciplines to apply new knowledge to tackle complex problems and key challenges. Ruskin Modules are designed to grow your confidence, seek and maximise opportunities to realise your potential to give you a distinctive edge and enhance your success in the workplace.
Year two, optional modules
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Music for the Moving Image
On this module you’ll compose and realise original music to accompany a film, video or other type of digital moving or still image. You may either work with supplied material or with other students undertaking complementary work within related media production modules. By undertaking a series of practical exercises, you'll examine a range of techniques, and consider the approaches to film music composition of various commercial and non-commercial film composers. Using appropriate editing software, you'll better understand how your music will fit in to the overall scenario of audio-visual collaboration. You'll be assessed by the submission of a portfolio of materials, accompanied by a brief critical evaluation. -
Music in Education
This module will introduce you to a number of key principles, concepts and methodologies of music education, developing your understanding of certain theoretical foundations crucial to the study and practice of teaching music. Topics may include: introductory philosophies of education; the application of music education in a variety of contexts; the sociological and psychological elements of music pedagogy. You will consider such questions as why music education is important, how do people learn through music, and how can teaching be delivered effectively through the music? You will also evaluate the role, function and practice of music in primary, secondary and further education, peripatetic teaching, and the role of music in community arts education, as well as examining current educational methodologies and policy frameworks, including the implications of national curricula, and issues of equality. Practical work is included in the module so you can gain first-hand experience of issues in music teaching practice, providing you with a useful insight if you intend to pursue a career in the field. This will take the form of teaching a group of students focusing on an aspect of music education. -
Principles of Music Therapy and Dramatherapy
This module will provide you with an intensive introduction to the theory and practice of music therapy or dramatherapy, as practised by registered professionals in the UK. It will not train you to be a therapist, but equip you with knowledge of the clinical field and some introductory skills that are useful in considering music therapy or dramatherapy as a vocation. You'll attend experiential workshops that are linked to theoretical lectures, and possibly a field trip, as well as giving audio-visual presentations. Through these activities you'll be able to evaluate, develop and analyse your musical/dramatic potential and explore the application of different media to therapeutic situations. Your assessment will consist of a written essay, and musical/dramatic improvisations (as appropriate) in small groups, in which you'll actively demonstrate an understanding of the use of music/drama as a therapeutic tool. -
Live Performance
This module will give you the opportunity to engage in the planning, negotiation, organisation, promotion, marketing, budgeting and management of a live musical event at a public venue. You will be expected to perform at the event (individually or in a group/ensemble), but assessment will focus on your organisation and management skills. Collaboration is a vital element of this module. You will need to carefully manage and negotiate a variety of responsibilities in your event group, drawing from knowledge and a theoretical underpinning introduced in taught sessions. Before delivering your event you will present a proposal, including an initial budget, justification of your plan and supporting research in a 10 minute presentation. The module tutor will provide formative feedback and advice. You will then prepare an action plan with a framework for the musical event that you intend to present, considering content/theme, promotion, ethical issues and financial planning. You will develop the plan further in group tutorials. You will be expected to evaluate the overall effectiveness of your musical event through a final group report incorporating a contextual and critical framework. This report will contain supplementary materials (not included in the word count) including a risk assessment specific to your event; a financial budget; copies of e-mail correspondence; meeting minutes; and a promotional pack containing copies and evidence of your promotion and PR for the event. Alongside taught module sessions, you will attend performance workshops, where you will develop the content of your contribution to musical performance at the event. You will separately submit a personal project review evidencing your individual input and skills development during the project. The collaborative focus of this module will help prepare you for further collaborative project work in the final year of your degree. -
Production project
This module will give you the opportunity to pursue a negotiated music project with a practical outcome. The project can be undertaken individually or collaboratively, but you will be assessed individually through your final submission, consisting of a production artefact with a researched critical commentary. You will produce an E.P. of 3-4 tracks, including associated visual and written material (e.g. covers, text and logos), so that the outcome is a standalone artefact. Owing to the many digital and analogue music production technologies available, you will need to identify and negotiate in individual or group tutorials how you will creatively approach the music production and visual elements of the the project. You will reflect on your existing technological interests and abilities developed during the course - curricular or extra-curricular - in the context of the array of music technologies available in the current production environment. To support your practical work, the taught element will help improve your understanding of appropriate critical tools and language relevant to the evaluation of your production work in two ways: through a critical discussion of current debates in contemporary music production practice (e.g. issues of fidelity and authenticity, loudness and technostalgia); and through the consideration and use of visual critical analysis tools, that will help you evaluate potential meanings of your chosen cover design, in terms of both the visuals and text. The knowledge and skills you acquire in this module will provide a strong basis for professional work where current and emerging music technologies are deployed in creative and commercial contexts beyond the University.
Year three, core modules
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Major Project
The individual Major Project will allow you to undertake a substantial piece of individual research, focused on a topic relevant to your specific course. Your topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff. The project will require you to identify/formulate problems and issues, conduct research, evaluate information, process data, and critically appraise and present your findings/creative work. You should arrange and attend regular meetings with your project supervisor, to ensure that your project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction. -
Collaborative Project Development (Music)
You will be given the opportunity to develop and negotiate a collaborative music project in which you will employ and meet relevant professional practices and expectations. You will perform a variety of practical and creative roles, critically reflecting upon the processes involved in undertaking professional, ethical and sustainable composition, performance, production, promotion and/or other responsibilities in a negotiated project. Through this, you will demonstrate your understanding of concepts of entrepreneurialism and professionalism in music in a live project. Your project must be clearly located in and related to ideas and practices encountered in your degree course. Your collaboration can involve students from across the music courses at Anglia Ruskin University. You will need to take your work to an extra-University audience, and as such your collaboration may also involve external individuals, agencies or organisations. During initial lecture and seminar sessions, you will identify collaborative groups and discuss project management and the requirements of the module. As you progress, group tutorials and seminars will allow you to formatively explore and develop your initial project ideas; discuss contextual and theoretical research needs; identify audiences and stakeholders; and consider and agree technical and, if appropriate, outsourced requirements. You will be assessed through a group presentation (either in live or video form) that pitches your project, explains its relationship to wider cultural and industry contexts, and identifies your overall aims and objectives. This presentation will also allow you to demonstrate your work in progress and outline how you will deliver the final project on time and to an external audience. Alongside contributing to module sessions, Anglia Ruskin University Employability Service and the AHSS Faculty Placements Officer will also provide support. You will then put your project proposal into operation in the semester 2 module ‘Collaborative Project’. -
Professional Music Practice 2
This practical module will allow you to further enhance the knowledge, skills and understanding you have developed on your course and in the Professional Practice 1 module. You will explore an area of contemporary professional music-related practice, and produce an end of module artefact or undertake a performance that is negotiated with a module tutor. You can continue with the same area of practice as Professional Practice 1, or focus on another area to develop a new project. However, whichever you choose, you will be expected to identify how your approach in Professional Practice 2 has reflected on and responded to your achievement of module and learning outcomes in Professional Practice 1. You will further demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key components through which music in all its forms is created, realised, received and/or mediated, and your knowledge of the creative affordances of music and/or media technologies and instruments in your chosen area of practice. You will be expected to analyse, critically evaluate and interpret the practices you undertake, and demonstrate the ability to convey personal expression and imagination in practical work while employing appropriate technical and interpretive means. You will choose one of the following professional strands: Performance; Composition; Technology and Production; Music Media and Journalism. After the initial group sessions, you will identify and negotiate an appropriate practical approach, supported in your practice through tutorials and other taught sessions and workshops. You will be assessed through an artefact submitted at the end of the module, or an end-of-module performance. -
Collaborative Project (Music)
Working in a team or group, you will put into practice the collaborative music project you developed in the Collaborative Project Development module. You will demonstrate your ability to work collaboratively in performing a variety of practical and creative roles, and critically reflect upon the processes involved in undertaking professional, ethical and sustainable composition, performance, production, promotion and/or other responsibilities in a negotiated project. Through this, you will demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of concepts of professionalism and entrepreneurialism. You will be expected to contribute effectively to group work, demonstrate adaptability in determining and achieving individual goals (including supporting or being proactive in leadership) and critically evaluate the roles you have carried out. Your collaboration can involve students from across the music courses at Anglia Ruskin University. In putting their project into practice, you will need to take your work to an extra-University audience. As such, your collaboration may involve external individuals, agencies or organisations. Your work will be supported by group tutorials, which will allow you to identify and negotiate the requirements for the two assessed elements: a group project portfolio and an individual project evaluation. In the individual project evaluation, you should place the project in its wider cultural and industrial context, reflecting on your roles throughout the project with a focus on transferable and employability skills.
Year three, optional modules
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Film Music Composition
This module will develop your skills in creating a film soundtrack. Over the course of the module you will analyse soundtracks in a wide range of styles and periods, from the birth of synchronised sound in 1927 to the present day. You will study the techniques of composition and sound design used in these films, consider the process of collaboration between composer and director, and examine the cultural context of the films and their dissemination. You will also study advanced techniques of sound design, instrumentation and orchestration appropriate to film music and will acquire specific skills for the musical representation of narrative, character and mood. Your assessment will comprise a portfolio of film soundtrack compositions as detailed in the module guide, and a critical evaluation of 500 words that places your work in the context of current and historic trends in film music, draws attention to particular techniques of sound design and composition, and explains why the choice of music or sound design is appropriate. The skills you acquire in this module will provide a strong basis for professional work in the audio-visual industry, which is now a significant employer of composers. -
Professional Music Practice 1
This practical module will allow you to further enhance the knowledge, skills and understanding you have developed on your course at Level 4 and Level 5 in a chosen area of practice. You will explore practically an area of contemporary professional music-related practice, producing an end-of-module artefact or undertaking a performance and negotiating the specific nature of the project outcome with your module tutor. You will be allowed to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the key components through which music in all its forms is created, realised, received and/or mediated, and to demonstrate your knowledge of the creative affordances of music and/or media technologies and instruments in your chosen area of practice. You will be expected to analyse, critically evaluate and interpret the practices you undertake, demonstrating an ability to convey personal expression and imagination in practical work while employing appropriate technical and interpretive means. You will be able to choose one of four professional strands through which to focus your practice: Performance; Composition; Technology and Production; or Music Media and Journalism. After initial group sessions, you will individually identify and negotiate an appropriate practical approach that allows you to achieve the learning outcomes you have identified. You will be supported in your research through tutorials, as well as other taught sessions and workshops. You will be assessed through an artefact submitted at the end of the module, or through an end of module performance. -
World Music and Globalisation
The accelerating influence of the internet and social media is continuing to enable the instant distribution of music around the globe. What we listen to is no longer exclusively conditioned by economics, since so much is free online, nor by national boundaries. Instead individuals choose. On this module, you'll investigate the various factors that influence how these choices are made, including who the listener is, the varying degrees of censorship and technological access to music to which listeners around the world are subjected and historical legacies such as colonial links. You'll also trace the dynamics of the relationship of different music industries with foreign 'others', from the early Western appropriation of blues and other African genres through to the imitations of western styles in, for example, China and the Far East. You'll also examine how certain musics have remained hugely popular in their home countries but less so abroad, while others have been accommodated into the commercial Western paradigms of festivals, recordings and broadcasting. In this context, you'll consider notions of authenticity, exoticism, and cultural appropriation, together with the conflicts and ironies encountered in bringing traditional musics onto the world stage and away from their original performance contexts. You'll further investigate the role of Western pop music in other societies, the power dynamics of cultural transmission, and the extent to which certain traditions have survived or been altered in the face of competition from Western commercial interests (in so doing, challenging our normal distinctions between pop and classical or traditional musics and the identities that they define). You will develop a range of employability skills, including an understanding of cultural diversity and an insight into changing global patterns of migration as well as presentation preparation and public speaking. -
Radiophonica
Radiophonic techniques are essential tools in the creation of content for media broadcasters involving the spoken word. A knowledge of radio genres, including those of an experimental nature, goes hand in hand with principles of compositional design, structuring, editing and realisation, and experience in this area will prepare you for involvement with the media industries. This module will give you practical experience with the aesthetic issues and unique characteristics of radio. You'll also be introduced to key moments in the history of experimental, documentary and dramatic radio English language broadcasting and encouraged to respond to the spoken word in a musical way, integrating into your work concepts of sound design that originated in radio. Your assessment will take the form of a portfolio including radiophonic work and an evaluative critical commentary including evidence of project planning.
Optional modules available in years two and three
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Anglia Language Programme
The Anglia Language Programme module will allow you to study a foreign language as part of your course. You may choose to take two language modules in place of options on your course from the second semester of your first year, or in the second or third year. You can choose from the following: Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Italian, Japanese, or Spanish. In order to experience the learning of a new language, you must select one that you have not learned before.
Assessment
For a full breakdown of module options and credits, please view the module structure.
Modules are subject to change and availability.
Full details of assessment will be available after validation, but will include methods that allow you to show your progress using practices relevant to professional music production.
Where you'll study
Your department and faculty
Using our creative expertise and industry connections in Cambridge and beyond, we create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
At Cambridge School of Creative Industries, we believe in the importance of experimentation and risk-taking to create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
Whether writing bestselling fiction, creating challenging documentaries or sharing a piano with people on the autism spectrum, the expertise of our staff goes far beyond teaching. Their research produces significant funding success, leading to important publications and international conferences.
Where can I study?
Cambridge
Our campus is close to the centre of Cambridge, often described as the perfect student city.
Facilities
Your work will take place in our industry-standard facilities in Cambridge, giving you extensive experience of the music production tools you will use in your professional life. These include:
- a recording studio with Pro Tools HD; AVID Artist control; Microphones - Shure, Neumann, DPA, Peluso; Plugins - NI Komplete, Izotope
- a music technology Lab with 15 Apple Macs with Logic, Ableton Live, Pro Tools and Sibelius
- synthesizers including ARP Odyssey, Arturia Minibrute SE, EMS VC3, Moog Mother 32, Roland Aira T-8, Roland SH-101, Roland D-50, Roland JP-08, Yamaha SY99 and the Moog Etherwave Pro theremin
- controllers including Ableton Push, Komplete Kontrol 25, Korg Nano controllers and Alesis QX25
Trips and activities
We are planning to organise trips to events that will show you the possibilities for electronic music composition and production, such as the Sónar Festival in Barcelona.
Fees & funding
Course fees
UK students starting 2021/22 (per year)
£9,250
International students starting 2021/22 (per year)
£13,900
How do I pay my fees?
Tuition fee loan
UK students can take out a tuition fee loan, which you won’t need to start repaying until after your graduate. Or there's the option to pay your fees upfront.
International students
You can pay your tuition fees upfront, in full or in two instalments. We will also ask you for a deposit of £4,000 or a sponsorship letter. Details will be in your offer letter.
Paying your feesFunding for UK students
Most new UK undergraduate students can apply for government funding to support their studies and university life. This also applies to EU, EEA and Swiss nationals who have citizens' rights following Brexit.
Government funding includes Tuition Fee Loans and Maintenance Loans. There are additional grants available for specific groups of students, such as those with disabilities or dependants.
We also offer a range of ARU scholarships, which can provide extra financial support while you’re at university.
Funding for international students
We offer a number of scholarships, as well as an early payment discount. Explore your options:
Entry requirements
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Due to the national lockdown all universities in England, including ARU, are only able to provide face to face teaching on campus for a limited number of courses.
Teaching options when not in a lockdown
In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic all our students can choose to either study face to face on campus or online only, and students are able to change their mode of delivery at given dates throughout the trimester.
For on-campus teaching, we offer at least four hours face-to-face teaching related contact time per week for our undergraduate full-time courses, supported by online learning using our established online learning systems. The number of contact hours vary course by course, and you can contact us for further information. The provision offered is subject to change due to the possibility of further Government restrictions, however we remain committed to delivering face-to-face teaching and ensuring a COVID-19 secure environment.
In the event that there are further changes to the current restrictions that are in place due to the pandemic, we may need to move some courses online only at short notice to remain in line with Government guidelines and ensure the continued safety of our students and staff.
National lockdown (from 5 January 2021)
View the impact of the current restrictions
Important additional notes
Whether you're studying entirely online or through a blend of on-campus and online learning from September 2020, you'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course. A small number of our courses require additional technical specifications or specialist materials. Before starting the course, we recommend that you check our technical requirements for online learning. Our website also has general information for new students about starting university in 2020-21.
Our published entry requirements are a guide only and our decision will be based on your overall suitability for the course as well as whether you meet the minimum entry requirements. Other equivalent qualifications may be accepted for entry to this course, please email answers@anglia.ac.uk for further information.
International students
We welcome applications from international and EU students, and accept a range of international qualifications.
Whether you're studying entirely online or through a blend of face-to-face and online learning from September 2020, you'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course. A small number of our courses require additional technical specifications or specialist materials. Before starting the course, we recommend that you check our technical requirements for online learning. Our website also has general information for new students about starting university in 2020-21.
Due to the national lockdown all universities in England, including ARU, are only able to provide face to face teaching on campus for a limited number of courses.
Teaching options when not in a lockdown
In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic all our students can choose to either study face to face on campus or online only, and students are able to change their mode of delivery at given dates throughout the trimester.
For on-campus teaching, we offer at least four hours face-to-face teaching related contact time per week for our undergraduate full-time courses, supported by online learning using our established online learning systems. The number of contact hours vary course by course, and you can contact us for further information. The provision offered is subject to change due to the possibility of further Government restrictions, however we remain committed to delivering face-to-face teaching and ensuring a COVID-19 secure environment.
In the event that there are further changes to the current restrictions that are in place due to the pandemic, we may need to move some courses online only at short notice to remain in line with Government guidelines and ensure the continued safety of our students and staff.
National lockdown (from 5 January 2021)
View the impact of the current restrictions
English language requirements
If English is not your first language, you'll need to make sure you meet our English language requirements for undergraduate courses.
Check the standard entry requirements for IELTS requirements for this course.
Improving your English language skills
If you don't meet our English language requirements, we offer a range of courses which could help you achieve the level required for entry onto a degree course.
We also provide our own English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) in the UK and overseas. To find out if we are planning to hold an ELPT in your country, contact our country managers.
