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Two students are looking closely at an electronic swtich and cables mounted on a sound desk. Image: Andy Catlin
Postgraduate

Sound Design - MSc

MSc

Features

1 year
Full-time

Outline

If you've studied sound or music technology at university, been working in sound professionally, or if you've been experimenting with sound as a composer, designer, sound artist or engineer and are looking for a way to develop your voice, this programme may be for you.

We offer an interdisciplinary taught masters programme at the forefront of the University of Edinburgh’s rich expertise in the creative arts, music and digital media design. This programme will provide you with knowledge, skill and understanding to enable you to thrive in a range of sound design situations, both commercial and experimental.

Our programme assumes you have some aptitude for and experience of working with sound in creative ways and are prepared to advance quickly. Our students are curious, open-minded, adaptable and highly creative individuals who are keen to acquire new skills and consolidate their existing knowledge across all areas of sound design.

You may have experience of sound production for film and want to unlock those skills for game sound design, or you might be making music through creative coding and want to explore more acoustic and physical aspects of sound.

This programme will help you learn a great deal more about the craft of sound design and to expand your potential as a creative sound professional. We balance challenging practical project work with theoretical study which creates an inspiring, lively and motivating work environment.

Studying for an MSc in Sound Design will expand your appreciation of opportunities for sound design across a range of musical and artistic practices. Crucially, you’ll develop as a sonic artist, be challenged to rethink what sound design is, and why it is central to a number of developments in the arts, the media, critical theory and even science.

Our programme is practice-led and strongly interdisciplinary and you will learn to create innovative and expressive sound media including the study of:

  • Film sound
  • Interactive game-audio design
  • Sound installation and sonic art
  • Sound software design
  • Creative music and compositional practices

Programme structure

You will study a broad, flexible and integrated range of key and emerging sound design practices. The programme is designed to allow you to develop according to your skills and interests.

In the first semester, the programme focuses on:

  • developing sound design skills
  • exploring the potential for sound recording
  • editing in the digital domain
  • processing sound to create new sonic structures
  • considering relationships between code and sound that allow sound designers and music makers to develop sound work that changes according to context.

In the second semester, you will consolidate your knowledge. You will work with non-linear sound design and sound on screen by exploring how sound can be used to tell stories, create spaces and support interactions. There will be opportunities to develop competency in programming creative audio applications.

Across the taught semesters you can tailor your studies to your interests by exploring suitable elective options.

The programme ends with a self-directed but supervised research-led sound design project over the summer period in an appropriate area of sound design.

Our overall objective across the year is to support the development of personal skills, insights and experience while encouraging a rounded, outlook that has a wide appreciation of the issues of sound design in a range of creative contexts.

Graduates of the programme will be armed with professional, practical, analytical and intellectual skills to take into sound-related industries or on towards further academic study, such as a PhD.

Part-time study

The programme can be studied part-time over two years, taking two taught courses per semester in the first year, and one taught course per semester in the second year. You will finish with the final sound design project over the summer period of the second year.

Part-time study will typically require 25 hours per week across learning and teaching activities and coursework.

Teaching

You will be taught through a combination of:

  • lectures
  • seminars
  • tutorials
  • practical sessions
  • critique.

This is supported by occasional input from external professionals in the field of sound design and related areas, and by peer learning and collaborative practice.

Students will receive technical training in a wide range of sound design areas. The specific content will vary but typically will include:

  • advanced work with digital audio workstations
  • microphones and other recording equipment
  • mixing and spatialisation
  • game audio software (depending on course electives).

Assessment

Each taught course provides advanced tuition in a specialised aspect of the subject. In common with general design education practice, the main assessment of progress is by means of project-work (some of it group project-work) complemented by a relatively short written report.

Typically, project briefs emphasise creative production projects which develop and integrate practical skills in Sound Design with critical reflection.

Depending on course electives there may be more substantial essay type submissions, and/or other forms of work such as a video essay, presentation and so on.

Hear from our staff and students

Careers

The rich, cross-disciplinary programme of study we offer provides graduates with advanced skills in:

  • game sound
  • audio programming
  • audio production
  • post-production and other digital technologies relevant to sound design and the crafts of sonic art.

These skills will allow you to take on commissions in professional sound design areas or pursue your own creative path.

Our graduates are now working for major theatre, TV and video games companies.

Graduates work as freelance sonic artists and composers, and for various sound post-production studios across the world.

Many are running successful sound-related businesses and several have PhDs and are pursuing academic careers.

You will gain a wide variety of transferable skills, such as the ability to:

  • research and analyse sound
  • structure and manage your time
  • effective teamwork and communication.

These skills will increase your employability across the arts and further afield.

Why you should choose this programme

1

Produce creative work across the spectrum of sound design and develop the artistic and expressive range of your sound making.

2

Make contact with an international cohort of sound enthusiasts, working in a stimulating practical context.

3

Make use of a wide-range of production studios, software and hardware in a lively university environment.

4

Gain the confidence and skills to cope in any audio-related environment upon graduation, and feel able to survive as your portfolio develops.

5

Join a programme that has over 20 years’ experience of teaching, learning and exploring the limits of sound design as a creative practice, academic discipline and career training.

Opportunities

You gain a wide range of skills and experience across the degree through the focus on practical coursework and can extend this through opportunities to collaborate with students on other programmes at ECA.

In addition, depending on electives, you may be involved in developing exhibitions, concerts and other forms of public engagement.

How to apply and entry requirements

If you'd like to study on a postgraduate programme at Edinburgh College of Art, you must apply through EUCLID, our online application system. You can find out how to do this on the University of Edinburgh website, where you'll also be able to:

  • See detailed entrance requirements for each programme on the Degree Finder 
  • Get information on what to expect after you apply 
  • Find out about study modes, start dates and fees 
  • Find out if, and how, you need to submit a portfolio, showreel or research proposal 
  • Find out where to go for further advice and guidance.

Get in touch

Edinburgh College of Art Postgraduate Admissions

futurestudents@ed.ac.uk
+44 (0)131 650 4086

View the work of our latest graduates

Campus facilities

The Reid School has six production studios in stereo or 5.1 configurations. There are numerous labs and maker spaces across the campus and various venues available to be booked for live performances, recording experiments and installations. There is also a bank of music practice rooms available in the basement of the Reid School of Music.

We have developed two new 360 audio mixing spaces which are available for experiments in VR, AR, Dolby Atmos and ambisonics. Our studio cupboard is stocked with a wealth of microphones, location recorders, cameras, speakers, cables and VR equipment available to be booked and used flexibly.

Since 2019, the Reid School of Music has enjoyed the benefits of being an All Steinway School with 28 pianos available for performance and rehearsal across the campus.

In addition to a large number of university venues, ECA boasts several performance spaces (The Reid Concert Hall, St. Cecilia’s Hall and ECA West Court among the most prestigious spaces in town).

The Atrium of the Graduate School has been developed into a hybrid performance and presentation space with high quality loudspeakers and several large screens, curtains and truss for spatial audio and lighting.

We usually run a festival called dialogues or host the Edinburgh chapter of the UNESCO week of sound. https://digital.eca.ed.ac.uk/weekofsound/. Info at this link to be updated in due course.

Lauriston campus redevelopment

ECA are excited to be undertaking a capital redevelopment of ECA’s Lauriston campus over the next 3 years, from April 2024 to April 2027.

The project aims to maximise the use of existing space, improve accessibility, and create a vibrant campus that fosters collaboration and innovation.

The project involves refurbishing and repurposing various spaces across the Lauriston campus, including technical facilities, student and teaching spaces, and the relocation of the Reid School of Music from Alison House to the Lauriston campus. New social spaces, seminar rooms, and studios are being created to accommodate our growing community.

You can find more about the project at the below link:

Building work starts at ECA’s Lauriston campus | Edinburgh College of Art

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