They will have in-depth knowledge of selected current research topics in at least one of several areas of music technology. Graduates will also have a familiarity with research issues in other disciplines to ensure that students are able to work on interdisciplinary research problems. The course will produce graduates suitable for employment in the public and private sectors in research positions as well as for further postgraduate research study. The coursework subjects provide students with a number of methods for conducting research into music systems and technology. Each of the new Advanced Audio Engineering and Advanced Audio Production subjects will allow students to build on fundamental skills developed within the engineering and production streams of earlier years.
Students prepare their research proposal and have it evaluated by their peers and academic staff.
The second part of the dissertation allows the student to conduct their research and to present the results to their peers and academic staff in oral, written, audio-media portfolio and where appropriate, electronic presentation. Advanced Audio Engineering will focus on the technical theory and techniques necessary for the assembly of professional audio and mixed-media projects in Compact Disk, performance or multimedia formats. Advanced Audio Production is concerned with the aesthetics of music performance, creation and reproduction and to this end will analyse and deconstruct the audio elements of particular music and audio for film, television and multimedia genres and will investigate the impact of new technologies on the theory and practice of media production. This subject will allow students to undertake practical, personalised project work on a specific topic or problem in an area of music technology as required by the dissertation research topic and the Advanced Audio Engineering and Advanced Audio Production subjects. Students are given the opportunity to investigate approaches and techniques by project development and indicative audio-media production portfolio.