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Our Music Technology degree combines performance and musical creativity with innovative use and understanding of technology. The programme develops your technical skills in sound recording, audio processing and production, editing and mixing, while improving your knowledge of the underlying scientific principles.
Overview
The inspirational teaching staff at our Medway campus offer a broad range of experiences that cross the disciplines of composition, sound design, analysis, performance practice and musicology. Our excellent student to staff ratio also means you enjoy high and continuous levels of teaching support during your studies.
Explore recent advances in music production, sound processing and synthesis, and examine contemporary innovations in digital technologies, surround sound, computer games and interactive media. Our specialist award-winning studio facilities include:
- Fully equipped ensemble rehearsal spaces and practice rooms with pianos, guitar amps and drum kits
- Three professional recording and post-production studios
- A portable and flexible sound diffusion system (comprising a custom-made 32-channel Gluion console and an array of 42 Genelec loudspeakers)
- A range of performance venues (including the 300-seat, 19th century Royal Dockyard Church)
- The £8 million Drill Hall Library with over 100,000 items.
The Medway area has a rich and diverse history of music making and continues to thrive, with numerous venues from the Tap ‘n’ Tin club to Rochester Castle. The University also has a vibrant and active student-led Music Society that puts on concerts, gigs and events and arranges rehearsals for many music groups.
If you are studying on a full-time basis you can choose to take the Year in Industry option. You may also take this year as work experience overseas, or study abroad.
Our Music Technology BSc strikes a balance between the technical and the creative aspects of music technology. It gives you the confidence to work in all areas of the music industry and cultural enterprise after your graduation.
Independent rankings
In the National Student Survey 2014, Music at the University of Kent gained the 3rd highest score in the UK for student satisfaction.
Course structure
The course structure below gives a flavour of the modules that will be available to you and provides details of the content of this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation. Most programmes will require you to study a combination of compulsory and optional modules. You may also have the option to take ‘wild’ modules from other programmes offered by the University in order that you may customise your programme and explore other subject areas of interest to you or that may further enhance your employability.
Year in industry
You can extend your studies from three to four years by taking the Year in Industry option(this option is not available if you are studying on a part-time basis). This provides the opportunity to gain relevant workplace experience as part of your programme of study. We have long recognised the benefits of taking a year abroad and the increased awareness and confidence the experience brings and now want to offer these benefits to students within the workplace.
By taking this option you are given you an opportunity to increase your contacts and network so that you can hit the ground running when you graduate.
The Year in Industry option is only available to full-time students. It is taken in addition to your standard undergraduate programme and normally falls between your second and final year. Students typically work on a placement for the full calendar year, and salary and holiday entitlements vary according to the employer. The year itself is assessed on a pass/fail basis through employer feedback and a written report that you submit.
Year abroad
It is possible to extend your full-time degree programme to four years by spending your third year studying abroad (this option is not available if you are studying on a part-time basis).
The School of Music and Fine Art currently has arrangements for exchanges with universities across Europe, America, Asia and other destinations overseas. Our close proximity to Ebbsfleet International train station makes it easy to access continental Europe as well as London.
If you would rather keep your degree to three years, but are still interested in spending some time studying abroad, you have the opportunity to take a term abroad at one of our partner institutions in Europe, or further afield, during the spring term of Stage 2.
For more details on taking an overseas experience as a student at Kent, see www.kent.ac.uk/goabroad.
Teaching and assessment
Most modules consist of a mix of lectures, small group seminars, practical workshops, individual or group project work, research and private study. You have access to current industry-standard recording and post-production facilities to carry out your practical coursework assignments.
We use a wide range of assessment methods, including individual projects, recording sessions, composition assignments, music and multimedia tasks, seminar presentations and written papers. Alongside practical projects, you have lectures and seminars that will help you to develop your writing and research skills.
Programme aims
The programme aims to:
- produce music technology graduates equipped to fulfil significant roles within a range of music and digital media organisations and industries
- provide a multidisciplinary education for those students who seek professional careers in music production, music technology and related areas
- develop specialist knowledge in audio recording and production, music production and the hardware and software related to these discipline
- provide opportunities for personal development
- encourage critical thinking with regard to current professional practice
- enable students to meet the challenges of a diverse and rapidly-changing field
- provide high-quality academic guidance and help students to achieve their full potential
- foster students’ abilities in both autonomous and team-based practices.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
You gain knowledge and understanding of:
- essential facts, concepts, principles, and theories relevant to music technology
- the science, mathematics and technological base relevant to music technology
- relevant contemporary issues in the areas of current music technology and music practice
- the methods needed to confront, explore and assimilate unfamiliar musical sounds, concepts, repertoires and practices
- how to observe, understand, interpret and manipulate oral, written and visual signs denoting music
- the professional and ethical responsibilities associated with music technology.
Intellectual skills
You develop intellectual skills in:
- research and exploration including the gathering and evaluation of information
- the ability to quote from and acknowledge academic sources, relating your insights to the practice and experience of music
- how to plan, implement, evaluate, and reflect critically on work-in-progress
- the use of influences and quotations in one’s own and others’ work
- the ability to assimilate and synthesise complex information
- how to to exercise judgment and to make informed choices
- maintaining a sound theoretical approach in enabling the introduction of new and advancing technology to enhance current practice in music technology
- the ability to design and/or evaluate the design of a system, process or product
- solve (music technology related) engineering problems, often on the basis of limited and possibly contradictory information.
Subject-specific skills
You gain subject-specific skills in the following areas:
- the ability to conceive musical ideas, and to manipulate them in an inventive and individual way
- how to develop materials into well-formed and coherent musical structures
- using a wide range of tools, techniques and equipment, including pertinent software
- how to develop, promote and apply safe systems of working with particular regard to the requirements of music technology
- the ability to engage with a variety of musical styles through creative and technical projects or exercises
- combining musical sound with other media
- using analogue and digital equipment for creating and recording music
- the ability to use and adapt computer software for music-related tasks such as notation, sound analysis and synthesis, composition, sound recording and editing
- understanding of the acoustic and physical theories relevant to the design and construction of acoustic musical instruments.
Transferable skills
You gain transferable skills in:
- IT, including word processing, email, the use of information from online and electronic sources, and current music production industry-standard hardware and software
- communicating effectively with others as a member of a team
- how to respond positively to self-criticism and the criticism of others while maintaining confidence in your own creative work
- the ability to generate, analyse, present and interpret data
- the effective management of resources and time and the ability to organise and prioritise tasks
- flexible thinking, including the ability to be open to new and alternative ideas
- the ability to demonstrate innovative solutions to problems and the transfer of technology
- problem solving, reacting to new situations; decoding information and ideas; dealing with complex situations; finding ways of working with others under pressure
- how to manage and carry a project through to delivery.
Careers
Music graduates from the University of Kent benefit from a degree which strikes a good balance between theoretical studies and practical applications. This gives you key transferable skills to compete successfully in a challenging employment market:
- 90% of Kent music graduates are in employment or further study within 6 months of graduating*
- The average starting salary of Kent music graduates is £17,000*
Career opportunities include: music recording and production; audio software or hardware development; sound for film, television, video games and the internet; live sound for concerts, theatre events and festivals; studio set-up and maintenance; composition (music for film/television through to games); sonic arts; computer music; or further study at postgraduate level.
Which? University states that “postgraduate study (usually continuing with music) is quite common and a lot of graduates go into music teaching”. Our students have followed a wide variety of taught and research postgraduate programmes across the disciplines of Art, Music and Performing Arts.
”Without the knowledge, experience and diversity of skills I gained at Kent, I would have really struggled to find work. [Managing the Fine Art end-of-year show] showcased my creative, technical and teamworking skills as well as my ability to network and manage a large group of people, which really boosted my CV.”
Ryan Samuel Bentley, Music Technology graduate 2013.
* Source: Destinations of leavers from HE record
Entry requirements
Home/EU students
The University will consider applications from students offering a wide range of qualifications, typical requirements are listed below, students offering alternative qualifications should contact the Admissions Office for further advice. It is not possible to offer places to all students who meet this typical offer/minimum requirement.
| Qualification | Typical offer/minimum requirement |
|---|---|
| A level | ABB-BBB including B in Music or Music Technology. |
| Access to HE Diploma | The University of Kent will not necessarily make conditional offers to all access candidates but will continue to assess them on an individual basis. If an offer is made candidates will be required to obtain/pass the overall Access to Higher Education Diploma and may also be required to obtain a proportion of the total level 3 credits and/or credits in particular subjects at merit grade or above. |
| BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (formerly BTEC National Diploma) | Distinction, Distinction, Merit |
| International Baccalaureate | 34 points overall or 16 points at HL including Mathematics 4 at HL or SL, Music 5 at HL or 6 at SL |
International students
The University receives applications from over 140 different nationalities and consequently will consider applications from prospective students offering a wide range of international qualifications. Our International Development Office will be happy to advise prospective students on entry requirements. See our International Student website for further information about our country-specific requirements.
Please note that if you need to increase your level of qualification ready for undergraduate study, we offer a number of International Foundation Programmes through Kent International Pathways.
English Language Requirements
Please see our English language entry requirements web page.
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
General entry requirements
Please also see our general entry requirements.
Fees
The 2016/17 annual tuition fees for this programme are:
| UK/EU | Overseas | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | ||
| Part-time |
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
The Government has announced changes to allow undergraduate tuition fees to rise in line with inflation from 2017/18.
The University of Kent is currently considering whether to increase its regulated full-time tuition fees for all returning Home and EU undergraduates from £9,000 to £9,250 in September 2017. This would be subject to us satisfying the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework and the access regulator's requirements. The equivalent part-time fees for these courses might also rise by 2.8%.
For students continuing on this programme fees will increase year on year by no more than RPI + 3% in each academic year of study except where regulated.* If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk
UK/EU/International students on an approved Year Abroad for the full 2016/17 academic year pay an annual fee of £1,350 to Kent for that year. Those on an approved Year in Industry pay an annual fee of £865 to Kent for that year. Students studying abroad for less than one academic year will pay full fees according to their fee status.
Funding
Kent offers generous financial support schemes to assist eligible undergraduate students during their studies. Details of our proposed funding opportunities for 2016 entry can be found on our funding page.
General scholarships
Scholarships are available for excellence in academic performance, sport and music and are awarded on merit. For further information on the range of awards available and to make an application see our scholarships website.
The Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence
At Kent we recognise, encourage and reward excellence. We have created the Kent Scholarship for Academic Excellence. For 2016 entry, the scholarship will be awarded to any applicant who achieves a minimum of AAA over three A levels, or the equivalent qualifications as specified on our scholarships pages. Please review the eligibility criteria on that page.