MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games
Why choose Herts?
- Employment Prospects: Graduates work as producers, audio engineers, and composers for organisations such as Channel 4, Splash Damage, and Creative Assembly.
- Strong Industry Connections: You will benefit from extensive networking opportunities with our industry partners, including BAFTA, Sony, and Splash Damage Videogame Company.
- Teaching Excellence: Delivered by Bruce Aisher, a music producer, songwriter, composer, remixer, sound designer and technology journalist with featured work in over 100 commercially released tracks (including a US Billboard Club Chart No.1) and on TV programmes such as ‘CSI’ and 'Top Gear', and products by Apple, Clavia, and Native Instruments.
Alumni Stories
Georgia Mae Ayling
Meet Georgia. Georgia was the first in her family to attend university and now works for famous video game developer Rocksteady Studios.
| Current job | Audio and Narrative Feature Tester at Rocksteady Studios |
|---|---|
| Year of graduation | 2021 |
| Course of study | MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games |
Happy memories
Georgia chose to study MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games at Herts because she was impressed by the University’s creative facilities and the topics covered in the course. She says, ‘My favourite thing about my master’s is that it was taught by so many different industry professionals, with a variety of experience in the sector.’
‘Herts is in a great location too. I am from London and being able to access the city is brilliant. The campus is spacious and filled with many amenities, and the environment is so welcoming.’
Georgia completed her master’s during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite difficult circumstances, she could still bond with her course mates. ‘I have a lot of happy memories playing games like Fall Guys and Among Us. I made a lot of great friends there.’
Georgia was the first in her immediate family to go to university and her journey to Herts was supported by the BAFTA UK scholarship programme. The programme supports talented individuals looking to enter the film, games, and television industries.
Working for Rocksteady Studios
Georgia is now working for Rocksteady Studios, famous for the Batman Arkham video game series, as an Audio and Narrative Feature Tester. She believes the course prepared her well for this role, ‘My master’s went in-depth with interactive sound and music systems. Also, being able to speak 1:1 with lecturers helped me understand how the video game industry operates, so when I landed my first role with Electronic Arts, the sector didn’t feel alien to me.’
Georgia’s advice to current and future Herts students is to, ‘Meet as many people as you can and take up as many opportunities to collaborate on projects as you can manage!’
About the course
- BAFTA approved. BAFTA endorsement is a significant recognition of the industry focus of the course and means that you can be sure you will be studying on a course that has been recognised as fully industry-relevant by THE leading organisation in the sector. As stated on the BAFTA website, "The eligible courses have been identified by industry professionals as producing students ready to work in film, games or television".
- Develop a showreel demonstrating your creative talent in composing music and designing sound for a wide range of media (video, film, video games), opening up a 360º horizon of possibilities and opportunities for work.
- Collaborate with MA Film students in our School of Creative Arts.
- Learn in the university’s top-class facilities, assisted by tutors who are themselves industry professionals
BAFTA Scholarship Programme
If you are intending to apply to undertake this MSc, you may be eligible to apply for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Scholarship. The BAFTA Scholarship Programme offered talented individuals of any age - those of British nationality or Chinese nationals studying in the UK - a chance to receive up to £12,000 towards your annual tuition fees, mentoring by an industry professional, and free access to BAFTA events.
Click for more information and to apply
If you have any further questions contact the BAFTA scholarship programme directly on: scholarships@bafta.org.
Why choose this course?
This course is conceived to meet the current industry’s demand for creative professionals who are equally versed in music composition as well as sound design, and can work effectively across a range of media – whether it’s video, narrative film or interactive games.
All aspects of the soundtrack are systematically explored in both linear and non-linear environments, leading to a fuller understanding of the discipline, of the industry, and of the production processes.
On this course, you will harness the whole gamut of sonic resources for your creative practice – from acoustic instruments to electroacoustic sound, utilising all the latest studio techniques and technologies.
You’ll study in the University’s top-class studios, supported by tutors who are experienced industry professionals, with potential to collaborate with students from our MA Film course.
With targeted sessions and expert guidance, you’ll develop a showreel demonstrating your creative talent in providing sound and music for a wide range of media (video, film, video games), opening up a 360º horizon of possibilities and opportunities for work.
Explore our Master of Sound Student Success blog to find out how our alumni have progressed since completing the course.
Course contents
Assessment is conceived around real-life projects, allowing you to build a showreel of works demonstrating your creative talent in providing sound and music for a wide range of media. You will undertake the following portfolio projects:
1. Sound Design Practice 1
2. Sound Design Practice 2
3. Soundtrack to Narrative Film 1
4. Soundtrack to Narrative Film 2
5. Soundtrack to linear game-play footage
6. Interactive soundtrack to video games
7. Student project – this can be any substantial work related to this course of study. It gives you the opportunity either to specialise by delving deeper into one of the areas explored in the previous projects, or to expand further by exploring other areas of music-media interaction. Interdisciplinary collaborations are strongly encouraged and supported as far as possible.
Resources
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• a large recording studio featuring a 32-fader Neve Genesys Black analogue mixing console (with Neve 1073 mic-preamps + 88R and 1084 EQ) / 64-channel Protools HD MADI system / PMC IB2S-A midfield monitors / Neumann surround monitoring / two racks of high-end analogue and digital outboard compression, EQ and effects (Neve, Focusrite, Drawmer, 1176, LA2A, Pultec) / UAD DSP processing with full suite of plug-ins.
• medium-size studio featuring a Neve Genesys / Protools HD system with RedNET and Neumann 5.1 monitoring.
• 4 x acoustically-treated, surround-equipped, iMAc mix/production spaces with Slate Raven Mti touchscreen control and REDNet, and Kawai acoustic pianos.
• 2 x live recording booth/spaces.
• 3 monitoring spaces for surround sound mixing.
• dubbing suite for A/V work (foley, ADR, etc.)
• 2 x 30 seat dual-monitor Apple iMac labs (each with a large range of s/w - including Logic, Ableton Live, Reason, ProTools, MaxMSP, Native Instruments Komplete, East West Composer Cloud)
• a 150-seats state-of-the-art performance venue with Soundcraft vi1 console and full RedNET integration.
• top class outboard including Digidesign Pro Tools, Lexicon TLAudio, TC Electronic, Focusrite, and so much more.
• vast selection of top-quality dynamic, condenser and ribbon microphones, including Soundfield, Neumann, AKG, Coles, Shure, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic.
What our students say
“The course is well structured, giving opportunities to explore the field of composition in a very broad way and also focus on particular areas of interest. I have genuinely found it exciting and inspiring to participate and I found the atmosphere just as I hoped: creative, relevant, stimulating, professional and fun.” Nicola Hutchison, teacher at Hertfordshire College of Music and active multidisciplinary artist
"The MSc Composition course was a real eye-opener as to the many applications of composition, allowing me to produce work far beyond the realms of what I thought possible." Chris Moorhead, freelance composer for media, and session player
"It has been a life changing experience for me, and that is no overstatement. Your particularly vigorous and passionate dedication to cracking open our own personal artistic consciousness underpinned a revelatory roller coaster ride from which I learned and will continue to learn a great deal." Alex Simler, instrumental teacher at Hertfordshire Music Services
What will I study?
Industry partners
Our industry partners include:
- Spitfire Audio
- AIR Studios
- Zimmer Audio
- Featured Artists Coalition
- Music Academic Partnership
- Sound Technology
- Splash Damage Videogame Company
Guest speakers
Industry guest speakers, composers, sound artists, sound designers, are invited to talk and advise on all aspects of the soundtrack and the professional engagement with the production process.
Guests have included Spitfire Audio founder Paul Thomson, sound design guru and film editor Walter Murch, choreographer Jane Turner, film composer Matt Backer, audio designer Josh Smith, and many more.
Key staff
Bruce Aisher
Programme Leader for Postgraduate Music, Bruce is a music producer, songwriter, composer, remixer, sound designer, and technology journalist. His work features on over 100 tracks, including a US Billboard Club Chart No.1, a Platinum album and TV shows.
James Stonehouse
Dr. James Stonehouse specialises in interactive music systems and technical sound design for games. He is an experienced game audio practitioner, conference speaker, and well-connected in the industry.
Kyriacos Michael
Dr. Kyriacos is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter, and music director. He's founded bands such as Nova Neon, and worked with BoohooMan, BBC & Discovery Channel. He teaches songwriting, composition, and research, focusing on Immersive Music.
Rob Wright
Head of Music, School of Creative Arts
Further course information
| Course fact sheets | |
|---|---|
| MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games | Download |
| MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games | Download |
| Programme specifications | |
|---|---|
| MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games | Download |
| MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games | Download |
| Additional information | |
|---|---|
Sandwich placement or study abroad year |
n/a |
Applications open to international and EU students |
Yes |