This well-established sound arts course is delivered by a team of respected, practising sound artists, composers and musicians and will give you the opportunity to develop a wide range of creative and technical skills.

You will also benefit from a programme of visiting performers and speakers from all areas of contemporary sound practice from wildlife recording to plunderphonics.

Past students are working in a variety of areas including film sound, theatre sound design and solo performance work. Some are pursuing careers as independent sound artists; others have set up their own companies or gone on to study at postgraduate level. Students' work is regularly played and performed at venues in London and on the radio.

You will be offered a broad-based approach to sound arts and produce a body of work that reflects your interests in this field. You will gain technical, creative and theoretical knowledge and apply it to pieces of sound work in a wide variety of formats and for a range of contexts.

The work produced will include the following:

• Sound design for film and animation
• Multi-channel sound installations
• Interactive work
• Web-based pieces
• Musical concert works
• Soundscapes.

You will produce this work within a context of the history, practices and concerns of the sonic arts and of the major theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic issues in the media arts.

Some lectures will be shared with other students in the School of Media and over the course of the degree you will have opportunities to produce work in collaboration with these students and others within University of the Arts London and other colleges and universities.

This course is taught at LCC within the School of Media.

Who teaches the course

See http://www.soundarts.co.uk/ for a full list of our staff, their achievements and research interests.

What students say about the course

"My favourite project was called 'A Sense of Place'. I had to describe through sound a place and the meaning of the place. I recorded the Underground in London as it was, giving a cinematic sense to sound and then putting it together with my music. You can use the knowledge and skills attained in this course in various areas, such as music production and sound design for TV, theatres and cinema, or in your own music. I'm an electro-acoustic composer, I've produced a few singles and I collaborate with many artists... this course helped me to find new inspirations and ideas in my life." (Luca Roba)

Year 1

• Introduction to Higher Education
• Sound Creation & Manipulation 
• Sound Capture
• Sound Culture: Perception and Communication 1
• Sound Practitioners 1

Year 2

• Applied Sound Design
• Compositional Strategies
• Collaborative unit
• Sound Culture: Perception and Communication 2 
• Sound Practitioners 2

Year 2 provides you with a structure in which you can generate ideas, develop your creative practice and develop the skills and opportunities necessary for producing original creative work with sound in conjunction with other media and in collaboration with practitioners from other areas. Level Two will provide a framework in which you will extend your awareness of a broad range of sound practice and begin to critically evaluate the technical, theoretical and collaborative aspects of your work within the aesthetic, historical and contemporary context of sound in the arts and media.

The emphasis in Year 2 will be to enable you to learn more about the following:

• Applying the technical background knowledge, practical skills and develop the confidence necessary for working in conjunction with other media and in collaboration with practitioners from other areas 
• Evaluating the technical, theoretical and collaborative aspects of your work within the aesthetic, historical and contemporary context of sound in the arts and media and to engage with intellectual debates related to themes in the media 
• Making a verbal presentation to a group start to research your future career and begin to develop your professional portfolio 
• Composing a written paper based on research and argument 
• Developing and extending your original creative practice and adding to your portfolio of original sound work 
• Aquiring the study/research skills necessary for this stage of the course

Year 3

• Major Project Research & Realisation
• Major Project Portfolio 
• Dissertation

The emphasis at Year Three will be on the following:

• Demonstrating a critical awareness of the aesthetic, historical and contemporary context of sound in the arts and media and an extended critical awareness of how your own work is related to that and to the wider area of the communications media
• Applying a wide range of creative and technical skills and methodologies, transferable across new and emerging technological developments, to produce original sound work for a variety of contexts and media
• Working independently and/or co-operatively in the production of major pieces of work, both practical and theoretical, and present coherent written & verbal arguments, theories, ideas, concepts and visions
• Demonstrating and putting into practice the presentation, research and key skills needed to seek professional employment in the areas of sound in the arts and media that you choose
• Demonstrating and applying the necessary academic skills (research, planning and presentation skills) to be able to pursue postgraduate study
• Producing a portfolio with a variety of work which reflects, as far as possible, both your own interests and specialisms, and an awareness of the broader issues in the field of sound art and design

Sound Arts and Design is relatively new as a discipline in its own right. The field is diverse and growing and the career prospects for graduating students are good. Some recent graduates have gone on to postgraduate study; others have found work in music studios or as sound designers and composers for television. Some become freelance sound designers; others work as sound specialists on professional film and video projects. Some have pursued careers in sound art and installation; others are pursuing performance-based opportunities.

2 A levels plus 5 GCSEs (A-C), or equivalent qualifications, or relevant professional experience/experiential learning, or a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning. Applicants will also need to demonstrate a level of experience in the area through their portfolio.

International and EU students: If your first language is not English you should check you have achieved the correct IELTS level in English.

Additional entry requirements
Applicants should have experience of producing some original sound. Those selected for interview are required to bring examples of their work.

Please apply through UCAS.

If you are a UK or EU student and you have an admissions enquiry please call +44(0)20 7514 6569 or email ugadmissions@lcc.arts.ac.uk. If your are a none-EU international student and you are unsure about how to apply, admission enquiries should be made through the International Office (call +44 (0)20 7514 8138).