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Hi there,

I have applied for 3 masters courses in total.

I want to get into sound design / composition for interactive media (games / mobile apps) as well as multimedia.

MA Audio Production at the University of Westminster. http://www.westminster.ac.uk/courses...dio-production Alumni: http://www.westminster.ac.uk/alumni/...duction-alumni

MA Postproduction with Sound Design at the University of York. http://www.york.ac.uk/tftv/postgradu...duction-sound/

MSc Sound Design at the University of Edinburgh. http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departme...mme/curriculum Alumni (click in the years of "more information") http://sd.caad.ed.ac.uk/mscsounddesign/

I'm still waiting to hear back from Edinburgh. Have offers from the other 2.

Which do you think will be best for me?

Thanks in advance!

Kabir

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  • Do you have any industrial experience? This might affect which degree would be best for you.
    – user80
    Commented Jul 20, 2013 at 10:03
  • @Iain McGregor I've assisted the Sound Designer Steve Brooke at BBC Radio Drama North with an audio drama, at both the recording and mixing stages. This may not count but, I've also helped with the audio side of things for an advertisement campaign my university held with Hewlett Packard for a competition they were holding. I edited the video, did the background score, colour corrected the video and also sorted out the dialogue. My group didn't win overall but produced them the most revenue! (we were robbed! an employee took part in another group's video... we call it biased win haha!)
    – KB19
    Commented Jul 21, 2013 at 15:52
  • I also applied for these universities, what is your final decision?
    – user20899
    Commented Apr 19, 2017 at 8:55

3 Answers 3

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I think you need to speak to the people running the courses. Write down what you need to get out of this for you, then go and have a chat with each of them. Some people believe that universities just want to get as many students as they can on their courses, but it's really not like that - they will be just as concerned that you are making the right choice (for your needs) as you are, and will tell you if the course is not going to fulfill these.

As you're interested in games etc, perhaps you need to find out whether there are other students around generating that sort of content for you to work on, and who could also be collaborators when you leave.

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  • "As you're interested in games etc, perhaps you need to find out whether there are other students around generating that sort of content for you to work on, and who could also be collaborators when you leave.". This is a very advisable perspective.
    – Internet Human
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 14:48
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They'll all be similar. I'd focus on the location and tuition fees, rather than the specific course content.

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One thing to consider is the difference between MSc and MA (Master of Science and Master of Arts, respectively). Clearly the MSc will focus on more scientific content and the MA will concentrate on artistic content. In very simple terms the MSc is about HOW and the MA is about WHY, although clearly you will need some of both in each course and this would be typical in the course content. Make sure you choose the content that is right for you.

We also offer a couple of postgraduate courses that you may want to look at as well, although I'm not sure if the MSc will run next year:

Sound Production for Film and Television MA (http://courses.bournemouth.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate-degree/sound-production-for-film-television/ma/1935/)

Digital Music and Audio Production MSc (http://courses.bournemouth.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate-degree/digital-music-audio-production/none/1081/)

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  • @Mark Durham makes an important point.....tailor the projects you work on for the output you are trying to achieve. We have a lot of other courses in associated areas (Games, Digital Media, Film, TV) and we always encourage our students to collaborate with students in other disciplines. Do check out what other courses each university offer.
    – Bit Depth
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 9:24
  • @Bit Depth your distinction between the MSc and MA seems dubious (syntatically correct, but dubious in content and reasoning), unless it can be verified by the one who's declared the designation. In the general sense sound production has nothing to do with science or the scientific method and thus the above distinction between a MA or a MSc and the given reasoning (HOW and WHY or whatever) is strongly questionable.
    – Internet Human
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 14:47
  • @Bit Depth thank you for the information you've given me, my BSc was enough to give me info on the "HOW" aspect of sound / video / web. I feel that an MA's "WHY" approach will be more suitable for what I want to pursue next. I've asked York's course leader about whether there is opportunity to collaborate and it seems a no-go. No animation / games course running at all but they shall be offering a BSc in this area starting 2014. How flexible is the MA at Bournemouth? I know Kenny Young is an alumni of your old Sound Design MA IIRC. How much of the old course is in the current MA? Thanks :)
    – KB19
    Commented Jul 18, 2013 at 0:59
  • @Kabir The new MA course is born from the old one, but it has now been moved into a framework of courses in Media Production so some of the modules now have a broader context. The idea being to provide students with more "transferable skills". (I don't actually teach on this course, but the MSc.) I know in the past they have offered students the opportunity to collaborate, but you might want to talk directly to the course leader for the MA Media Production Framework.
    – Bit Depth
    Commented Jul 18, 2013 at 10:22
  • I teach on a Sound Design MSc and it is a mix of the creative and scientific. My module "Listening" is about listeners' experiences of sound designs, and is taught from a scientific perspective. We also have modules such as Sound Design for Linear Media" which is taught from a creative perspective.
    – user80
    Commented Jul 20, 2013 at 10:09

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