Build foundations for your professional life as a commercial music producer or sound engineer, equipped with the latest techniques and experience in a range of audio production equipment.
Create a diverse portfolio of work that will prepare you for the modern collaborative creative industries, whether you want to make soundtracks for films and games, manage sound for podcasts and live broadcasts, or perform as a DJ.
Our BA (Hons) Music and Sound Production degree will allow you access to industry-standard equipment for recording, mixing, editing and production, giving you valuable practice in working as a professional producer or sound engineer.
As well as advancing your understanding of digital audio theory, MIDI, and sound synthesis, you’ll move beyond move beyond the native mixers, processors and plugins in commercial DAWs towards higher-quality external processors, such as digital signal processing-based plugins and analogue outboard.
As a student at ARU in Cambridge, many of your modules will be shared with our other music courses, giving you the chance to collaborate with different students and develop all-important skills for your professional life, such as teamworking and time management. You’ll also have opportunities to work with students on our film and computer game degrees, creating soundtracks for their projects.
Our optional modules allow you to shape the course for your chosen career. For example, Music Business will develop and broaden your entrepreneurial skills for the modern music industry, with teaching by professionals who have extensive industry experience, and visiting speakers contributing specialist knowledge. Electronics for Music will introduce you to the analysis and design of electronic circuits, small-signal and power amplifiers, and the problems of noise, interference and distortion, helping you evaluate, select, design and test audio electronic equipment for use in your creative projects.
You can even opt for a placement year between years 2 and 3 to get ahead in the creative industries.
The UK music industry contributed £5.8 billion to the UK economy in 2019 – up 11% from £5.2 billion in 2018. (PRS for Music)
Course Details - Modules
Year 1: Core modules
Music in Context 1
Dots, Lines and Waves - Songwriting 1
Studio Techniques
Music Production
Year 2: Core modules
Advanced Audio Technology
Ruskin Module
Optional modules
Audio for Film
Audio for Games
Composition and Orchestration
Music Business
Year 3: Core modules
Major Project - Music
Collaborative Project
Portfolio
Course Details – Assessment Method
Our open assessment tasks will challenge you to come up with your own creative responses, giving you space for active and creative rehearsals, collaborative experimentation and the development of your own independent work.
You’ll also be assessed using different methods and strategies that reflect the wide variety of activities involved in music-making. As well as creative projects, these might include presentations/performance; essays; analytical work; portfolio development; and written and practical exams.
Course Details – Professional Bodies
Professional Bodies are not listed for this Course.
How to Apply
26 January This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application Codes
Course code:
W377
Institution code:
A60
Campus Name:
Cambridge Campus
Campus code:
Points of Entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
Year 1
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry (Year 2 and Beyond)
Entry Requirements for Advanced Entry are not listed for this Course.
International applicants
Standard Qualification Requirements
from minimum of 2 A Levels (or equivalent), preferably to include Music, Music Technology or a related subject.
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
