MUSIC PRODUCTION
MUSIC PRODUCTION I would like to invite you to join our community of music producers. Come and study with like-minded people, who share your passion for creating awesome music with the latest technology. We will help you to establish and strengthen your skills, build your portfolio of productions and find your place in the creative industries. There are many ways that music production is used in the music industry, so whether your interest is in creating electronic music ‘in the box’, you’re a singer-songwriter who wants to sell your own music, you want to run your own music production business, or you’re an all-round music producer and want to see where that expertise will take you, we want to work with you. This course enables our students to become creative and reflective workers: to be producers, musicians and entrepreneurs, working as successful digital musicians, pushing the boundaries of production. This will give you a taste of some of the recent work we’ve been doing in Music Production at York St John University, but if you want to know more check us out online: soundoutput.co.uk Ben Burrows Subject Director: Music Production
The best things about studying at York St John were the accessibility of the lecturers (who are all recognised industry professionals) and the availability of the facilities and equipment 24/7. Highlights included visits to Valley Wood Studio, the chance to work at Abbey Road, and meeting, producers such as Gary Bromham, Phil Harding, Andy Barlow and Mike Cave on ‘Industry Days’. During my time as a student I made full use of the facilities and equipment available, acquiring the skillset needed to establish myself as a producer and engineer. This has led to work alongside artists such as The Howl & The Hum, Naked Six, Rachel Croft and Alex Ohm whilst engineering for Eliot Kennedy (Bryan Adams, Gary Barlow, The Spice Girls), Paul Baily (Andrei Gavrilov, Richard Hickox, Nigel Kennedy), Toby Hulbert (Bat for Lashes, Frank Ocean, Sting) and Lawrence Love-Greed (Chris Martin, Jay Z, Paul McCartney). Daniel Collins Music Production BA (Hons)
OUR COURSES We want to work with students who share our passion for music and technology and who are motivated to produce great music. Our links with the industry inform our ethos and teaching. Guest speakers, prospective clients and co-producers ensure that the courses are relevant and up to date. Modern music producers also need to be enterprising businesspeople, able to navigate the industry to make to most of their talents and opportunities. We cover the mechanics of the music industry so you can develop the practical business acumen to be able to forge a career out of your passion for music. Our four Undergraduate programmes offer specialisms which allow you to focus on your interests.
— Music Production BA (Hons) The Music Production degree is a practical course that develops creativity and technical expertise in a wide range of music production contexts. You will learn by producing music for yourself and for real-world clients, immersing yourself in the contemporary music industry and experiencing life as a 21st Century producer. This programme offers the broadest experience of music production, and develops confident and innovative producers who are able to adapt their skills to any audio production situation. You will build up your portfolio by producing music for real-world clients, and gain the invaluable experience needed to develop as a professional music producer.
The other three programmes build on the same foundation as Music Production BA (Hons), enabling you to develop the specific skills that will be of most use to you in the future.
— Digital Music BA (Hons) The Digital Music programme is for those who want to explore the impact of digital technology on music production and produce music using the latest digital technologies and processes. Digital Music focuses on making music with a computer or other digital music technology, enabling you to explore the unique sounds and possibilities of digitally-based approaches to music production. You will learn to produce music in a wide variety of genres using the latest production techniques and digital technology.
— Independent Music Production BA (Hons) This is for DIY musicians, such as singer-songwriters, solo musicians and band members who want to become experts with production technology so they can write, produce, market and release their own music successfully. You will explore the new alternatives that modern digital technology has opened up to the traditional idea of getting signed by a record label. You will learn the creative application of advanced sound engineering techniques and software processes to independently produce and sell your own music products.
— Music Production & Creative Business BA (Hons) The Music Production & Creative Business programme is for those who want to work as a producer, musician and entrepreneur, to start-up and manage a successful creative business in music production. You will explore the ever-changing nature of the music business, and how it presents us with new possibilities and innovations, enabling people to work together in new ways and with new business models. You will learn to produce music professionally, and gain real-world business experience to develop your media enterprise or music production company.
TOP CLASS FACILITIES We have four Music Production studios, the main one being The Bunker. It features three large recording spaces centred around a new Audient ASP8024 HE large format recording console for analogue tracking and mixing. The console has digital integration for seamlessly controlling Pro Tools or Logic X. We have a wide range of classic studio mics from Neumann, Shure, Sennheiser, and AKG, and there is a Hammond organ, Yamaha drum kit and various amps in the main live room. The Bunker is completely soundproof and so can be used 24 hours a day. Studio 102 allows students to dock their own machines to use the Avid HD hardware and is used for overdubs and mixing. We also have a dedicated Mastering Suite. All of the studios have mastering-grade monitoring from PMC, ATC and Genelec. We have several location recording rigs for tracking in diverse acoustic spaces such as The Chapel, and we have The Octagon Media Suite with 24 iMacs loaded up with music production software. As well as Pro Tools and Logic X we use Ableton Live, Wavelab, and various specialist plug-ins from Native Instruments, Izotope, Lexicon and Waves.
LINKS TO INDUSTRY Our programmes are heavily underpinned by professional experience with real artists and clients. During your course you will undertake practical projects with our industry partners, who are professional producers working in the creative industries. Recently these have involved producing house tracks for Andy Cole for the LuvJam label, creating soundtracks for filmmaker Paul Richardson; producing sound design and music for TV commercials for Ben McAvoy at WMP Studios Ltd; and producing an album for singer-songwriter Simon Snaize.
EXCITING EVENTS Our events give you the chance to widen your practical experience, learn on-the-job with active professionals, showcase your creative and academic work and to network with future clients. Industry Days take place throughout the year, including talks, workshops and masterclasses from some of the industry’s top artists. Recent guests have included Phil Harding (The Clash, Kylie), Rob Orton (Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons) and Andy Barlow (U2, Lamb). A highlight for many students is the final year project where they work with staff and industry partners at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios. Most recently this involved producing a ‘live in the studio’ album with The Magic Numbers and The Blow Monkeys among others. Other trips include a visit to AMS Neve, and a working trip to the boutique analogue Valley Wood Studios. Each year we run an academic conference in which final year and Postgraduate students present papers on their research, culminating in the publication of our student academic journal Azimuth Audio. Find out more about our events and student work: soundoutput.co.uk
At York St John University we’ve been changing lives through education since 1841. We have a long history of championing social justice and expanding opportunities. Our research and our teaching reflect this.
97% of York St John University graduates were in work or further study six months after graduation (DLHE 2017).
People from almost
60
different countries study at York St John University. When you graduate you will become part of a global community who are proud to be part of the YSJ Family.
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PLACEMENT YEARS Almost all of our Undergraduate courses can now be studied with a placement year in industry, giving you more real-world experience to boost your career.
STUDY ABROAD Most of our courses include the option to study abroad for a year or a semester without adding extra time to your degree. We have links with partner institutions all around the world.