Audio and Music Technology [with Foundation Year]

Discover how sound works and how technology can help you to master it with our industry-accredited Audio and Music Technology degree.

With our BSc (Hons) Audio & Music Technology degree, you’ll produce compelling audio projects by mastering the sciences that underlie the design and control of sound. You will build a portfolio for a future-oriented career in the creative industries, including studio engineering, live sound, film, video games, broadcast, and acoustics.

Under the guidance of expert academics and industry-active practitioners, you will spend time developing a broad, balanced skill set and become proficient in the design and application of key technologies and specialist techniques.

We've been committed to equipping our graduates with such skills for more than 20 years, providing you with the technological edge to succeed in the creative industries.

Graduate with a degree approved by the industry. Our Audio & Music Technology course is accredited by JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Support), a professional body established by the Music Producers Guild (MPG) and the Association of Professional Recording Studios (APRS). Made up of accomplished industry professionals and experts, the JAMES accreditors distinguish our course as being “highly relevant to current industry practice”.

Join our thriving community of graduates who engineer in studios, tour the world as live-sound production managers, work for companies such as Focusrite, PRISM Sound, Meyer Sound Laboratories, dCS Audio, Sharps Redmore Acoustic Consultants, and Atkins, or become successful entrepreneurs, like Kerr Acoustic Ltd.

Make the most of Cambridge’s diverse music scene with our links to local networks such as Cambridge Arts Network, Cambridge Live, Cambridge Junction and Britten Sinfonia – from classical music to UK rap, and film to video game soundtracks, there are plenty of opportunities to explore your style.

Take advantage of an optional work placement between years two and three or internships with our industry partners and practitioners. Such opportunities are invaluable to gaining real-world experience and making those essential industry contacts. Our students have completed industry placements with companies such as Focusrite, Woodleyside IT, Sharps Redmore Acoustic Consultants, and Slovak TV.

Work in industry-standard recording studios and audio/video production facilities with support from our dedicated technical team. Develop your audio/music practice solving real-world problems and experiment with different areas and techniques as you immerse yourself in our industrious and collaborative student community across other music-related courses and our Cambridge School of Creative Industries.

Professional Facilities
As part of your Audio & Music Technology studies at ARU, you’ll have access to specialist facilities including:

• Five recording studios featuring analogue, digital or hybrid mixing desks by AMS Neve, SSL, Audient, and Allen & Heath, with all spaces equipped with the DAWs Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live and plenty of hardware outboard (Drawmer, DBX, TC Electronic, Lexicon, TL Audio, Toft Audio), software plug-ins and instruments (Universal Audio, Native Instruments, Moog, iZoTope, Fabfilter).

• Audio-visual studio

• An impressive inventory of professional-grade condenser, ribbon, and dynamic microphones (Neumann, Sennheiser, Coles, Røde, Shure), Ambisonics and binaural 3D microphones (Soundfield, Neumann), recording equipment (Neve, RME, Sound Devices, Antelope Audio, Roland), and other cutting-edge technologies (Audio via ethernet, Wwise audio middleware for games).

• A spacious recital hall, band rooms and practice rooms

• Five grand pianos, including a Steinway Model D

• Many orchestral instruments, including a range of synthesisers; traditional instruments from India, China and Africa; and a Balinese Gamelan

Year 1 Core Modules: Foundation in Engineering, Computing and Technology. Year 2 Core Modules: Core Skills for Audio, Studio Techniques, Acoustics, Live Sound. Year 3 Core Modules: Advanced Audio Technology, Ruskin Module. Year 2 Optional Modules: Audio for Film, Audio for Games, Electronics for Music, Audio Programming, Live Event Production, Music Business. Year 4 Core Modules: Collaborative Project, Final Project, Portfolio. Modules are subject to change and availability.

You’ll show your progress through a variety of methods that will best prepare you for your future career. These include portfolios of recorded works, essays, reports, log books, posters and presentations.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• The Joint Audio Media Education Services