Course description
This course is designed for practising musicians who want to understand the technical environment within which commercial music takes place.
This is one of the few courses of its type in the country and is designed to equip you with the ability to interact and innovate within a vibrant environment, nurturing a specialism in popular music and related industries. The area of popular music is a dynamic, well established creative aspect of the music industry involving sophisticated craft, technical, analytical and scholarly approaches.
You will develop a wide range of disciplines through performance, composition, technology, media production and musicology. You will also develop an in-depth appreciation of the increasing significance of popular music in economic and professional terms.
Here's what you can expect from this course:
- You'll explore popular music performance, composition and production together with music technology. We'll help you to develop your creative and entrepreneurial flair so you can respond to technological and artistic innovations in the industry.
- You'll develop your skills on your chosen instrument through group based learning activities. You'll also develop your expertise in composition and song writing and will study the social and business context of the world of commercial music.
- You'll have regular opportunities to perform in public, and we'll encourage you to take part in the local music scene.
- You will be taught by experienced lecturers, many with international research portfolios and current professional experience.
- You will be inspired by our?recording studios and rehearsal facilities, which will enable you to produce professional quality recordings of your performances.
- You will benefit from our strong links with the music industry and will be invited to participate in our yearly?Music Production Show, with guest presentations from industry professional such as: Sound on Sound, Avid, Yamaha, Ableton and Focusrite.
Take a look at the professional Music facilities at Markeaton Street:
The music technology part of the course covers the technology of the recording studio, video production, along with the application of music software on digital audio workstations and the production/post-production of music for a variety of commercial applications.
You could enhance your skills further, by going on to study our MA Music Production.
JAMES accredited courses
Our Music courses are accredited by the Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES), the professional music industry accreditation body, so you can be confident that they meet the high standards demanded by industry.
Head of Music and Performing Arts, John Crossley, explains what this means for students: "The re-accreditation for our music programmes continues our long standing relationship with JAMES and the Music Producers Guild (MPG). The assessors were very impressed with our facilities, our committed teaching team and how we have dealt with the challenging circumstances of a global pandemic. This stamp of approval from professional producers in the industry means that our students can be confident not only with the quality of the programmes of study but also the opportunities and support they receive as they follow their exciting careers."
Facilities
All Art and Design, Film, Photography and Music courses are based at our Markeaton Street site where industry-standard, purpose built studios and labs provide a modern and creative space for our students.
Markeaton Street encompasses Chandos Pole Street which is home to our Fashion and Textiles courses and Britannia Mill is home to Fine Art, Illustration and Interior Design studio spaces. Our Theatre students learn from professionals at the professional producing and learning Derby Theatre in the heart of Derby city centre.
Markeaton Street is a 15 minute walk from Kedleston Road, and is serviced by regular site shuttle buses.
Whilst studying this course, you will have access to Sounsnap to access music and sound effects.
How you will learn
The timetable contains around 12 hours of contact with staff a week, with the remainder of the academic week engaged in directed study. All modules are supported through UDo, the University of Derby Online, so you have access to essential support materials at any time of the day or night.
Facilities?
You’ll discover?a?superb?range of music making facilities at our?Markeaton?Street site, including?state-of-the-art?recording studios, rehearsal space,?music technology labs and?three?post-production rooms?equipped with latest software. ?
The University has invested almost £350,000 in these facilities, ensuring you have access to resources which match those of professional studios in the UK and overseas.?We offer a wide range of instruments, amplifiers?and outboard gear on which you can develop your skills, together with a classic 48-channel?Neve?recording console.
We are one of the leading universities conducting research into surround-sound technologies and all of our control rooms accommodate 5.1 speaker arrays. We also have a surround-sound research lab which has a 40-speaker ambisonics surround speaker array allowing height and depth parameters.
While these studio facilities will provide an excellent setting for your taught sessions, they are also available for you to book at other times to fine-tune your personal music projects. You will also be encouraged to hone your performance skills at?venues across the city.
Learning and assessment
A variety of assessment methods will be used. Some Popular Music modules are assessed through coursework only, others by a combination of coursework, portfolios, assignments, case studies, oral and graphic presentations, collaborative and interdisciplinary team work projects, computer testing and examinations, so providing a flexible and effective means of assessing your progress. Assessments are designed to enable you to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes for your module. An assessment component may sometimes take the form of a number of small submissions eg lab reports or short in-class tests.
The two major music projects during your final year?will focus on developing your professional practice in both performance and composition.?The aim is to maximise your potential for securing employment in the creative industries.
You will be taught by very experienced lecturers, many with international research portfolios and current professional experience.
Degree Show
Every year students from the School of Arts celebrate their time at University by showcasing their work at an end of year Degree Show at Markeaton Street and across the City of Derby. The Show usually runs throughout June. It is a fantastic opportunity for potential employers, friends, family, industry and members of the public to see exciting creations by the next generation of artists, designers, creators and makers from Derby. The Show takes the form of:
- An exhibition at Markeaton Street
- A Fashion and Textiles catwalk (usually at Derby Theatre)
- A Film Premiere (usually at QUAD)
- Theatre Performances (usually at Derby Theatre)
- A Music show at a variety of venues
Take a look at highlights from the 2019 Degree Show.
Personal academic tutoring
Your personal academic tutor will work with you to help you get the most out of your time at university. Having someone to talk to about your academic progress, your university experience and your professional aspirations is hugely valuable. We want you to feel challenged in your studies, stretched but confident to achieve your academic and professional goals.
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