The Sound Arts course is not currently running but we aim to offer it again in 2025/26
Entry Requirement:
BA(Hons) or relevant experience, which does not need to be directly related to the field of sound.
Evidence of sound-led work within applicants’ practice.
Basic sound recording, editing and playback tools experience.
CV with application.
Portfolio or showreel are desirable.
Interview.
Duration:
Part-time October 2024 to June 2025
Taught sessions:
Fridays.
15 hours minimum independent study.
Cohort Size:
up to 15 places.
The modules revolve around individual and collaborative project work exploring the listening practices, sound, music and communication, communities and performance.
Each area of study culminates in regular public outputs; including radio broadcasts, performances, exhibitions or workshops.
Sound Society Nature will support your development as a critically minded sound artist, equipped to contribute positively to your community.
This explorative course exposes the student to a wide variety of practices as artistic, social and ecological methodologies relating to sound through creation, listening and collaboration.
 Student Benny Bowles sharing his project with fellow TMS members |
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 Sound Arts Student Exploring Materials |
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You will gain:
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Strategies, practices and theories of critical and analytical listening within sound arts, music, philosophy and beyond
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An appreciation and understanding of the relationship between sound and space, the formal and contextual properties of sound and music
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An ability to develop individual ideas and collaborate with others, tapping into Margate’s burgeoning music and sound scene
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Experience developing performance work and installation design as a team, participating as performers, sound designers, dramaturgs, composers or producers
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Skills and knowledge to take into employment or further study related to fine art, music composition and production, podcast and radio, community art, film sound and sound arts
What you get
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Classes focused on creative sound perception and creation skills
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Technical workshops in digital music creation, recording, mixing and sound manipulation
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Sessions with improvised performance
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Physical and digital instrument creation workshops
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Practical installation design and vinyl pressing
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Tutorial support - regular one-to-ones with tutors, peer review and expert critique
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Guest lectures and gallery / performance visits
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An output from each module of a radio show, podcast or public workshop
Cost
Apply now for a January 2024 start - you will join to begin with Module 3 - £3,015
Or begin the course in October 2024 for £4,000 per academic year, including hot desk, mix studio and access to TMS facilities
We believe that your financial situation should not be a barrier to education, please get in touch by email for a conversation to discuss how we can assist.
Course Facilities
Mix studio including
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Mac, Speakers, Interface and Mic
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4 x powered monitors for surround work/installations
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2 x podcast-grade microphones (Shure SM7b, ex)
Students will need
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Headphones
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Laptop or iPad with basic audio editing facility
Why study with us?
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Ideal course to build your portfolio or network
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The schedule allows you to work part time alongside study
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Small student numbers mean more individual attention
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Outstanding roster of visiting professionals
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Stunning location, a stones throw from the beach
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Promotes sustainable practice
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A pioneering liberal art school
Course Modules
Module
01
Listening Practices
This module explores listening strategies, audio synthesis, field recording, soundwalks and acoustic ecology.
It includes technical studies of computer-assisted audio processing and generation and also soundscape studies, with auditory expeditions into the local environment, both natural and man-made (anthropogenic). Workshops in this module are in editing and mixing audio to generate soundscape pieces from audio recordings, and we will discover works of (sound) art that explore sound design and composition.
Practices involve soundwalking, deep listening, sound baths, field recording, sound editing and compositing.
Module
02
Sound and Space
‘Sound and Space’ introduces students to the relationship between sound and space within sound arts. We will explore multi-speaker diffusion, layering of soundscape recordings and recorded sound events in simulated 3D space and sensor technology interacting with audio software.
We will create sound installations as a form of artistic practice and investigate the use of effects and layering to create realistic and abstract narratives in sound.
There will be opportunities for you to engage with spatialization and sound diffusion, effective use of modeling space in foreground and ambient audio, and mixing techniques to transition between acoustic territories.
Module
03
Music, Sound and Communication
This module explores the distribution of sound and music through broadcast, networks and digital music discovery.
We will investigate the local, regional and global distribution of audio work, including live streaming, broadcast and physical media.
We will visit studios, explore digital radio streaming and investigate outlets and formats for audio work.
We will engage with Thanet’s burgeoning music and sound scene, exploring how sound and music become tools for communication and the dissemination of culture.
Module
04
Sound Materials 1
There will be time to explore recording techniques, sensors, controllers, virtual and physical hardware synthesizers. Mixing techniques for soundscape creation will be explored and sequencing in rhythmic and filmic ways. Foley sound effects for film will be practiced and investigated alongside these approaches.
Digital Signal Processing will be investigated, for both resynthesis and effects.
Module
05
Sound Materials 2
We will investigate methods and strategies for physical and synthetic audio material creation. DIY magnetic pickups, contact microphones and sound board constructions will be used in the workshop. There will be opportunities to meet practitioners in musical instrument creation and you will create your own sound sculptures and musical instruments, in both digital and physical forms, digital audio processing and digital synthesis.
We will also investigate creation of physical audio media in a studio context, manipulating tape and vinyl and using analog amplifiers and effects boxes for audio manipulation.
Module
06
Sound and Performance
This module will build up to the performance of sound work, using live techniques to create expansive approaches to sound in live performance and installation settings. We will explore performance-based approaches to using MIDI controllers and sensors, indeterminacy and rehearsal.
This unit will build up to the final show, where students will perform or install their works in a gallery setting.