Program Overview

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Creative Audio - BSc (Hons)

Overview

Our Bachelor of Science (BSc) Creative Audio degree provides a hands-on, project-focused approach to sound and music production. Discover the creative possibilities of audio while acquiring the technical skill and theoretical base needed to service your career in the constantly evolving creative industries. If you have a passion for sound, this degree will help you in developing the in-depth understanding needed to produce engaging listening experiences.

About this course

We want you to become a multi-skilled practitioner able to work in several areas of sound and music production. In this way, you can build a sustained career in the creative industries.

You will develop a broad understanding of production technology within the context of the creation, manipulation, and presentation of music and sound in a range of contexts including film, TV, animation, games, AR and VR. Taught by a team with extensive creative industries experience, you will learn and practice using industry-standard equipment in our studios, labs and performance spaces. The Creative Audio programme is also flexible, so you can personalise it to match your interests. We are committed to being relevant, practical and forward–thinking.

Using leading–edge tools and technologies, this course develops your skills in recorded sound, live sound and post-production. You will learn modern production and performance methods and techniques including: sequencing, sampling, synthesis, recording, composition and arranging, programming, electronics, processing, editing and post-production.

Collaboration is an important aspect of the creative industries. You will have the opportunity to extend your professional network by studying alongside Cinematic Arts, Game Design, Animation and Drama students – as well as other Music students. In parallel, you will also acquire transferable skills and practical strategies for producing and managing creative projects.

As a graduate of the Creative Audio programme, you will be technologically literate and comfortable creating and communicating ideas within and beyond the audio domain. You will also understand music, sound and technology within the context of cultural developments and in collaboration with other arts fields, supporting work which engages with a range of cultural, community and creative industries opportunities.

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

The Creative Audio course is delivered through a combination of lectures, workshops, one-on-one tutorials, supervised studio/lab sessions and independent study.

Our guiding principle is learning through practice, in other words: learning by doing. We believe strongly that practically connecting with a topic is critical for effective learning. The best learning techniques help us to elaborate and broaden our understanding. Intermingling new information with existing knowledge and practice helps us to emerge from the learning experience with improved capabilities. In this way, you will find that we use active learning strategies by creating opportunities to interact with the materials, which promotes motivation, engagement, and participation.

Learning can be thought of as a meta-skill, essential for people living in today's constantly changing world. For this reason we'll also invest time in developing more long-term skills around project-based work and collaborating with others, leadership, adaptability and endurance, communication, interdisciplinary work, creativity and sense-making.

All that we ask of our students is that they bring their curiosity (an appetite for knowledge) and imagination (linking of ideas).

Assessment is 100% coursework based.

Modules

Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.

Year one

• Audio Production 1
• Audio Production 2
• Music Creation (optional)
• Composition & Orchestration (optional)

Year two

• Sound, Technology and Culture
• Designing Sound
• Live Sound and Production

Year three

• Creative Computing
• Sound Recording and Production 1
• Sound Recording and Production 2 (optional)
• Composition and Orchestration 3 (optional)

Year four

• Acoustics and Cognition
• Sound Design for Games (optional)
• Composition and Orchestration 4 (optional)
• Music and Sound Practices (optional)

Year five

• Final Project (Theory & Context)
• Professional Practice
• Music Technology Project (optional)
• Music and Moving Image (optional)

Year six

• Final Project (Practice)
• Interactive Music Systems (optional)
• Game Audio Implementation (optional)

Standard entry conditions

We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.

A level

The A Level requirement for this course is grades BBC.

Applied General Qualifications

Award profile of DDD

Irish Leaving Certificate

112 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English at H6 if studied at Higher level or O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.

Scottish Highers

BBCCC

Scottish Advanced Highers

CCD

International Baccalaureate

Overall International Baccalaureate profile is minimum 25 points (including 12 at higher level)

Access to Higher Education (HE)

Overall profile of 63% (120 credit Access Course) (NI Access course)

GCSE

For full-time study, you must satisfy the General Entrance Requirements for admission to a first degree course and hold a GCSE pass at Grade C/4 or above English Language.

English Language Requirements

The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5.

Careers & opportunities

Graduates from this course are now working for:

• BBC
• Rotor Video
• Hedgehogs vs Foxes

With this degree you could become:

• Sound Designer
• Music Producer
• Sound Engineer
• Post Production Engineer
• Creative Technologist
• Composer for Screen Media
• Musician

Professional Recognition

Accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Services (JAMES) on behalf of Audio Technology, Music, Recording, Music Production, Games, Media and Audio Post Production Industries.

Fees and funding

Undergraduate fees are subject to annual review, 2026/27 fees will be announced in due course.

Additional mandatory costs

Students purchase materials for their own coursework.

Field trips to museums, galleries and exhibitions may incur additional costs.

Tuition fees and costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges), and normal living are a part of university life.

Sustainability at Ulster

Ulster continues to develop and support sustainability initiatives with our staff, students, and external partners across various aspects of teaching, research, professional services operations, and governance.

At Ulster every person, course, research project, and professional service area on every campus either does or can contribute in some way towards the global sustainability and climate change agenda.

We are guided by both our University Strategy People, Place and Partnerships : Delivering Sustainable Futures for All and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.