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Music for Media - MUS00180C

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• Department: Music
• Module co-ordinator: Dr. Mark Hutchinson
• Credit value: 20 credits
• Credit level: C
• Academic year of delivery: 2022-23

Module summary

This module will equip students to write music in a multimedia context.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Spring Term 2022-23

Module aims

Music has always been a central element in multimedia experience: just ask Wagner. (Or Sophocles. Or the ancient Mesopotamians.) The emergence of new forms of media has always brought with it new approaches to musical composition – from film or television through to procedurally-generated online games and virtual reality. As a result, composers working in these realms need a broad array of compositional and practical techniques at their fingertips, and a flexible and adaptive mindset.

This module will provide an introduction to this world, and to the tools needed to thrive within it. Students will encounter a variety of different multimedia contexts through a series of guided compositional exercises, and case studies of pivotal works across a variety of media will be used to highlight specific strategies and approaches. Students will have the freedom to develop their own project combining music with a media form of their choice.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the taught part of the project all students should be able to:

• Engage meaningfully with a range of music designed to accompany media of different forms;

• Identify and analyse creative strategies used by composers writing music for media in a variety of different settings;

• Recognise common workflows adopted when writing music for film, television and interactive media, and work with the tools these require;

• Compose music in response to a number of specific multimedia briefs;

• Apply the techniques developed during the project independently through a more extended composition for media.

On completion of the module, in their independent work, students should demonstrate Learning Outcomes A1–6, 9 and 10.

Indicative assessment

Task	Length	% of module mark
Essay/coursework Commentary	N/A	10
Essay/coursework Composition	N/A	60
Essay/coursework Portfolio of compositional exercises	N/A	30

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

• Portfolio of compositional exercises (30%)

• Composition (notated or electroacoustic) for media of c. 7 minutes (60%): this could be a composition to accompany a specific scene of a film, television programme or advertisement, or it could be a set of cues for a game or piece of interactive media or similar, so it may not necessarily be a single span of 7 minutes.

• Commentary of c. 750–1000w on the composition (10%).

Indicative reassessment

Task	Length	% of module mark
Essay/coursework Commentary	N/A	10
Essay/coursework Composition	N/A	60
Essay/coursework Portfolio of compositional exercises	N/A	30

Module feedback

Mark and report within University designated turnaround time.

Indicative reading

TBC