2021-22 MA Music Production Programme Design Document

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1	1. Admissions/ Management Information
2	Title of the programme – including any lower awards Please provide the titles used for all awards relating to this programme. Note: all programmes are required to have at least a Postgraduate Certificate exit award. See guidance on programme titles in:
3	Masters				MA in Music Production.
4	Postgraduate Diploma				Postgraduate Diploma in Music Production.																									Please indicate if the Postgraduate Diploma is available as an entry point, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.																Exit
5	Postgraduate Certificate				Postgraduate Certificate in Music Production.																									Please indicate if the Postgraduate Certificate is available as an entry points, ie. is a programme on which a student can register, is an exit award, ie. is only available to students exiting the masters programme early, or both.																Exit
6	Level of qualification				Level 7
7	This document applies to students who commenced the programme(s) in:															2021
8	Awarding institution																							Teaching institution
9	University of York.																							University of York.
10	Department(s): Where more than one department is involved, indicate the lead department																							Board of Studies
11	Lead Department		Music.																					Music
12	Other contributing Departments:		Electronic Engineering.																					Music
13	Route code (existing programmes only)															PMMUSPRD1
14	Admissions criteria
15	Upper second-class first degree (or equivalent).
16	Length and status of the programme(s) and mode(s) of study
17	Programme					Length (years/ months)				Status (full-time/ part-time) Please select				Start dates/months (if applicable – for programmes that have multiple intakes or start dates that differ from the usual academic year)										Mode
18
19																								Face-to-face, campus-based									Distance learning									Other
20	MA in Music Production.					12				Both														Please select Y/N							Yes		Please select Y/N							No
21	Postgraduate Diploma in Music Production.					9				Both														Please select Y/N							Yes		Please select Y/N							No
22	Language(s) of study
23	English
24	Language(s) of assessment
25	English
26	2. Programme accreditation by Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)
27	2.a. Is the programme recognised or accredited by a PSRB
28	Please Select Y/N:		No		if No move to section 3 if Yes complete the following questions
29	3. Additional Professional or Vocational Standards
30	Are there any additional requirements of accrediting bodies or PSRB or pre-requisite professional experience needed to study this programme?
31	Please Select Y/N:		No		if Yes, provide details
32	4. Programme leadership and programme team
33	4.a. Please name the programme leader for the year to which the programme design applies and any key members of staff responsible for designing, maintaining and overseeing the programme.
34	Amandine Pras(Programme leader). Department Teaching Committee Chair (Mark Hutchinson); Chair of Board of Studies (Daniel March).
35	5. Purpose and learning outcomes of the programme
36	5.a. Statement of purpose for applicants to the Masters programme Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective masters student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
37	The MA Music Production programme aims to provide practical, theoretical and analytical study of the creation, perception and reception of audio capture and generation for musical purposes. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted which examines how creative practice can be informed, and understood, by perspectives provided by science and engineering (acoustics, psychoacoustics, electroacoustics, signal processing) as well as composition, performance and musicology. Professional competences in various aspects of sound recording practice are developed and assessed, along with the underlying transferable knowledge. This is in addition to the provision of a cultural and historical perspective which encourages the understanding of production, with its own notions of style and genre, as an evolving part of music making rather than simply an adjunct to it. The programme offers a balance between practical, theoretical and analytical approaches. This balance provides a wide range of transferable skills and knowledge with high relevance to roles in the creative industries as well as to research activity. Our graduates will be able to bring a wide range of specialist practical skills, detailed knowledge and informed judgement to a wide range of studio-based tasks and other associated music production activities. They will also be able to develop and critique original technique and thinking in these fields. This programme is unique in its combination of musicological, scientific and engineering rigour with continuous development of practical and listening skills.
38	5.a.i Statement of purpose for applicants registering for the Postgraduate Diploma programme Please express succinctly the overall aims of the programme as an applicant facing statement for a prospectus or website. This should clarify to a prospective diploma student why they should choose this programme, what it will provide to them and what benefits they will gain from completing it.
39	The PG Diploma Music Production programme aims to provide practical, theoretical and analytical study of the creation, perception and reception of audio capture and generation for musical purposes. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted which examines how creative practice can be informed, and understood, by perspectives provided by science and engineering (acoustics, psychoacoustics, electroacoustics, signal processing) as well as composition, performance and musicology. Professional competences in various aspects of sound recording practice are developed and assessed, along with the underlying transferable knowledge. This is in addition to the provision of a cultural and historical perspective which encourages the understanding of production, with its own notions of style and genre, as an evolving part of music making rather than simply an adjunct to it. The programme offers a balance between practical, theoretical and analytical approaches. This balance provides a wide range of transferable skills and knowledge with high relevance to roles in the creative industries as well as those requiring an understanding of the current frontiers of research. Our graduates will be able to bring a wide range of specialist practical skills, detailed knowledge and informed judgement to a wide range of studio-based tasks and other associated music production activities. They will also be able to understand and critique new technique and thinking in these fields. This programme is unique in its combination of musicological, scientific and engineering rigour with continuous development of practical and listening skills. The Diploma programme includes more in-depth coverage of signal processing (including the scripting of audio processing plugins) and music perception, along with more extensive development of studio practice and an introduction to production research, in comparison with the Certificate.
40	5.b.i. Programme Learning Outcomes - Masters Please provide six to eight statements of what a graduate of the Masters programme will be able to do. If the document only covers a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma please specify four to six PLO statements in the sections 5.b.ii and 5.b.iii as appropriate. Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme. They should also be outcomes for which progressive achievement through the course of the programme can be articulated, and which will therefore be reflected in the design of the whole programme.
41	PLO	On successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:
42	1	Plan, create and critique audio artefacts that present western acoustic art music (and other music for whom those techniques are also relevant) in ways that successfully translate the sensations, ideas and contexts inherent in the music to the intended listening environment.
43	2	Devise, create and critique artefacts that represent the practice of pop, rock and/or electronic production techniques and incorporate both simultaneous and non-simultaneous, realtime and non-realtime processes in the studio-based construction of music.
44	3	Design, implement, test and describe, in both the time and frequency domains, musical audio signal creation and processing systems for use in sound recording and/or post-production contexts.
45	4	Understand human sensation and perception of sound, making connections to relevant aesthetic judgements, and use this to guide and reflect upon their own practice.
46	5	Place their practice within relevant historical and cultural contexts, differentiating between practice-norms and more experimental or innovative technique and make informed judgements about their appropriate deployment.
47	6	Evaluate and articulate the current state of the art in, and understanding of, audio production technology and culture by referring to relevant contemporary research.
48	7	Devise and manage a large-scale practice or theory-based music production-related investigation that follows established and appropriate research methodology and is based on the current state of knowledge in the relevant area(s).
49	8	Connect academic research to the practice and outcomes of music production, demonstrating how they can inform each other and poetntially engage with wider acadmic communities and publics.
50	5.b.ii. Programme Learning Outcomes - Postgraduate Diploma Please provide four to six statements outlining what a graduate of the Postgraduate Diploma programme will be able to do. Taken together, these outcomes should capture the distinctive features of the programme. They should also be outcomes for which progressive achievement through the course of the programme can be articulated, and which will therefore be reflected in the design of the whole programme.
51	PLO	On successful completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:
52	1	Plan, create and critique audio artefacts that present western acoustic art music (and other music for whom those techniques are also relevant) in ways that successfully translate the sensations, ideas and contexts inherent in the music to the intended listening environment.
53	2	Devise, create and critique artefacts that represent the practice of pop, rock and/or electronic production techniques and incorporate both simultaneous and non-simultaneous, realtime and non-realtime processes in the studio-based construction of music.
54	3	Design, implement, test and describe, in both the time and frequency domains, musical audio signal creation and processing systems for use in sound recording and/or post-production contexts.
55	4	Understand human sensation and perception of sound, making connections to relevant aesthetic judgements, and use this to guide and reflect upon their own practice.
56	5	Place their practice within relevant historical and cultural contexts, differentiating between practice-norms and more experimental or innovative technique and make informed judgements about their appropriate deployment.
57	6	Evaluate and articulate the current state of the art in, and understanding of, audio production technology and culture by referring to relevant contemporary research.
58	5.c. Explanation of the choice of Programme Learning Outcomes Please explain your rationale for choosing these PLOs in a statement that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). Please include brief reference to:
59	i) ... in what way will these PLOs result in an ambitious, challenging programme which stretches the students?
60	This is a strongly interdisciplinary programme and the extent of this can be seen clearly from the PLOs. Although a music production programme will naturally be centred around music the programme addresses activities and outcomes from many different disciplines. The ambition is to take those with a musical background (usually, although not necessarily, with a first degree in music or a related discipline) and a demonstrable interest in production, and develop graduates with an exceptionally broad range of relevant skills and knowledge at a depth appropriate to Masters level study. To arrive at this point within 12 months requires a challenging programme, both in terms of its academic and practical demands but also in terms of the self-management and approach to learning required of the students.
61	ii) ... in what way will these PLOs produce a programme which is distinctive and advantageous to the student?
62	This is programme is unique in the way that it combines a ‘Tonmeister’ approach to teaching sound recording and production with an approach to its musicological appreciation that acknowledges that its aesthetics and goals change over time. In short: techniques and technologies are understood via the relevant science and engineering, but ‘progress narratives’ are not uncritically adopted and production is acknowledged as an expressive as well as a representational process. The York MA offers a unique opportunity at postgraduate taught level to study acoustics, psychoacoustics, electroacoustics, signal processing and musicology as bases for production. The PLOs explicitly describe this approach to the study of production.
63	iii) ... how the design of the programme enables students from diverse entry routes to transition successfully into the programme? For example, how does the organisation of the programme ensure solid foundations in disciplinary knowledge and understanding of conventions, language skills, mathematics and statistics skills, writing skills, lab skills, academic integrity
64	The programme can be broadly divided into two sections which take up the first and last six months of the Masters respectively: skills and knowledge acquisition followed by professional practice and advanced specialist study. Our students arrive with a wide variety of skills and knowledge in different areas; some of it is in-depth, some of it is quite superficial. Therefore the teaching begins from scratch with a rigorous, but fast-moving (as is appropriate to graduates) coverage and the expectation is that students will ensure that they are working regularly in the studios (on both directed and self-devised work) to ensure that learned material and newly acquired practical and listening techniques are incorporated into their practice. All modules have some element of practical or lab-based teaching where advice and support can be readily sought from module staff. Formative assessment is used to give useful feedback relatively early-on in modules, with summative assessments at completion to ensure that an acceptable standard has been reached. As we move through the programme the teaching and skills acquisition (largely confined to the first two terms) is gradually replaced by progress through self-directed activity (with peer and staff review) and the development of professional competence, along with the development of the skills needed to generate genuinely new insights and practices. This is designed to enable the emergence of a distinctive personal style and insight to accompany a broad competence in common production activities.
65	iv) ... how the programme is designed to enable students to progress successfully - in a limited time frame - through to the end of the award? For example, the development of higher level research skills; enabling students to complete an independent study module; developing competence and confidence in practical skills/ professional skills. See QAA masters characteristics doument http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Masters-Degree-Characteristics-15.pdf
66	v) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will develop students’ digital literacy skills and how technology-enhanced learning will be used to support active student learning through peer/tutor interaction, collaboration and formative (self) assessment opportunities (reference could be made to such as blogging, flipped classrooms, response 'clickers' in lectures, simulations, etc).
67	Much of the much of the studio-based and audio processing activity that the programme covers involves current digital technologies. Alongside typical tools for audio production, students are introduced to the JS scripting language (for plugin design in the Reaper DAW) and the scientific computing environment Matlab. Support is available for those who wish to further explore coding and scripting in their research projects. New developments in audio, such as object-based audio processing, are covered (and can be explored using software available in all of our studios). Submission formats that reflect current industry practice for distribution (e.g. Disc Description Protocol) are used for some assignment submissions.
68	vi) ... how this programme (as outlined in these PLOs) will support and enhance the students’ employability (for example, opportunities for students to apply their learning in a real world setting)? The programme's employability objectives should be informed by the University's Employability Strategy:
69	All students receive an in-depth training in production techniques for a wide range of music, ranging from acoustic classical music to rock and electronica, enabling them to operate at professional level in many different production scenarios. Because of its breadth and rigour, the programme prepares students for a wide range of careers related to music production, not just studio-based roles. These roles range from product development and design to music journalism. The Production Portfolio module leads to the development of a set of audio productions using our state-of-the-art facilities that can be used as a show-reel for potential future employers and clients. An ‘open access’ approach is taken to licensing works created in our studios, enabling student work to be made more easily accessible online. Research project outcomes can include product prototypes, software tools and other artefacts with direct industry relevance. Opportunities are provided to interact with professionals and engage in work scenarios, via guest lectures, visits to professional recording sessions and/or formative assessments based on real-life production assignments. The University has a close relationship with the Audio Engineering Society, with the Music Department regularly hosting conferences, and other related events which bring academics and industry representatives together.
70	viii) ... how learning and teaching on the programme are informed and led by research in the department/ Centre/ University?
71	The programme leader is engaged in a wide range of theoretical and practice-based research in the area of Music Production. All of these strands of research are incorporated into the programme teaching, being used as material in both lectures and listening seminars for ‘Music as Audio’, ‘Audio Signals’, ‘Audio Production Techniques, Technologies and Aesthetics’, ‘Musicology of Production’ modules. The experiences of devising, organising and undertaking research are drawn upon for ‘Engaging with Research’. Research conducted by staff on the MSc Audio and Music Technology (Department of Electronic Engineering) module ‘Music Perception and Critical Listening’ is drawn upon for teaching sessions, such as those on the human singing voice.
72	5.d. Progression For masters programmes where students do not incrementally 'progress' on the completion of a discrete Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma, please summarise students’ progressive development towards the achievement of the PLOs, in terms of the characteristics that you expect students to demonstrate at the end of the set of modules or part thereof. This summary may be particularly helpful to students and the programme team where there is a high proportion of option modules and in circumstances where students registered on a higher award will exit early with a lower one. Note: it is not expected that a position statement is written for each masters PLO, but this can be done if preferred.
73	On completion of modules sufficient to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate students will be able to: If the PG Cert is an exit award only please provide information about how students will have progressed towards the diploma/masters PLOs. Please include detail of the module diet that students will have to have completed to gain this qualification as an exit award.
74	Any combination of modules totalling at least 60 credits. Students will be able to plan, create and critique artefacts that present either western art music and/or pop/rock/electronic music along with further ability and knowledge in audio processing, critical listening and/or the development of creative professional practice.
75	6. Reference points and programme regulations
76	6.a. Relevant Quality Assurance Agency benchmark statement(s) and other relevant external reference points Please state relevant reference points consulted (e.g. Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, National Occupational Standards, Subject Benchmark Statements or the requirements of PSRBs): See also Taught Postgraduate Modular Scheme: Framework for Programme Design:
77	6.b. University award regulations
78	The University’s award and assessment regulations apply to all programmes: any exceptions that relate to this programme are approved by University Teaching Committee and are recorded at the end of this document.
79	7. Programme Structure
80	7.a. Module Structure and Summative Assessment Map Please complete the summary table below which shows the module structure and the pattern of summative assessment through the programme. IMPORTANT NOTE: If the structure of your programme does not fit the usual academic year (for instance students start at the beginning of September or in January) please contact your Academic Quality Team contact in the Academic Support Office for guidance on how to represent the structure in an alternative format. To clearly present the overall programme structure, include the name and details of each individual CORE module in the rows below. For OPTION modules, ‘Option module’ or 'Option from list x' should be used in place of specifically including all named options. If the programme requires students to select option modules from specific lists by term of delivery or subject theme these lists should be provided in the next section (7.b). From the drop-down select 'S' to indicate the start of the module, 'A' to indicate the timing of each distinct summative assessment point (eg. essay submission/ exam), and 'E' to indicate the end of teaching delivery for the module (if the end of the module coincides with the summative assessment select 'EA'). It is not expected that each summative task will be listed where an overall module might be assessed cumulatively (for example weekly problem sheets). Summative assessment by exams should normally be scheduled in the spring week 1 and summer Common Assessment period (weeks 5-7). Where the summer CAP is used, a single ‘A’ can be used within the shaded cells as it is understood that you will not know in which week of the CAP the examination will take place. (NB: An additional resit assessment week is provided in week 10 of the summer term for postgraduate students. See Guide to Assessment, 5.4.a)
81	Full time structure
82	Credits	Module					Autumn Term										Spring Term										Summer Term										Summer Vacation
83		Code		Title			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
84	20	MUS00065M		Music as Audio				S								E	A
85	20	MUS00059M		Audio Signals				S								EA
86	20	MUS00061M		Production Techniques, Technologies and Aesthetics														S								E	A
87	10	MUS00058M		Musicology of Production														S							A	EA
88	10	ELE00073M		Music Perception and Critical Listening														S					A			EA
89	30	MUS00063M		Production Portfolio																								S								E				A
90	10	MUS00062M		Research Project Preparation																								S					A	A	EA
91	60	MUS00060M		Research Project																															S														EA
92	Please indicate when the Progression Board and Final Exam board will be held and when any reassessments will be submitted. NB: You are required to provide at least three weeks notice to students of the need for them to resubmit any required assessments, in accordance with the Guide to Assessment section 4.9
93	Progression Board						Summer Term & Week 15
94	Reassessment						Summer Term & Week 20
95	Exam Board						Autumn Term & Week 7
96	7.b. Optional module lists If the programme requires students to select option modules from specific lists these lists should be provided below. If you need more space, use the toggles on the left to reveal ten further hidden rows.
97	7.c. Explanation of the programme and assessment design The statements should be in a form that can be used for students (such as in a student handbook). It should make clear to students why they are doing the key activities of the programme, in terms of reaching the PLOs.
98	i) Students’ independent study and formative work Please outline how independent study and student work has been designed to support the progressive achievement of the programme learning outcomes (for example, the use of online resources which incorporate formative feedback; opportunities for further learning from work-based placements).
99	During the skills and knowledge acquisition phase of the programme there is formative work for all 20 credit modules. This formative work is typically undertaken in the first half of the module and is designed to ensure that basic key competencies that will also be required for execution of the final, summative assessment for the module are in place. This formative work follows workshop sessions where similar practical work is undertaken in groups under the close supervision of module staff. Students are then encouraged to repeat these processes in their own private study time in preparation for the formative assessment. Practical learning progresses in this way through the following stages: learn and undertake a task in a group under close supervision of staff (e.g. making microphone connections between concert hall and studio control room for a classical recording session); book the studio and concert hall for a brief session to repeat the necessary steps and gain confidence in independent working, contact programme staff if problems are encountered; plan, book resources for and execute formative assessment (e.g. short mono recordings of a single instrument to evaluate differences between different microphones), write-up this work and present to a peer listening seminar; combine this with lecture and listening seminar coverage of stereo microphone techniques and digital audio editing to undertake summative assessment (e.g. edited stereo recording of an ensemble playing an entire movement). In this way practical confidence and theoretical understanding of increasingly complex procedures grows through individual and collaborative learning in lectures, listening seminars and workshops. It is only the final assessment which is summative, giving plenty of time for prior assimilation and practice of the required techniques and knowledge. For all 10 credit modules, verbal feedback on ideas and understanding expressed in class discussions in given on a regular basis. In the second part of the course, regular feedback is given via weekly listening seminars in which students present their work (Production Portfolio) and by a formative literature review exercise and regular one-to-one supervisions (Research Project) prior to submission of the summatively assessed work.
100	ii) Contact with staff Please explain how the programme’s design maximises the value of students’ contact time with staff (which may be face-to-face, virtual, synchronous or asynchronous), including through the use of technology-enhanced learning. For example, giving students resources for their independent study which then enables a class to be more interactive with a greater impact on learning.