In this module you’ll develop an understanding of the historical, social and cultural context for the study of music, and an ability to consider and identify a range of musical genres and styles, learning to engage with informed debates about issues in music. You’ll further develop your musical literacy and understanding of musical syntax in the analysis and composition of music, analysing musical genres and styles within their appropriate historical, cultural and aesthetic frameworks. You’ll also examine the factors that affect the development of music outside of issues of artistic expression, exploring the political and social aspects of the creative environment. In considering these issues, you’ll examine music from a range of periods and cultures, placing it within an appropriate historical, cultural and aesthetic framework. You’ll also have a chance to look at current trends and your own interests, to relate contextual issues to contemporary practice, and to develop research methodologies appropriate to the consideration of a range of musical issues and styles. This module will develop your awareness of the character of many musical forms, and help you to understand the nature of musical development.
View the full module definitionIn this practical module you’ll learn about music notation and music vocabulary, and take part in aural training that will help your understanding of written notation. All these skills will be combined in the module, which is why we’ve called it 'Dots' (notation systems), 'Lines' (text and staves) and 'Waves' (sound waves and ear training). Together, we’ll look at specific music audio examples to support your understanding of stave, guitar and drum notation. You’ll take part in smaller group work alongside the lectures and seminars in which you’ll take part in theory-based problem-solving. Your songwriting skills will be developed through composition assignments, which are workshopped using recorded audio demonstration and practical performance. Focusing on the production of creative work in audio format accompanied by clear lead sheets, visual scores and reflective commentaries, you’ll have the chance to consolidate your current levels of musicianship, increase your own critical awareness of your creative practice, and develop new songwriting skills in a variety of music styles. You’ll be encouraged to try out new techniques and expand your stylistic range in your own compositions, which you’ll regularly workshop in all sessions. You’ll also develop your critical skills, as well as your teamwork skills, giving you a variety of techniques and musical knowledge, as well as the confidence to try out new ideas in a broad range of styles.
View the full module definitionThis module will introduce you to sound recording, mixing, editing and production. No prior knowledge is assumed. The module starts with the system design and signal chain of a typical recording studio. Essential software and hardware is introduced and time will be devoted to critical listening skills. We will discuss the operation of recording/playback formats, dynamic and condenser microphones, analogue and digital mixing desks, dynamics processors, reverberation and other effects, and equalisation. We will also discuss studio monitors and room acoustics, especially mix spaces. You will be introduced to the workflow and technologies used in film audio, game audio and podcasting. The commercial music software packages used in this module are Apple Logic Pro and Pro Tools. Both are used in the music industry for songwriting and composition. In tutorial sessions you will look at MIDI sequencing, real and virtual instruments, audio recording and importation, and audio and MIDI processing and editing, while lectures will feature critical listening and demonstrations of music creation, recording, mixing and production. Tutorial sessions will allow you to discuss your coursework and get formative feedback. The module also introduces the theory of the devices found in recording studios, and the overall studio design. You will get hands-on experience using the software and hardware in the Audio and Music Technology studios to make a variety of recordings and learn the principles of mixer use and technology. You will be guided through a mixer’s components, including the use of equalization, and techniques for maximising sonic fidelity will be explained. You will discover the relevant electrical principles, including guidance on impedance and balanced and unbalanced connections, and consider the role of outboard equipment and monitoring systems. We will also review the most common types of effects, including dynamic processing and echo-based effects, and you will receive guidance on their applicability in different musical contexts, with theories backed up by practical experiments in recording.
View the full module definitionIn this module you will develop your performing skills by exploring a variety of music performance scenarios. You’ll develop your understanding of what it is to perform and build your confidence. You’ll analyse and consider music performance issues and extend your knowledge and skills through a process of discovery and collaboration. There will be weekly performance workshops, masterclasses and sessions on aspects of performing and critical analysis. You will receive formative feedback on your performances throughout the trimester and on your contribution to the weekly performance workshops. By the end of the module you’ll be able to demonstrate a secure technical foundation in your instrument/voice, stylistic awareness in the appraisal and performance of music, and all-round progress in individual performance.
Entering higher education is exciting; but it can also be a daunting experience. At ARU, we want all our students to make the most of the opportunities higher education provides, reach your potential, become lifelong learners and find fulfilling careers. However, we appreciate that the shift from secondary education, or a return to formal education is, in itself, quite a journey. This module is designed to ease that transition. You'll be enrolled on it as soon as you receive an offer from ARU so you can begin to learn about university life before your course starts. Through Into ARU, you'll explore a virtual land modelled around ARU values: Courage, Innovation, Community, Integrity, Responsibility, and Ambition. This innovative module is designed as a game, where you collect knowledge and complete mini tasks. You'll proceed at your own pace, though we you to have completed your Into ARU exploration by week 6. If for any reason you're unable to complete by that date, we'll signpost to existing services so that we can be confident that you are supported.
View the full module definitionRuskin Modules are designed to prepare our students for a complex, challenging and changing future. These interdisciplinary modules provide the opportunity to further broaden your perspectives, develop your intellectual flexibility and creativity. You will work with others from different disciplines to enable you to reflect critically on the limitations of a single discipline to solve wider societal concerns. You will be supported to create meaningful connections across disciplines to apply new knowledge to tackle complex problems and key challenges. Ruskin Modules are designed to grow your confidence, seek and maximise opportunities to realise your potential to give you a distinctive edge and enhance your success in the workplace.
This module will allow you to apply theoretical knowledge to specific musical examples in a more advanced critical manner. You’ll develop further understanding of the musical parameters of genre and style with a practice-based approach, with an emphasis on the analysis of melody, harmony, rhythm and arranging. You’ll be introduced to the concepts and techniques of a wide range of compositional styles, with projects that might include exercises in contrapuntal writing, harmonisation techniques, vocal setting, arranging for small instrumental groups, or combining electronic and acoustic resources. You’ll also develop songwriting and arranging skills through composition assignments, which you’ll workshop using recorded audio demonstration and practical performance, with an emphasis on producing creative work in audio format, accompanied by clear scores and individual lead sheets/parts and reflective commentaries. This module builds on existing skills with a greater emphasis on achieving a higher standard of arranging and composition.
View the full module definitionThis module will develop your awareness of the skills needed to produce audio for film, and will give you the opportunity to work in groups, or collaborate with students on other courses within Cambridge School of Creative Industries. You will develop competence in production sound recording, sound effect creation, automated dialogue replacement, Foley art and music composition; cover the planning involved and the critical observational skills of seeing and listening; and discover and experiment with tools for film production and post-production. You will then develop a film soundtrack. You will gain a good working knowledge of the processes and skills sought by filmmakers, extending your future employability.
View the full module definitionThis module requires appropriate sound engineering skills. The industry requires the ability to create unique sounds for unrealistic and otherworldly environments and scenarios. This includes writing music, creating unique sound effects and ambient effects, and recording dialogue, which requires producing non-linear, interactive experiences, not just one-off sound effects or loops. This means you will implement the audio in the game using middleware. You will then develop audio for a game. Where appropriate, you will work in groups, or collaborate with students on other courses within Cambridge School of Creative Industries, particularly Computer Games Development.
View the full module definitionOn this practical module, you’ll cover selected issues of composition and orchestration in depth. By the end, you’ll have produced a portfolio comprising original compositions of your own, as well as arrangements of existing works for orchestra. You’ll be introduced to the concepts and techniques of a wide range of compositional styles, with projects that might include exercises in contrapuntal writing, harmonisation techniques, vocal setting, arranging for small instrumental groups, or combining electronic and acoustic resources. You’ll develop the ability to convey personal expression and imagination in practical work, employing appropriate technical and interpretive means, and perform a variety of practical and creative roles while critically reflecting on the processes involved in undertaking compositional practice. You’ll attend individual and group tutorials, to help you maintain satisfactory progress. You’ll also develop your skills in instrumentation and scoring, learning to read orchestral scores, and demonstrating your understanding through practical work by creating proficient orchestrations presented to a professional standard. The orchestral scores you study – from Mozart to Stravinsky – will demonstrate the challenges and opportunities that composers face when writing for this medium. You’ll learn about the anatomy of orchestral instruments and instrumental colour, and how to translate from the pianistic idiom to the orchestral. By the end of the module, you’ll be able to create stylish orchestrations, preparing you for professional work in the film and game industries and many other settings.
View the full module definitionThis module is an introduction to the theory and practice of music therapy, as practised by registered professionals in the UK. It does not train you to be a therapist, but will equip you with knowledge of the field and some introductory skills that are useful in considering music therapy as a vocation. It will introduce you to the clinical field and enable informed choices to be made about music therapy and other related professions such as teaching and nursing. You'll be taught through experiential workshops, which will be linked to theoretical lectures and also a possible field trip, and audio-visual presentations will enable work to be viewed in process. Through these activities you'll be able to evaluate, develop and analyse your musical potential and explore the application of different media to therapeutic situations. The knowledge gained on this module can be applied in other modules, which may involve improvisation, role-play or performance, and can contribute to a basic understanding of groups and how they function.
View the full module definitionThe Music Business module allows you to develop and broaden your entrepreneurial knowledge and skills within the music industry. You'll learn from professionals with extensive industry experience and/or benefit from visiting speakers who will contribute specialist knowledge. This module covers how today’s music industry operates both locally and globally and has evolved in response to emerging digital technologies and consumer trends. In order to understand the present-day situation and anticipate future developments, you'll be introduced to the history of the industry, which has seen one business model gradually replacing another. You'll learn about intellectual property in the digital age, music copyright, and the fundamentals of music law.
View the full module definitionThis module will help you develop your performing skills through increasingly complex performance scenarios, encouraging your autonomy. You’ll use these scenarios to inform aspects of your own live work, giving you a coherent understanding of what it is to perform, and helping you work on material with independence and confidence. You’ll also analyse and consider popular music performance issues, extending your knowledge through experimental collaborative processes, and attending weekly performance workshops, masterclasses, and sessions on aspects of performing and critical analysis. In the weekly performance workshops, you’ll develop techniques in stagecraft appropriate the style of performance and genre. In analysis seminars, you’ll explore vocal and instrument techniques by genre, considering examples of group cohesion and interaction. These aspects of performance technique should then inform your own performance work, giving you scope to develop your own original interpretation of your material.
View the full module definitionIn this module you’ll focus on a potential career pathway in an area of the music industries through a placement or internship opportunity, with an emphasis on the development and self-evaluation of your transferable and employability skills. With support from module tutors and the ARU Employability Service, you’ll identify an area of career interest and negotiate, generate and complete a placement opportunity. The duration of the placement should be the equivalent of 35 hours. The placement should be clearly located in and related to ideas and practices encountered in your course. This module will combine independent study with lecture sessions and tutorial support to guide you through the placement or internship, with the module’s Canvas page providing further support. You’ll also receive presentations from visitors who work in roles within the music industries. Alongside contributing to your module sessions, ARU Employability Service will provide additional guidance through drop-in support and CV Surgery sessions. You will also have access to a range of online employability information via the Careers and Employability Portal.
The Creative Industries Major Project module will allow you to engage in a substantial piece of individual research and creative/technological work, focused on a topic of your choice that is relevant to your degree course. Your topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff. Your project can be a dissertation or an agreed combination of solo or group creative/technological practice and an individually authored piece of writing. In trimester 1 you'll have a series of lectures to prepare you for this level of research, help you to develop of an appropriate methodology, and to decide upon the shape of your project. Your supervisor will then meet with you to formalise your negotiated assessment outcomes, agreeing and documenting any % split between writing and creative practice. In trimester 2, regular meetings with your supervisor will take place, so that the project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction. The project developed in this module is the most self-directed piece of work that you will produce during your undergraduate studies. The successful completion of this module will enhance your employability, evidencing your ability, appropriate skillset and specialist interests.
View the full module definitionYou will put into practice a collaborative music project working in a team or group. The module is devised to enable you to demonstrate your abilities to work collaboratively in performing a variety of practical and creative roles, and critically reflect upon the processes involved in undertaking professional, ethical and sustainable composition, performance, production, promotion and/or other responsibilities in a negotiated project. Through doing this, you will demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of concepts of professionalism and entrepreneurialism. You will be expected to contribute effectively to group work, demonstrate adaptability in determining and achieving individual goals, including supporting or being proactive in leadership, and critically evaluate the roles you have carried out. The collaboration can involve students from across the courses at ARU. In putting your project into practice, a required outcome is that you take your work to an extra-university audience, and as such the collaboration may involve external individuals, agencies, or organisations. The nature of the creative musical collaborations will inevitably be diverse.
View the full module definitionThis is a practice-based module that enables you to produce a portfolio of audio/music-related work based on your specialism. Furthermore, you'll learn about and devise strategies to promote and disseminate your work. Taken together, this module provides you with the opportunity to complete your final year with a substantive body of work that demonstrates your skills to future employers, clients, or funding bodies, presented through accessible, engaging technical means. You have Trimesters 1 and 2 to produce and complete the portfolio’s “content”, that is, the body of music/audio-related work. You are expected to make progress independently under the guidance of the module tutor. Whereas classes in Trimester 2 will occur as individual/group tutorials, Trimester 1 additionally focuses on producing the portfolio’s “frame”, that is, devising suitable technological means for promotion and dissemination of your portfolio and setting up the technical infrastructure. Trimester 1 will therefore offer dedicated sessions on creating websites with embedded audio/video media, sourcing of visual artwork, using social media effectively, and presenting your biography and curriculum vitae (CV).
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