Music and Sound Design

Music and sound design is a discipline that connects compositional craft with the techniques of audio production and manipulation, preparing you to create sound for a wide range of creative and commercial contexts. While traditional composition training focuses on the concert hall and the printed score, music and sound design extends the composer's toolkit into the studio and the screen, encompassing the design of sonic environments for film, theatre, radio, gaming and interactive media. It is a field that rewards both musical sensitivity and technical curiosity.

At Queen's University Belfast, this three-year full-time programme develops your skills in composing in the studio, writing for instrumental forces, song-writing and scoring for picture. You will gain practical experience working with recording technology and advanced audio software, learning innovative methods of capturing, synthesising and manipulating sound to create the sonic textures and atmospheres that accompany visual and staged work. The programme places particular emphasis on film and theatre, and you will have opportunities to work alongside leading audio professionals who bring current industry practice into the learning environment.

With a typical entry tariff of 168 UCAS points, this is a competitive programme that attracts students with both musical ability and a genuine interest in the creative possibilities of sound.

Graduates from music and sound design programmes work as film and television composers, sound designers, music producers, game audio designers, broadcast engineers, music editors and recording studio engineers. Many find roles in the creative industries across screen, stage, radio and digital media, while others develop careers in music technology, education or academic research. The combination of compositional skill, technical audio expertise and creative experience that the programme develops is valued across a creative media landscape in which the boundaries between music, sound and image continue to blur.

Postgraduate study in music composition, sound design or audio engineering is a natural next step for those who want to develop a specialist practice.