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Sound
Arts

Sound

Society

Nature

A one year, part-time course

Sound Arts Post Graduate Course at The Margate School

Entry Requirement:

BA(Hons) or relevant experience, which does not need to be directly related to the field of sound.

Evidence of sound-led work within applicants’ practice.

Basic sound recording, editing and playback tools experience.

CV with application.

Portfolio or showreel are desirable.

Interview.

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Duration:

Part-time October 2023 to June 2024

Academic year commences 6 October 2023

 

Taught sessions:

Fridays.

15 hours minimum independent study.

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Cohort Size:

up to 15 places.

The modules revolve around individual and collaborative project work exploring the listening practices, sound, music and communication, communities and performance.

 

Each area of study culminates in regular public outputs; including radio broadcasts, performances, exhibitions or workshops.

 

Sound Society Nature will support your development as a critically minded sound artist, equipped to contribute positively to your community.

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This explorative course exposes the student to a wide variety of practices as artistic, social and ecological methodologies relating to sound through creation, listening and collaboration.

Sound Arts Student Benny Bowles sharing his project with fellow TMS members

Sound Arts Student Benny Bowles sharing his project with fellow TMS members

Sound Arts Student Exploring Materials

Sound Arts Student Exploring Materials

You will gain:

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  • Strategies, practices and theories of critical and analytical listening within sound arts, music, philosophy and beyond

  • An appreciation and understanding of the relationship between sound and space, the formal and contextual properties of sound and music

  • An ability to develop individual ideas and collaborate with others, tapping into Margate’s burgeoning music and sound scene

  • Experience developing performance work and installation design as a team, participating as performers, sound designers, dramaturgs, composers or producers

  • Skills and knowledge to take into employment or further study related to fine art, music composition and production, podcast and radio, community art, film sound and sound arts

sound-society-nature.jpg

What you get

  • Classes focused on creative sound perception and creation skills

  • Technical workshops in digital music creation, recording, mixing and sound manipulation

  • Sessions with improvised performance

  • Physical and digital instrument creation workshops

  • Practical installation design and vinyl pressing

  • Tutorial support - regular one-to-ones with tutors, peer review and expert critique

  • Guest lectures and gallery / performance visits

  • An output from each module of a radio show, podcast or public workshop

Cost

£4,000 per academic year, including hot desk, mix studio and access to TMS facilities

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We believe that your financial situation should not be a barrier to education, please get in touch by email for a conversation to discuss how we can assist.

Apply now

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Speaker

Course Facilities

Mix studio including

  • Mac, Speakers, Interface and Mic

  • 4 x powered monitors for surround work/installations

  • 2 x podcast-grade microphones (Shure SM7b, ex) 


Students will need

  • Headphones

  • Laptop or iPad with basic audio editing facility

Why study with us?

  • ​Ideal course to build your portfolio or network​

  • The schedule allows you to work part time alongside study

  • Small student numbers means more individual attention​

  • Outstanding roster of visiting professionals

  • Stunning location, a stones throw from the beach​

  • Promotes sustainable practice 

  • A pioneering liberal art school

Course Modules

Module

01

Listening Practices

This unit opens the course with a five session exploration of listening.  Drawing on strategies, practices and theories of listening within sound art, music, philosophy and beyond (including therapeutic and well-being practices).  Practices include soundwalking, sound mapping, Deep Listening, gong baths, and field recording.  The unit involves practical and embodied workshops where students will employ these technologies to explore Margate various soundscapes, sonic lines, and social and ecological environments.

Module

02

Sound and Space

This unit introduces students to the relationship between sound and
space within the sound arts.  We will explore sound and architecture,
learn how sound operates as a space and place maker,  research and
create sound installations, and consider sound's role in broader
ecological practices.  We will explore sound installation as a form of
artistic practice, looking at its position within art history, and we
will experiment with sound diffusion devices such as loudspeakers,
radios and dictaphones.

Module

03

Music, Sound and Communication

This unit will explore the distribution of sound and music through
broadcast, networks and digital music discovery. We will plug into
Margate’s burgeoning music and sound scene, exploring how sound and
music become tools for communication and the dissemination of culture.

Module

04

Sound Materials

We will explore the materiality of sound, and the sonic and listening
natures of materials. We will work with practitioners who make objects
that make or capture sound, noise and/or music.  Students will create
their own sound objects such as musical instruments, recording
devices, ritual objects or sound sculptures.

Module

05

Sound and Community

This unit will explore sound practices that explore, record or create community.  We will draw on practices as diverse as oral history, sound archiving, group improvisation and collective singing to develop our own responses to the various communities of Margate and Thanet.

Module

06

Sound and Performance

During this unit we will explore the performance of sound.  We will
speak to performers and visit performance spaces in the local area,
and develop our own performance works with students acting as
performers themselves, or as sound designers, aural dramaturgs,
composers or producers.

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