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Postgraduate

MA Sound Arts

Two people look at a sculpture under a red light.
(In)Sincere Latency by Elliot Buchanan, 2023 MA Sound Arts, London College of Communication, UAL.
College
London College of Communication
Start date
September 2024
Course length
1 year 3 months full time (45 weeks across a four-term model)

Intensive and specialised, MA Sound Arts at LCC is designed to further the development of your conceptual and contextual understanding of sound arts practice and its discourse.

Applying for more than 1 course

You can apply for more than 1 postgraduate course at UAL but we recommend that you apply for no more than 3. Find out more in the Apply Now section.

Open Evenings

The next Open Evening for this course will be announced soon.

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Course overview

Intensive and specialised, MA Sound Arts is designed to further develop your conceptual and contextual understanding of practice and discourse relating to the field. 

Combining a strong taught component with ample opportunities for practical work, you’ll extend your portfolio within an academic context, engage in theoretical and practical research, develop your creative and critical skills, and explore your personal areas of interest.  

What to expect 

  • You'll be encouraged to adopt a personal, distinctive approach to your work.
  • You'll be taught by staff who are active practitioners and researchers specialising in areas including field recording and acoustic ecology, composition, sound installations, improvisation, and a variety of cross-platform work.
  • You’ll have opportunities to collaborate with other students both inside and outside the College.
  • The Sound Arts department is committed to extending the boundaries of this evolving field while developing links with other disciplines and institutions.
  • The course is closely connected to the Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP ) and further underpinned by wider disciplinary contexts across LCC’s Screen School and UAL.

Industry experience and opportunities  

We facilitate individual practice, guiding you towards a professional career as a sound artist, or into research.   

We host an extensive programme of visiting artists and performers who can provide broader insight into the field – recent guests have included Jennifer Walshe, Annea Lockwood, Robert Henke and Christine Eyene.  

For your Final Major Project, you’ll also have the opportunity to work with a professional curator of sound – a key way to develop your professional practice.   

Who is this course for?  

MA Sound Arts is designed for students who have a substantial background in producing sound-based work within the context of contemporary arts and media practice.   

You may have studied some aspect of sound arts at undergraduate level, such as sound design, music technology or sonic art, or have a background in other disciplines like fine art, digital arts, time-based art or performance art.   

Alternatively, you may not have formal qualifications but significant experience of producing creative work with sound instead, and wish to develop this further in an academic context.  

You’ll have already achieved a distinctive and enquiring approach to sound arts, and you’ll understand the areas you wish to develop further in our creative and experimental academic environment.  

Mode of Study  

MA Sound Arts is in Full Time mode which runs for 45 weeks over 15 months. You will be expected to commit 40 hours per week to study.  

Course units

In response to the Climate Emergency, UAL has embedded responsible practices within the curriculum. We shaped our courses around principles of social and racial justice, and environmental sustainability that ensure learning outcomes reflect the urgent need to equip you with the understanding, skills, and values for ethical practice and empower you to work towards an equitable future.

Each course is divided into units, which are credit-rated. The minimum unit size is 20 credits. The MA course structure involves 6 units, totalling 180 credits.   

In addition to focusing on the development of your creative practice, units on MA Sound Arts have been designed to help you consider how sound can be understood and used to critique and question relationships of power that are linked to critical themes of gender, decolonisation and sustainability.  All units on MA Sound Arts are compulsory.  

Autumn, term 1  

Practice-Based Research (40 credits)

This unit helps you to plan, develop and realise an applied research project which results in the production of creative sound work. You’ll learn about different ideas of art as both professional practice and practice-based research, and consider the ways in which diversity, inclusion and sustainability inform your process before presenting your own work and research ideas to your fellow students..  

Contemporary Themes in Sound Arts Practice (20 credits)

You'll build a practical understanding of contemporary themes in sound arts practice by exploring different genres and strategies, enabling you to develop an understanding of discourse in relation to creative production. You’ll also research and review how a particular artist’s practice is sited in the broader field of sound art.  

Spring, term 2  

Practice-Based Research (continued)  
Contemporary Themes in Sound Arts Practice (continued)  

Collaborative Unit (20 credits)

This unit will enable you to explore collaborative practice and the social experience of sound, both from within sound arts - where you’ll develop a diverse range of collective responses - and between disciplines, where you’ll work with students from other areas on individual projects.  

Summer, term 3  

Project Development (20 credits)

In this unit, you’ll present a Development Proposal which will identify the area of work that you’re going to explore – building on, experimenting with and focusing the range of ideas, experiences, skills and interests developed in Terms 1 and 2.

You'll be supported to develop your ideas through practical and scholarly research as well as creative experimentation, and you’ll also consider the appropriate format for your final project.  

Curatorial Contexts for Sound Art (20 credits)

This unit explores issues around the curation, exhibition and perception of work relating to sound arts. It provides an understanding of the contexts through which sound arts practice is presented, curated and distributed in the public domain - in the gallery, in the concert hall and other performance spaces, on the internet, on the radio, or in public spaces outside the traditional curatorial reach. During the unit, you will actively engage with discourses relating to climate justice and the ways in which work can be developed with environmental, cultural, economic, and social value. 

Major Project (60 credits)  

This final unit of the MA consolidates your learning experience of the previous units through the completion and presentation of a Major Project. This will take place in the context of a curated show hosted in an acoustically and visually compelling public space, which maximises the appreciation of your work as a sound arts practitioner.   

Autumn, term 4  

Major Project (continued)  

If you are unable to continue or decide to exit the course, there are two possible exit awards. A Postgraduate Certificate will be awarded on successful completion of the first 60 credits and a Postgraduate Diploma will be awarded on successful completion of the first 120 credits.  

Learning and teaching methods

  • Individual and group tutorials 
  • Seminars 
  • Workshops 
  • Symposium 
  • Self-directed study 
  • Peer review 

Online Open Day

(Recorded March 2023)

Course Leader, Thomas Gardner, gives an overview of studying MA Sound Arts at London College of Communication.

Student work

DREAMSCAPE

DREAMESCAPE is an audio-visual installation which aims to record, reconstruct and present the personal acoustic experience of my dream during the lockdown period.

Work by Ziheng Qian

25 days of Quarantine Life

This work is about 25 days of quarantine life in non-hospital facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on personal experience, Yunwoo selected 25 objects to tell their quarantine soundscape.

Work by Yunwoo Nam.

Listen on SoundCloud

Two Aspects Of Roastbeef

Work by Nicol Parkinson.

Listen on SoundCloud

Student voices

Mathias Arrignon

Student voices

Mathias's final project, Oceanomicon, uses sound to demonstrate the process of ocean acidification.

Yifeat Ziv

Student voices

Yifeat talks about how doing an artist's residency at LABVERDE in the Amazon inspired their final year project.

Dan Beck

Student voices

Graduate Dan Beck talks about his installation, part of LCC Postgraduate Shows 2018, and his time on the course.

Course stories

Facilities

  • Red light indicating recording is taking place.
    Image © Vladimir Molico

    Lens-Based and Audio-Visual

    Find out about the workspaces and studios that support Lens-Based and Audio-Visual practice.

  • Student reading a book in between two bookshelves in the Library
    Students in the Digital Space. London College of Communication, UAL. Photograph: Alys Tomlinson

    The Digital Space

    The Digital Space is an open-plan, creative hub with computers set up with specialist software.

  • The mixing board in the Composition Studio.
    Image © Lewis Bush

    Sound and Music

    Find out about the range of facilities on offer to students studying Sound Arts and Music Production.

Staff

Visiting Curator

Irene Revell - Irene is Director at Electra, which is an 'organisation-in-residence' at Wysing Arts Centre (Summer 2015). Other projects include Someone Else Can Clean Up This Mess (Flat Time House, 2014); Slow Runner (Badischer Kunstverein, 2013); Her Noise: Feminisms and the Sonic (Tate Modern, 2012); Sound Escapes (SPACE, 2009); The Wire 25 (2007).

Irene writes for various publications including The Wire magazine and is a member of the Cinenova feminist film and video distribution working group. Irene is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Kent (MA Sound and Image) and in Autumn 2014 was a Fondazione Adolfo Pini curatorial fellow at O', Milan.

Fees and funding

Home fee

£13,330

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

International fee

£28,570

This fee is correct for 2024/25 entry and is subject to change for 2025/26 entry.

Tuition fees may increase in future years for new and continuing students on courses lasting more than one year. For this course, you can pay tuition fees in instalments.

Students from countries outside of the UK will generally be charged international fees. The rules are complex so read more about tuition fees and determining your fee status.

Scholarship search

Entry requirements

The course team welcomes applicants from a broad range of backgrounds, from all over the world.

Applicants to MA Sound Arts will have a good honours degree in a relevant subject such as sound arts, fine art, film and video or other related fields, or a professional or academic qualification recognised as equivalent to an honours degree.

We also welcome applications from prospective students with a background in fine art or other related fields and those who wish to move their practice or research in other areas towards sound art and sonic practices.

Key subjects in Sound Arts are:

  • Composition
  • Sound recording and mixing
  • Photography
  • Field recording and acoustic ecology
  • Interactive work
  • Sound installations
  • Live performance
  • Radiophonic practices
  • Sound for film
  • A variety of cross-platform work

Your educational level may be demonstrated by:

  • Honours degree (named above);
  • Possession of equivalent qualifications;
  • Prior experiential learning, the outcome of which can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required, demonstrating relevant experience and an aptitude for film, television or other moving-image production subjects;
  • Or a combination of formal qualifications and experiential learning which, taken together, can be demonstrated to be equivalent to formal qualifications otherwise required.

APEL (Accreditation of Prior Learning)

Applicants who do not meet these course entry requirements may still be considered in exceptional cases. The course team will consider each application that demonstrates additional strengths and alternative evidence. This might, for example, be demonstrated by:

  • Related academic or work experience
  • The quality of the personal statement
  • A strong academic or other professional reference
  • OR a combination of these factors

Each application will be considered on its own merit but we cannot guarantee an offer in each case.

Language requirements

All classes are conducted in English. If English is not your first language, we strongly recommend you let us know your English language test score in your application. If you have booked a test or are awaiting your results, please indicate this in your application. When asked to upload a CV as part of your application, please include any information about your English test score.

  • IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent) is required, with a minimum of 5.5 in each of the four skills.
  • If your first language is not English, you can check you have achieved the correct IELTS level in English on the Language Requirements page.

For further details regarding international admissions and advice please visit the International Applications page.

Selection criteria

Offers will be made based on the following selection criteria, which applicants are expected to demonstrate:

  • An informed enthusiasm about sound arts and related sonic practices.
  • A critical approach to working with sound.

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio and video task deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

Apply now

Application deadline

Deadline

Round 1:

13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)

Round 2:

3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)

Digital portfolio and video task deadline

Round 1:

16 January 2024

Round 2:

16 April 2024

Decision outcome

Round 1:

End of March 2024

Round 2:

End of June 2024

Round 1
Round 2
Deadline
13 December 2023 at 1pm (UK time)
3 April 2024 at 1pm (UK time)
Digital portfolio and video task deadline
16 January 2024
16 April 2024
Decision outcome
End of March 2024
End of June 2024

All applications received by 3 April will be treated equally. If there are places available after this date, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Read more about deadlines

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How to apply

Follow this step-by-step guide to apply for this course

Step 1: Initial application

You will need to submit an initial application including your personal statement and CV.

Personal statement advice

Your personal statement should be maximum 500 words and include:

  • your reasons for choosing the course
  • your current creative practice and how this course will help you achieve your future plans
  • any relevant education and experience, especially if you do not have any formal academic qualifications.

Visit our personal statement page for more advice.

CV advice

Please provide a CV detailing your education, qualifications and any relevant work or voluntary experience. If you have any web projects or other media that you would like to share, please include links in your CV. If English is not your first language, please also include your most recent English language test score.

Step 2: Video task and digital portfolio

We will review your initial application. If you have met the standard entry requirements, we will ask you to submit a video task and digital portfolio.

You’ll need to submit these via PebblePad, our online portfolio tool. Please submit your video task on the first page followed by your portfolio.

Video task advice

We would like you to submit a 2-3 minute video to help us learn more about you. When recording your task, please face the camera and speak in English.

What to include in your video task

  • Choose 1 project from your portfolio and explain how it challenged you and your understanding of sound art.
  • Tell us how this experience inspired you to apply to MA Sound Arts at London College of Communication.

Read our guidance for how to submit your video task and which file types we accept.

Digital portfolio advice

Your portfolio should consist of recent work that reflects your creative strengths.

It should:

  • be maximum 20 pages
  • feature work from a maximum of 6 projects along with supporting material
  • comprise of any work (visual, sonic or textual) as well as images of sketchbooks
  • be annotated and organised into a clear narrative
  • demonstrate your mode of working and interest in sound art and sonic sensibility.

For more support, see our Portfolio advice and PebblePad advice.

Step 3: Interview

You may be invited to an interview following our review of your application. All interviews are held online and last 15 to 20 minutes.

For top tips, see our Interview advice.

You also need to know

Communicating with you

Once you have submitted your initial application, we will email you with your login details for our Applicant portal.

Requests for supplementary documents like qualifications and English language tests will be made through the applicant portal. You can also use it to ask questions regarding your application. Visit our After you apply page for more information.

Applying to more than 1 course

You can apply for more than 1 postgraduate course at UAL but we recommend that you apply for no more than 3 courses. You need to tailor your application, supporting documents and portfolio to each course, so applying for many different courses could risk the overall quality of your application. If you receive offers for multiple courses, you'll only be able to accept 1 offer. UAL doesn't accept repeat applications to the same course in the same academic year.

Visas and immigration history check

All non-UK nationals must complete an immigration history check. Your application may be considered by our course teams before this check takes place. This means that we may request your portfolio and/or video task before we identify any issues arising from your immigration history check. Sometimes your history may mean that we are not able to continue considering your application. Visit our Immigration and visas advice page for more information.

External student transfer policy

UAL accepts transfers from other institutions on a case-by-case basis. Read our Student transfer policy for more information.

Alternative offers

If your application is really strong, but we believe your strengths and skillset are better suited to a different course, we may make you an alternative offer. This means you will be offered a place on a different course or at a different UAL College.

Deferring your place

We do not accept any deferral requests for our postgraduate courses. This means that you must apply in the year that you plan to start your course and you will not be able to defer your place to start at a later date.

Application deadlines

For postgraduate courses at UAL there are 2 equal consideration deadlines to ensure fairness for all our applicants. If you apply ahead of either of these deadlines, your application will be considered on an equal basis with all other applications in that round. If there are places available after the second deadline, the course will remain open to applications until places have been filled.

Careers

During the course you will have the opportunity to develop both your research profile and creative practice. Upon graduation there are a number of options. You may wish to apply for a research degree, or you might decide to work in the theatre, films, television, animation, games production or websites.

Some of our students work as freelance sound artists or musicians in a chosen area which could include performance, composition, sound art installation or curation. Others set up their own businesses.