BA (Hons) Digital Media and Music Production Bachelor's degree at Keele University

This module introduces you to creating content for social media. You'll work as a team to respond creatively to an industry brief and devise content in a range of formats that will connect with audiences. You will analyse what makes social media content compelling, exploring contemporary applications from marketing and entertainment to self-expression, art, storytelling, and activism. You'll be introduced to professional practices and standards and develop skills in creative decision making, whi

This module provides a solid grounding of the foundational skills and concepts needed to record and mix in the recording studio. Using professional recording studios with state-of-the-art equipment, staff with practical industry experience will introduce you to microphones, mic technique, routing, tracking, printing, overdubbing, re-amping, mix-prep, dynamic processors, and effects. You will learn about industry best practices and genre-specific workflows, develop the critical listening needed t

This module introduces key theoretical and practical aspects of popular music, exploring its socio-cultural contexts, functions, performers, markets, and scenes. It challenges cultural assumptions about sound and listening, examining popular culture, fandom, and sound recording. You will learn about music dissemination, consumption, and sharing on digital platforms, covering ethics, strategies, methodologies, and realities in today's music world.

This module provides you with the foundational tools and skills you need to develop your student profile. You will learn about the different pathways in your cultural or creative field while developing your own identity as a cultural critic, creative, and citizen. You will explore and map out your personal and professional development goals and plans, ensuring you make the most of your time at university and beyond. You will gain professional skills in communication and team working.

The role of digital media on contemporary politics and society is a hotly debated topic, and one that aspiring digital content producers need to be aware of. This module will allow you to think critically about the challenges and possibilities of a digital world and your place and responsibilities within it, enabling you to think critically and creatively about the social context for digital content production. The module provides a transition to University study by developing foundational study

Sound synthesis in Music Production offers a fun and engaging way to explore synthesis techniques (additive, AM/FM, granular, chorus, AI-based concatenative) and supports the development of your creative sound generation abilities. You will design your own software synthesiser and organise your musical ideas into audio tracks. You will reflect on the many popular music genres, such as Hip-hop, House, and Techno, which will prepare you for future exploration of sound for visuals, games, advertise

This module introduces you to the world of sound effects for visual media, revealing the process of audio-visual synchronization across various contexts, including video games, films, and advertisements. You will acquire practical skills in creating convincing and believable sound effects and learn the basics of Foley artistry. With a hands-on, practical learning approach, you will be guided step-by-step in crafting unique sounds to complement visual spaces, events, and themes in moving image co

Learn how to tell compelling and persuasive multimedia stories about the issues you care about. You will work with other students to analyse what makes multimedia stories impactful, exploring narrative structures, design concepts, storytelling applications, and interactive and transmedia elements. You will develop a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of storytelling across media forms and put this into practice. The module builds your project management skills in preparation for your final ye

In this module, you will gain comprehensive skills by integrating live sound and studio engineering practices. You'll learn industry best practices and gain practical experience as both a live sound technician and engineer. This includes professional PA setup and mastering a cutting-edge digital PA system for live performance events. The studio engineering segment will build on your first-year foundations, allowing you to develop advanced techniques in various genres, ensuring a well-rounded exp

Why is brand culture so ubiquitous in how we understand ourselves and our society, and the way we live our lives? You'll investigate the histories and politics of marketing, advertising and consumerism, considering how and why promotional culture became such a key component of contemporary economies and societies. You'll think critically about the social and political impacts of brand culture, including environmental harm, exploitation, and inequality. You'll identify, discuss, and critically an

This module equips you with sampling and remixing skills through hands-on learning in Ableton Live. You'll explore the historical roots of sampling and learn various contemporary music production techniques, including AI-based stem separation. Engaging with key sample-based music pieces, you'll delve into discussions on creative reuse and recontextualization. Critical discussions will cover topics such as, intertextuality, authenticity, ownership, legal and ethical issues. You'll also learn remi

Broadening your knowledge of the variety of career pathways open to you enables you to identify, analyse, and showcase your degree skills and experiences effectively. Through completing and reflecting on problem-based tasks relating to different sectors, such as telling the story of a business, or writing a funding proposal to support a music festival, you will build and refine your creative and collaborative skills and learn how to articulate them in ways that will be attractive to employers.

Augmenting Live Performance introduces you to leading-edge, modern live music performance techniques and gives you the chance to build your own digital performance devices and apply them live contexts. You will explore current and historical issues around liveness and learn the semiotics of performance. Building on first-year skills you will explore specific augmenting live performance techniques, including recording studio and electronic music production techniques in live performance events, F

Where data comes from and how it is put to work are important questions for today's digital designers and creators. In this module, you will explore the politics and power of 'datafication' and examine its opportunities and challenges. You will then put this knowledge into practice by developing your skills in socially conscious design. You will think about how to design creative digital media products and projects with awareness of the social, economic, and political questions of design justice

This module offers you the chance to contribute to the world outside Keele either through completing a work placement, a project for a client (or a series of projects for different clients) or working as a team to deliver a successful festival or event. You will be trained to showcase your creative and collaborative skills and abilities effectively before applying for an opportunity advertised through the module (or you can source your own, subject to it meeting the module's requirements).