About BA (hons) Sound Arts in University of the Arts London

On the BA (Hons) Sound Arts course, students and staff explore the many possibilities of sound arts in a well-established and future-facing program of student-centred activity.

The course covers the diverse ways that sound is used creatively in the contemporary world and you are taught how to apply your creativity to produce original pieces of work in wide range of artistic areas.

The course is accordingly broad, including: fine art, sound studies, art installations and gallery practice, audio-visual communication, game environments and virtual reality, community projects, creative coding, soundscape pieces, interactive work and new media, experimental musical work of all genres and more.

As students on the course you will come from a variety of backgrounds and have a wide range of interests in all things sonic. You will be curious and open-minded and want to develop and expand your potential as a creative artist/practitioner.

Your creative, contextual and technical knowledge will be built throughout the course, allowing you to face the challenges and opportunities of the contemporary creative sound practitioner.

What to expect

You can expect this course to take you on an exploration of sound art and design as a constantly emerging culture to be found in many forms and international contexts, in which your own analysis and evaluation will be central.

You will mature and expand your potential in a personal journey through a range of areas including:  

• Creative practice and production
• Sound studies – thinking, doing and being in sound
• Fine art approaches to sound: e.g. sound installations, sound sculpture
• Studio recording, mixing and mastering
• Surround sound (games, Virtual Reality (VR), music, installation)
• Workflows of pre-production, production and post-production
• Field recording and phonography (including ambisonics)
• Hardware fabrication and object / interface design
• Radiophonic work
• Synthesis (analogue and digital, hardware and software)
• Digital improvisation
• Interactive programming
• Experimental music
• Game audio, adaptive music and sound for Virtual Reality / Extended Reality (XR)

Your increasing technical, creative and theoretical knowledge will support you in the development of a professional portfolio. You will produce this work within a context of the history, practices and concerns of the sonic arts and of the major theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic issues in the media arts.

Our classes are relatively intimate (20 to 30 students) – this enables us to provide flexible, personal content and orientate our delivery according to the emergent requests of our individual students.

Work experience and opportunities

You are also encouraged to engage in professional sound arts work alongside your studies and many students participate in activities with creative spaces and groups such as The Laptop Orchestra, IKLETIK, Corsica Studios, Resonance FM, Gallery 46, The Economist and London Sinfonietta.

Between Years 2 and 3 of the course, you’ll also have the opportunity to undertake one of the following additional UAL qualifications: 

Diploma in Professional Studies (DPS): An optional, year-long learning opportunity which enables you to develop your professional skills by undertaking a variety of placements and industry experiences. Supported throughout the year by academics, you’ll build on the knowledge gained on your course in a range of national or international locations, and graduate with an additional qualification of Diploma in Professional Studies.

Diploma in Creative Computing: An optional, year-long opportunity which allows you to develop the computational skills that are shaping the future of the digital creative industries. After successfully completing the Diploma and the final year of your undergraduate degree, you’ll graduate with an enhanced degree title: for example, BA (Hons) Sound Arts (with Creative Computing).

Entry requirements

• High School leaving examinations - We will consider any High School leaving examinations that are considered to be the equivalent to A-level examinations in the UK.

English language requirements

• IELTS: 6.0 - 6.5 overall, with no less than 5.5 in each component.
• TOEFL iBT: 80 - 90 overall.
• PTE Academic: 51 - 58 (with no less than 51 in each component).

University of the Arts London Highlights

University of Arts London Cost of Attendance