Postgraduate Course: Sound Design Thinking (MUSI11079)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is an introduction to the contexts in which sound design takes place and will provide you with skills and understanding that will provide a good foundation for further specialist work in this area (e.g. film, broadcast media, games, theatre, software applications, sonic art). You will gain knowledge of and develop fluency in sound design production and professional practice, and you will aim to understand the potential of sound design to be applied to different forms of media, products and experiences to enable you to thrive in a range of sound design situations, both commercial and experimental. |
| Course description |
This course introduces ways of thinking about and through sound design, and you'll be asked to consider where, how and why sound design might be found across the creative industries. You'll be challenged to rethink what sound design is and, through a balance of practical coursework and reflective research, you'll expand your appreciation of opportunities for expressive, experimental and exploratory sound design to enable you to thrive in a range situations both commercial and experimental.
This course provides a theoretical and practical overview of the concepts that are foundational to designing sound for a specific purpose or medium. Topics covered include sonic experience, sound and environment, spatial sound, sonic narrative, sound and technology, and sound and culture. Importantly, you'll consider how sound design ideas might be conceived, communicated and implemented when working with people from other disciplines or backgrounds.
This course assumes you have some experience of working with sound in creative ways and are prepared to advance quickly in consolidating and extending your existing knowledge of sound design. Coursework includes analysis and discussion of sound design media and practical development of engaging sound design work using spatial audio technologies to create detailed, innovative and immersive sonic responses to a defined brief.
The course is delivered through a series of weekly 2-hour lectures, fortnightly 2-hour small group tutorials and occasional seminars and longer large group workshops supported by a range of online resources and project briefs offer scope for individual focus, exploration, and experimentation. The course encourages professional development and use of sound design materials. You are expected to keep a record of your working methods and will submit and a reflective account of your design approach along with your practical design work. Project work will lead you towards insight into collaborative working with other practitioners. For example, in tutorials and workshops you will work together with others to produce and evaluate sound design media in small groups.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 10,
Online Activities 4,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
149 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components.
1) Sound Design Proposal, Practical element of guide length 5 mins with 1000 words equivalence documentation, 35%, weeks 5-6, relating to Learning Outcomes 2,3 and 4 for practical work and LOs 1 and 5 for documentation. The practical work and documentation are treated as one object for assessment purposes.
2) Sound Design Practical, Practical element 7 mins plus 1200 words equivalence documentation, 65%, submitted in December assessment period relating to Learning Outcomes 2,3 and 4 for practical work and LOs 1 and 5 for documentation. The practical work and documentation are treated as one object for assessment purposes.
Further information:
1) Sound Design Proposal. The proposal is submitted as a guide-length 5-minute video presentation with explanation of 1000 words equivalence. The submission will include audio-visual analysis and should draw on theory and practices from this subject area to communicate critical understanding of creative, aesthetic and technical issues around sound design. The submission should include short prototype experiments that indicate the likely character and future development of the proposed spatial sound design.
2) Sound Design Practical. This submission is the completed design and implementation of a spatial sound design experience that creatively and critically explores one or more of the themes of the course and will keep the listener engaged for 7 minutes as an evocative and provocative encounter between people and places. Practical work is supported by a video presentation with explanation of 1200 words equivalence reviewing the submission in terms of documentation of that project work and discussion of its wider context as defined by the project brief and participants. The practical work and documentation are treated as one object for assessment purposes.
Resit Information
The resit arrangements for this course are as follows.
- The resit task for assessment component 1 is Sound Design Proposal, Practical element 3-4 mins plus 1000 words equivalence documentation
- The resit task for assessment component 2 is Sound Design Practical, Practical element 6-8 mins plus 1200 words equivalence documentation
Students will receive further resit information as per University regulations where necessary.
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| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Verbal formative feedback for Submissions 1 and 2 will be provided through tutorial and seminar sessions by the Course Organiser and Tutors and will address creative, contextual and technical issues relating to sound design work.
Summative Feedback
Summative feedback may include written and verbal elements. The feedback for Submission 1 will be useful in developing Submission 2. Feedback will refer to the quality and character of the sound design work, clarity of the documentation, contextual and critical relevance and any technical issues that may help in future. The feedback may not address every detail of the work submitted and will also include a common component drawn from observations of work across the course cohort.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Identify the scope of applications of sound design and its role in wider creative arts contexts.
- Practice and apply sound design thinking to research and plan creative sound-based work.
- Select and use appropriate sound design production techniques and technologies.
- Work cooperatively in the context of sound design in the wider professional creative industries.
- Critically evaluate and communicate appropriate sound design theories and practices.
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Reading List
Augoyard, Jean-Francois, & Torgue, Henri (2005). Sonic Experience: A Guide To Everyday Sounds. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press
Chion, Michel (1994). Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen. New York: Columbia University Press.
Fry, Gareth (2019). Sound Design for the Stage. MArlborough: Crowood Press
Greene, Liz & Kulezic-Wilson, Danijela (Eds.). (2016). Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media. London: Palgrave Macmillan
Harris, Louise. (2022). Composing Audiovisually: Perspectives on audiovisual practices and relationships. Abingdon: Routledge
Knight-Hill, Andrew. and Margetson, Emma. (2023) Art of Sound: Creativity in Film Sound and Electroacoustic Music. London: Focal Press |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry: Design-led project briefs will require students to develop the ability to explore and apply creative solutions to real-world sound design problems of aesthetic and technical character through independent and collaborative research and practice. The knowledge and experience gained on this course will be a foundation for further self-directed development in the context of evolving mediums.
Personal and intellectual autonomy: Coursework will require students to develop and demonstrate original and independent responses to project briefs. By dealing with issues of time, technology and creative opportunity, students will develop the ability to be adaptable, resourceful, reflective and inventive in working with people, technologies and sound design techniques.
Effective working: The collaborative and integrated nature of sound design projects will provide the ability to work pro-actively, independently and in peer relationships that require organisation, decision making and individual initiative in managing time and prioritising work tasks.
Communication Skills: This course will develop the ability to recognise sound design opportunities and provides a framework for students to gain confidence in effective presentation and communication of original sound design ideas. |
| Special Arrangements |
This course can only be taken by students studying MSc Sound Design. |
| Keywords | Audio Production,Film Sound,Game Audio,Spatial Audio,Sound Art |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jules Rawlinson
Tel: (0131 6)51 4336
Email: Jules.Rawlinson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Laura Duff
Tel:
Email: lduff4@ed.ac.uk |
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