BSc (Hons) Live Sound and Lighting Technology
Key information
-
Typical offer:
Entry requirements -
Fees: See below
Full details -
UCAS code: W376
-
Institute code: H36
-
Study abroad option
-
Work placement option
Find out more
-
Professional accreditations
Member of the UK Music Academic Partnership (MAP)
Why choose this course?
- 2nd in the East of England (after Cambridge) for Music (2023 Complete University Guide)
- Student satisfaction above 93% for the last five years (NSS)
- Live sound & lighting rig hosts d&b, DiGiCo, Avolites & more
- Our programme is Industry Accredited by JAMES, who represent the Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS), the Music Producers Guild (MPG) and Associate Industry Bodies.
- Develop excellent technical skills over the course of your degree. As a live sound and lighting student you will benefit from our high-quality live sound and lighting teaching rig which hosts equipment from d&b Audiotechnik, DiGiCo, Midas, Sennheiser, Avolites, Robe, Clay Paky, Showtec, Capture, Resolume and more.
- As a student studying on a degree award within the overarching Music and Sound Technology programme, you will also benefit from access to our recording studios, listening rooms and edit suites.
- Excellent industry input is built into the design of the degree awards from a huge number of areas within the wider music industry.
- The degree awards within the programme are designed to expose you to areas of music, sound and audio technology that you might not even know exist yet. "Coming to this course has really given my brain the kick-start it needed, and I'm beginning to see near endless possibilities with where I can go." - Glenn Osborn, second year student.
- We have a strong record of students from the programme securing placement years between years 2 and 3 of their studies. Placement destinations include Focusrite, Sound Technology (a leading distributor of high-profile brands for the Music Retail and Professional Audio industries), The Famous Company, and a number of recording studios.
- Every year, organisations and companies approach us to recommend our graduating students.
- Music business is woven into your degree study at every year giving you the skills to slot into the music industry (or create your own business).
- Organise and Participate ‘live’ projects, and our ‘Herts Jam’ showcase live events which feature monthly.
- Benefit from studying in creative arts school and collaborate with others in many different creative fields.
What's the course about?
Core modules studied in live sound and lighting technology alongside practice modules, develop students’ techniques and approaches using a range of sound technologies, as well as fostering professional and industrial contextual immersion and awareness, and experience with specialisms within connected audio and sound related fields.
BSc (Hons) Live Sound and Lighting Technology sits within the overarching Music & Sound Technology Programme. There are four-degree awards within this programme: BSc (Hons) Music Production, BSc (Hons) Music and Sound Design Technology, BSc (Hons) Audio Recording and Production, and BSc (Hons) Live Sound and Lighting Technology. All courses share the same ethos, and you’ll have opportunities to work alongside our music composition students too, ensuring you benefit from teaching and experiences within a large community of musicians, composers, technologists and performers.
Within the wider school of creative arts at UH, there are opportunities to collaborate with students from other creative areas, including animation and film and TV, allowing you to network with a broad range of creative industries.
Year 1
Live sound and lighting technology students learn the core principles and layout of our consoles, specifically our Midas Pro Series audio console and our Avolites lighting consoles. Live sound reinforcement is covered in detail, as is training your ear to enable you to dial into what makes a clean mix. In this first year you will also learn to patch, operate and programme our Avolites lighting consoles.
In addition to your live sound pathway specific module, with our music and sound technology programme core modules you will also gain a solid grounding on a number of major DAW packages, as well as develop your creative and technical skills in mixing and effects processing, studio work and making your own virtual instruments. In order to develop your technical knowledge of connected audio specialisms, you’ll investigate acoustics, psychoacoustics, audio and Midi protocols and a number of sound projection systems whilst also using lab time to develop an understanding of audio electronics through building your own synthesizer for your own creative output. Music Business is also introduced where you’ll investigate various music business modules and contexts that connect what you are studying to the music industry.
Year 2
In year 2 you’ll gain a solid understanding of sound signal routing and also look into the basics of system design (which is further honed, in year 3). You’ll will develop mixing strategies using a broader range of consoles and also investigate advanced projection mapping systems and the requirements and practicalities of audio reinforcement from a broadcast perspective. Event management projects, working alongside Audio Recording and Production students under the guise of event management will task you with supporting the delivery of large-scale live events, undertaking various lighting and sound technical roles.
In addition to your live sound pathway specific module, music and sound technology core modules in year two place much focus on developing your critical ear, and getting your music out there, with detailed work on developing both mixing and mastering techniques, and approaches to digital distribution and delivery. In addition, students continue to develop their deep understanding of microphones and sound signal routing, including network-based systems using our state of the art Rednet enabled facilities. You will continue to hone your studio practice and understanding of the wider music industry.
Year 3
In much focus is placed around opportunities to work on more complex live sound and lighting events, as well as gaining a solid grounding in audio system design. Drawing on the programmes’ industry accreditation links, students also engage with a defined real-life / live project within the area of (or relating to) live sound and lighting technology. This is delivered and supported by sessions from a range of academic staff in addition to bespoke sessions from industry professionals who feed in external expertise, so as to support the realisation, process and achievement of the project as a whole. Typical projects include large track count mixing, audio and media work, and as such create opportunities for students to test and validate their live sound and lighting skills to a typically externally defined industry brief, including delivering to specification, deadline and budget.
By year 3, the vast majority of our students have already formed a number of professional connections, and students are able to make use of these and reflect on their approaches within a dedicated field project. In addition, there is the final major project which under the supervision of a dedicated tutor allows you to specialize in your chosen area.
Guest Speakers
Key industry professionals regularly visit us to speak to our students. Recent Guest Speakers Include:
- Dan Lancaster (Music Producer).
- Olga Fitzroy (Recording Engineer)
- Isabel Gracefield Grundy (Sound writer, mixing engineer and producer).
- Marta Salogni (Producer, Mixer, Engineer)
- Steph Marziano (Writer, Producer, Mixer)
- George Shilling (Mixing & Mastering Engineer, Cellist and Studio Owner).
- Matt Ingram (Drummer, Producer and Engineer from London, and Co-Founder of Urchin Studios).
- Alan Branch (Grammy Award winning Engineer, Producer, Writer and Musician).
- Gareth Jones (Huge modular analogue synth enthusiast, who has worked with a huge selection of artists, including making 5 LPs with Depeche Mode, and another 5 with Erasure).
- Mike Warriner (Commercial Director at Focusrite).
- Dan Cox (Award winning sound engineer, mixer and producer, and an executive Director of the Music Producer’s Guild).
- Bernard O’Reilly (Sound designer, sound effects editor and FX recordist).
- Neil Coomber (mixer, producer and engineer)
- Nick Watson (Mastering Engineer - Fluid Mastering)
- Richard Pryke (sound engineer / re-recording engineer - best known for his Academy Award for Best Sound for the film Slumdog Millionaire)
- Tony Platt (Audio Engineer)
- Phill Brown (Sound Engineer, Producer - worked with Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Dido, to name but a few)
- Alistair Meachin (Acoustics, Audio & AV Consultant – Harmonia Consulting Ltd.
This course is part of the music department in the School of Creative Arts, and a wide range of undergraduate music degrees are on offer.
Check out our facilities
Music students at the University of Hertfordshire have access to a stunning array of well-maintained resources and facilities aligned to industry standards, including recording studios, performance spaces, critical listening spaces, high-spec computing labs and a loan store offering a range of free-to-use equipment.
Find out more about our music facilities here.
Your main campus is College Lane
This is where the creative arts, science and health-related subjects are based. This means you’ll share the campus with future nurses, scientists, artists and more. You can use the common rooms to relax with friends, work out in the 24-hour gym or have a drink in our on-campus pub or cafes. We also have restaurants for you to eat in or grab something on the go. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.
What will I study?
Degree programmes are structured into levels, 4, 5 and 6. These correspond to your first, second and third/final year of study. Below you can see what modules you’ll be studying in each.
Check out our student blogs
Student Blogs
Jake F - My week at a Glance
My Week at a glance
Week at a glance – Hi! I’m Jake, I recently completed the final projects of my degree in Music and Sound Design Technology and in this blog, I will give you an overview of a typical week in my third and final year at Herts. My average third-year week would usually include two days of lectures, one or two shifts at work and the rest of the week spent working on assignments and socialising with friends.
I only had two days a week of lectures in my final year which meant I could be very flexible with how I spent my time. I would always attend all my lectures and typically spend another two to three hours working on assignments on these days during the evenings. The rest of the week I would usually aim to work six hours, but this varied as I had other commitments. It is not necessary to work six hours per day but as I am aiming for a first-class grade, this was enough for me to learn and practise everything I needed too without overworking myself.
During my final year, I worked at the Forum at UH (University of Hertfordshire) as a live sound and lighting technician, something I really enjoyed doing as it was the first time working in a job related to my sound engineering course. Usually, I would work two shifts a week, Wednesday night and Friday evening which worked out at around 12 – 15 hours a week, sometimes it was more and sometimes less. The fact the shifts were in the evening and at night was good as it allowed me to focus on my assignments during the day, but club nights would see me often working till 04:00 or later which did leave me tired the next day but this was part of the job and it was a great experience overall.
It was especially important that I put aside time for myself to relax and socialize with friends and to take time out of all the work I was doing. I and a friend from my course got into a routine of playing table tennis each night to get some light exercise and to take a break from the assignments. In the final year can be stressful sometimes, so it is particularly important to look after yourself by exercising, eating healthily (and enough!) and spending time with friends or relaxing by yourself
I think being at Uni is about finding the right balance of work and fun that works for you, it is a wonderful way to practise self-discipline and time management and you will learn a lot about yourself.
Thanks for reading!
Student Blogs
Jake F - Guide to the facilities
Subject Facilities
As a sound engineering student, you have access to everything you need to prepare you for working in the industry. It is a very practical subject so having the right equipment, software, and hardware, is vital for getting the hands-on experience you need. Most of my work was done in the FMM, Film Music & Media building which has computer labs with all the latest programs, surround sound ‘satellite’ rooms, an acoustically treated room for film sound, and many other musical spaces and practise rooms. You also have access to the Art and Design buildings where you will find fully kitted out music studios with performing and recording rooms with the latest mixing desks and computers, a Foley studio which I used a lot for films, and the loan store. The loan store allows you to borrow equipment such as microphones, musical instruments and other equipment like video cameras and accessories.
Having access to these spaces was vital as part of my learning experience as there is no substitute for hands-on learning but Herts gave me everything, I needed to ensure I am prepared to start work or go onto further education.
I also had some lectures in the Forum where I learned about live sound and acoustics. I had the privilege to work at the Forum which gave me an even more extensive knowledge of live sound setups. The facilities at the Forum are incredible and working with such a high standard of equipment was always exciting. There are two music rooms in the Forum, the main auditorium which is a large capacity club room with a full lighting rig and a custom sound setup. There is also the attic which is a smaller venue which hosts Herts Jam which is a student-run music event held three times a year. The Forum has seen some big artists and bands play there, such as Enter Shikari and even the music video for Ed Sheeran’s Lego House was filmed there.
As well as the specialist spaces, you have everything you would expect as a student like lecture halls and access to the library on campus where you can borrow books and magazines and use computers and printers. You also have access to the online library to check if they have a book and if it is available.
UH (University of Hertfordshire) exceeded my expectations of professional equipment and facilities and I would highly recommend anyone looking to study music technology or sound engineering to consider Herts. Despite graduating during the Covid-19 outbreak and it being a strange time, I feel prepared for my future, whenever and wherever that may be!
Student Blogs
Jake F- Why I chose Herts
Why I chose Herts
When I attended the open day and had the subject talk, Herts was able to relay confidence in their teaching abilities and the course itself, that other universities I visited were not able to do. They really sounded like they knew their stuff, and this was backed up by statistics in student satisfaction and almost 100% of students being in further education or work within six months of graduating. The course itself also sounded more suited to me as it was a mix of creative and technical teaching compared to some universities being much more technical and less practical and creative.
The facilities were impressive, and I could picture myself working in the labs and studios as we were shown around. I had never accessed any sound equipment before I had gone to university so seeing these facilities up close was a very motivating experience.
The course lived up to my expectations and I really enjoyed being taught there. The staff were very friendly and incredibly knowledgeable in their respective fields of work and I can’t see how it could have been improved.
I also felt that I could imagine myself at Herts much more than the other universities I visited. This may have been due to it being a campus university where most of the University is based on one campus. This made it seem like a true community and a busy, bustling place full of young people like me. The campus itself was very appealing due to the modern accommodation facilities and other stylish buildings and spaces. The College Lane Campus has a very homely and connected feel due to the Oval building which sits surrounded by accommodation blocks. It, therefore, gave the impression of being very social which was appealing as I was overly excited about meeting many friends during my time there.
Another reason I chose Herts is its proximity to London. I love cities, especially London, and being so close was massively appealing to me. It was only 20 minutes on the train, and I took opportunities to travel there when I could, meeting family and friends and working in the city centre on some occasions. It also meant travelling home was easy as I could get a direct train to Manchester from London.
Going to a university far from my home was not an issue for me, if anything, it was more appealing as I like to experience living in different areas. It can be daunting moving far from your family, but you will meet so many people very quickly and soon, the university will feel like your home.
Alumni Stories
Michael Leaning
Meet Michael. Michael works as a sound designer and in 2023, he was part of a team that won a BAFTA Game Award for their work on God of War Ragnarök.
Read more stories Find out more about this course| Current job role | Sound Designer at Sweet Justice Sound |
|---|---|
| Year of graduation | 2007, 2008 |
| Course of study | BSc (Hons) Music and Sound Design Technology |
| MSc Music and Sound Technology (Audio Programming) |
New paths
Michael developed many skills during his time at Herts, which he believes helped him in his career as a sound designer. He says, 'My undergraduate degree in Music Technology introduced me to sound design for the moving image, something I hadn't thought about when applying for the course. I had initially been focused on music. There was something about putting sound to visuals that excited me and I've been doing it ever since.'
Inspirational opportunities
Michael took full advantage of all the opportunities offered to him during his studies and explains how they really helped him to progress in his career. 'Having the opportunity to work with animation students was one of the best experiences. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to work in a professional studio setting, and take my first steps into sound design on high-end equipment and surround sound. Having the opportunity to learn about so many different aspects of sound and collaborating with different creative disciplines definitely led me on the path I’m walking today.'
Winning a BAFTA and his aspirations for the future
In 2023, Michael won an Audio Achievement BAFTA Game Award as part of a team who worked on the hit video game God of War Ragnarök. Michael said working with his company, Sweet Justice Sound, on the game was a 'career highlight'.
Michael is looking forward to what the future has in store for him and says, 'I’ve been lucky enough to work on some of the biggest gaming franchises during my career. I’m looking forward to continuing to work on amazing games and honing my skills over a long and varied career.'
Alumni Stories
Matthew Mainprize
Meet Matthew Mainprize who has worked on exciting projects like Jurassic World: Evolution since graduating. He is currently working as an Audio Designer at Frontier Developments.
Read more stories Find out more about this course| Current job role | Audio Designer |
|---|---|
| Year of graduation | 2018 |
| Course of study | BSc (Hons) Music Composition and Technology for Films and Games |
University experience and opportunities
Matthew thoroughly enjoyed his course at the University of Hertfordshire, as it guided him towards his current career path, which he really loves. He says, 'My studies allowed me to develop my interests and skills and provided an environment to learn and apply myself to a specific task over extended periods of time. The teacher support and engagement were very helpful.'
Matthew currently works as an Audio Designer on Jurassic World Evolution and talks about how his studies were extremely useful in helping him decide his profession and subsequently securing his current role.
'I took a while to decide what I wanted to do with my life prior to university, and when I worked out what that was, Hertfordshire was the one place that offered a course that was exactly what I was looking for. It provided me with the option to do a placement year, and this enabled me to get an internship at a Microsoft Games Studio. Without going to university, I would not have had this opportunity, nor the skill-set to get the position.'
Industry connections
Matthew encourages prospective students to make the most of their time at Herts. He suggests, 'Have the best portfolio you can and keep it refreshed where possible. Make best use of your connections from university and collaborate on projects with them. I like to keep up to date with what my other friends are doing with their own personal projects and careers.'
Matthew took advantage of all the opportunities at Herts, both inside and outside of his studies. He advises other students to do the same and adds, 'Always keep an eye out for any opportunities that may appear, and keep your options and goals open at the start. I remember having a number of projects I worked on, featured in the Animation feature film day!'
Aspirations for the future
Still looking to improve himself and progress in his career, Matthew wishes to develop his skills as a sound designer. 'My plans are to continue to learn and improve, whilst working at Frontier. I want to increase my output, value and contribution to the games we work on so that they can be the best that they can be.'