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"I can’t recommend this course enough. Being taught by people who are actively working in the industry is so essential, because it's constantly changing. I love the programme and I’m proud to have done it."

Thor Bremmer
MFA Video Game Music & Audio graduate

MA Composing for Video Games

POSTGRADUATE MASTERS DEGREE

Game Audio

Flexible online study with personal tuition

Full time – 12 months (30 hours a week)

Part time – 24 months (15 hours a week)

Part time – 36 months (8 hours a week)

Accepting applications for Sep 2024 start. Apply now

Game music is one of the fastest expanding areas of media music. MA Composing for Video Games will prepare you to enter the industry as a video games composer. It will give you all the skills you need to compose and implement fully interactive music using industry standard game engines and middleware.

You will be given the space and support to develop as a composer, finding your voice and raising your production and composition skills to a professional standard, with help from current working composers and game audio professionals. We even support you after you graduate to find work with our Employment Support Programme.

INTERESTED?

Register for more information about this course and studying with ThinkSpace Education.

Have questions? Our friendly team are here to help. Complete the form above, email us or call us on +44 (0)1243 256 049

Preparing you for the career you deserve

This course prepares students to go into the industry as video game composers, assistant composers or as a member of an audio team.

On this course, you will learn:

The essential technical and creative skills required to compose music for video games.
To compose music for a wide variety of different game genres, from mobile puzzle games through to action and racing games.
Different ways of creating an interactive strategy to allow the score to respond seamlessly to the gameplay.
Collaborative and remote working skills, which are vital in such a connected global industry.
To use Wwise to implement your music interactively in fully functional Unity games and game levels, many specially designed or licenced for the course, including commercial releases.
Business skills to help you produce a winning portfolio that will help you into a new career.

TAUGHT BY working PROFESSIONALS

Our teaching staff and mentors are all current working professionals, many involved at the highest level in the business. They’ve worked for almost every major game studio, including Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Bandai, Nintendo, Capcom, Frontier and Dambusters Studios.

Here are a few of the many who will be giving you individual feedback, either in writing, during weekly one to one mentoring sessions, or at the student workshops. Their game composition and audio credits include:

Call of Duty Infinite War
League of Legends
Batman Arkham Knight
Forza Horizon 2
Resident Evil
Warhammer: Total War
Lego 2KDrive
Metal Gear Rising
Cyberpunk 2077
Wolfstein Youngblood
Team Sonic Racing
Need For Speed Shift
Walking Dead Assault

Plus we regularly host invite visiting lecturers to provide additional real-world insights and inspiration.

See All THINKSPACE Teaching Staff

ROSS TREGENZA

Sound Designer, Composer (Alien Vs. Predator, Gears of War)

ALYX JONES

Game Audio Professional (Silver Script Games, The Sound Architect)

GIORGIO VEZZINI

Sound Designer, Audio Lead (Batman: Arkham Knight, League of Legends)

HILGROVE KENRICK

Composer (Need for Speed: Shift, 12 Monkeys TV series)

JAMIE CHRISTOPHERSON

Composer (Fortnite, The Lord Of The Rings: Battle Of Middle Earth )

SERGIO RONCHETTI

Composer, Sound Designer (Eldest Souls, 2021)

LEARN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO SUCCEED

Your course falls into six modules plus a final major project which lasts three months. Each module focuses on a different area of video game composition, while at the same time developing specific compositional, technical and business skills.

The first step to becoming adept with game music and audio is understanding its nonlinear nature and the implications of this for composers. In this module we will be discussing some of the fundamental techniques you will be expected to master, from creating seamless loops to writing to a brief.

The biggest challenge facing game music is technology. The rapidly shifting landscape of software and middleware means that technical requirements are a central part of the creation process for composers. In this module we will be training you in game audio middleware, as well as taking a look at other topics such as game engines.

Furthermore, in this module, we will be pushing you down the road of integration and exploring the possibilities of creating adaptive music assets in video games. We will be walking you through the technical and creative challenges with professional sound designers and composers. You will be introduced to using a game engine, navigating projects, implementing events, and creating adaptive music.

Both professional and academic research gathers relevant information from a wide range of sources before analysing, evaluating, synthesising, and drawing reasonable conclusions on the basis of that information. The research will be evaluated on the basis of its originality, depth of insight, and the quality of the supporting argument.

Research can constitute:

Professional research (i.e. further understanding gained from examining the professional output of other practitioners)
Academic research (i.e. further understanding gained from theoretical/historical/analytical activities)

We expect students to:

Analyse, synthesise, critically reflect, and build an argument
Use academic writing, including referencing and a bibliography

Here students will have the option of tailoring the course to their own needs. You can pick one module from the following:

Unreal and Blueprint
FMOD
Sampled Orchestration
Composition: Telling Stories
Musical Sound Design
Career Development for Musicians

For more information on these modules, click the button to download the Course Handbooks. Please note, the availability of MA elective modules may be subject to a minimum enrolment. The choice of electives is provisional and may be subject to change.

Composing music for media has come a long way since the golden age of film scoring. The orchestra remains a core tool within a composer’s toolkit, but the reality of contemporary media scoring is such that almost any sound is a potential addition to the sonic palette. “Hybrid scoring” is a term that is often used to describe blending the traditional orchestral score with a sound set that would not normally be part of the orchestra. It is this style of scoring that students will explore in this module, combining different genres and instrumentation, larger than life percussion, synthesis, musical sound design with the orchestra, which may well be processed in a hyper realistic way itself.

In order to achieve this creatively, students will gain an understanding of important technical techniques such as split recording sessions, recording soloists and advanced audio manipulation techniques.

This module provides students with not just a technical skill set, but also a way of thinking that encourages exploration, research, and the inevitable conclusion that almost anything is sonically possible when it comes to contemporary scoring.

In this Final Major Project, you should be highlighting all your best work. From composition to the technical implementation, we are looking to see how you can use what you have learned over your course into a single final project.

The final major project is a major piece of work that represents the culmination of creative, technical, and research skills acquired during the rest of the course. Students will be required to complete a full project from the provided list. This is a substantially longer piece of work than any other so far. It requires both solid technical skills and a much broader and deeper creative insight into the source material

You also have the option of completing a written dissertation if you prefer. The dissertation will represent your research into an area of music intended for or in relation to games. The dissertation is an extended piece of scholarly written work.

You will be asked to write an essay of 12,000 words (+/- 10%), including footnotes, but excluding bibliography. This is substantially longer than any of your other work so far. You will undertake the work as an individual, under the guidance of a supervisor, with whom you will meet regularly in one-to-one sessions.

UNSURE ABOUT STUDYING ONLINE?

Concerned about feeling disconnected or lacking individual attention from home? Don't worry. Our online music campus connects you with fellow students, industry alumni, tutors, and professionals across the globe. There's always someone to assist, offer advice, provide encouragement, or share work opportunities.

Discover what our degree alumni have to say about their connected experience with ThinkSpace, the friends they've made, and the networks they've built.

"I love the community. I've made friends for life and I look forward to working with many of them in the future."

FLEXIBLE Schedules TO FIT AROUND YOUR LIFE

We offer three different schedules so you can pick which best fits around your life. It is also possible to switch between these schedules at certain points during the degree, should you find that that you have more or less time available than you anticipated. You can also pause your degree altogether if life gets in the way.

Full time – 12 months (30 hours a week)

Part time – 24 months (15 hours a week)

Part time – 36 months* (8 hours a week)

Please note that these weekly hours are estimates based on previous years' students. It will vary from student to student, depending on your rate of work. These times estimates include every element of the course: live workshops, one-to-one tutorials, reading and watching the course materials, and time spent on assignment projects. (*36 month option not available to UK students on a postgraduate student loan)

Learn more about SCHEDULES

FinancING

Price for the whole degree:

£11,750

You will be invoiced in instalments at the start of each term. (For courses lasting longer than 12 months, please budget for an annual inflation linked increase on the remaining balance of fees, based on UK RPI, capped at 8%.)

UK and International students pay the same. For those paying in other currencies, the exact price is subject to exchange rate fluctuation.

STUDENT LOANS

In parts of the UK you can apply for the following student loans to cover postgraduate tuition:
- Up to £12,167 in England. More info
- Up to £18,770 in Wales. More info
- Up to £6,500 in Northern Ireland. More info

PAY-AS-YOU-LEARN OPTIONS

We offer interest-free payment plans, where you can spread the cost of your course across the duration of your studies. The payment plan you are on depends on the schedule you are on. You will be required to pay a deposit upon enrolling.

LEARN MORE ABOUT FINANCING

HELPING YOU SECURE YOUR FIRST ROLE

This degree not only equips you with the necessary skills for your desired career but also offers valuable assistance in securing a great job once you graduate. Our optional Employment Support Programme (ESP) is provided to graduates of this degree at no extra cost.

This bootcamp-style program helps you enhance your demo reel, refine your website, build your professional network, identify job prospects, and improve your pitching abilities. Through a combination of live workshops, video tutorials, and course materials, it provides you with the essential support, training, and motivation required to embark on the fulfilling career you deserve.

accredited by Arts University Bournemouth

Your degree is accredited and awarded by our academic partner, Arts University Bournemouth (AUB). Home to the prestigious Bournemouth Film School – whose alumni include film director Edgar Wright (Baby Driver) and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) – AUB is a public university on the south coast of England. Its history dates back to the 1880s.

AUB provide academic oversight across our degrees, which are subject to the same rigorous quality checks as degrees taught by all UK universities.

How to apply

To make an initial application you will need to fill out the application form, write a short cover letter and provide a few examples of your music / sound design. You will find a detailed explanation of the process on the applications page.

You do not require a high level of music theory for this course, just the ability to write great music and lots of potential.

Start your application

"Am I good enough?"

We are asked this question all the time and we’re happy to help and advise. Get in touch and we'll discuss your musical ambitions and ask for some examples of your work. Then we can tell you where you stand. Simply complete the form below, email us or call us on +44 (0)1243 256 049.

Frequently Asked Questions

For more FAQs, and more information please visit the Applications & FAQs, Student Finance and Study With ThinkSpace pages.

We expect you to have a competent knowledge of one Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). You need to be able to write music fluently and productively. Your demos should be of good quality and we are happy to listen to your music and give you an opinion on this before you apply. We anticipate students joining with flaws in their work, but we need you to have a strong starting point so we can help elevate you to a professional level.

This course encourages stylistic flexibility and we encourage students from all musical styles and genres to apply, whether you are writing orchestral music or not.

If you are unsure whether the music you're writing is suitable for the course, get in touch and send us your portfolio. We can discuss this with you and point you in the right direction if there is anything you should work on prior to applying.

You must have a reasonably powerful computer (Mac or PC) which can support your music writing workflow. We can advise you on this if you have questions, but as a guideline:

Minimum Requirements:

Intel/AMD quad-core 2.6GHz processor (or M1 for newer Macs)
16GB RAM (or more)
SSD drives to store your sample libraries/projects

Recommended Requirements:

Intel i7/AMD quad-core 3.2GHz processor (or M1 for newer Macs)
32GB RAM
SSD drives, or an M.2 Drive if you want something quicker but not necessary!

You will also need:

Monitoring headphones (or speakers if your room is suitable)
MIDI Keyboard
External Audio Interface

NOTE: There are currently compatibility issues with the new M1 and M2 macs with Unity and Wwise. Although there are workarounds at the time of writing this (October ‘23), there are still ongoing issues.

Students are advised to use Intel macs or a PC when working on implementation with Unity and Unreal. This restriction does not apply to music composition, just the implementation.

You will need a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) capable of importing video files and supporting timecode. Examples of DAWs that meet those criteria include:

Cubase/Nuendo 10 (or newer)
Logic Pro X
Reaper
Studio One
Digital Performer
Pro Tools

You must have the samples and plugins required to write your style of music. If you are using orchestral sample libraries they should be good quality. There are countless libraries on the market and many of them are capable of creating outstanding demos. Personally we recommend BBC Symphony Orchestra CORE but there are plenty of other options.

You will be working directly in game engines as well as using audio middleware. You will need access to this software but we do not expect you to know how to use them yet.

Unity (Game Engine)
Wwise (Middleware)

If you choose the relevant electives, you may also need:

Unreal Engine (Game Engine)
FMOD (Middleware)

The exact version number of this software is important, and the version we use in our assignments may change. Full information on the current approved course software version is available when on the course. You may need multiple versions of Unity which can be managed through their software - this is not uncommon in the games industry!

If you want to run your setup and workflow by us before you apply, we are happy to discuss this via email.

We understand that many students joining an online course like this will already have other commitments in life and need a certain degree of flexibility. Students joining this course can choose between one of three schedules - 1 year full time or 2-3 years part time. This will increase the amount of time you have to complete assignments, engage in webinars and work your way through the learning materials.

You are also able to take 'Intermission' which puts your studies on hold temporarily. You can do this for up to 2-years total over the duration of your studies. In case of emergencies, you can submit 'Mitigating Circumstances' forms to request an extension on a specific assignment.

Ideally, applicants will have completed an undergraduate degree before they apply. However, there is an option for those who do not have a degree, taking into account real-world work experience in related fields, and non-degree professional development courses. This Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is always assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The best way to know if you're eligible to apply is to reach out to us at postgraduate@thinkspace.ac.uk and we can discuss your options.

On successful completion of your course, you will be awarded a Master of Arts degree from the Arts University Bournemouth. The qualification is fully accredited in the UK (and recognised internationally) and is subject to regular quality control, review and external invigilation to ensure the highest academic standards are maintained. Your degree will list us as the 'Partner' that you studied your degree with.

have a question? contact us

Need some advice? Or just want to talk music? We’re always here to lend a professional ear.

postgraduate@thinkspace.ac.uk

+44 (0)1243 256049

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