Audio Design

Our program offers comprehensive guidance, supporting students from idea to completion with excellent production opportunities at the Electronic Studio. Through a variety of tailor-made classes, we foster an environment that encourages individual expression and actively promotes innovation and authenticity in every project.
We further advance students’ development by preparing them for real-world experiences in the arts or music industry, through direct interactions with field experts and possibilities of showing their work on and off the campus.
By enabling collaboration within the sonic space surrounding - Performance, Composition, Open Creation, we aim to inspire interdisciplinary creation and provide students with a possibility to broaden their perspective.

Holders of a FHNW Master of Arts in Composition/Music Theory with an Audio Design Major should be able to carry out the following activities to the highest professional standard:

• compose, produce, perform electronic music;
• perform electronic music, in particular deliver live performances of electronic music in the context of concerts, installations etc.;
• compose and design film/video audio tracks (incl. music, sound effects, speech);
• devise, design and develop sound installations, electronic game interfaces and interactive environments;
• record and produce any genre of music in a professional recording studio;
• devise and develop music software to generate, transform and analyse sound.

The FHNW Master of Arts in Composition/Music Theory with an Audio Design Major is aimed at holders of a Bachelor degree in sound design, electronic music, composition or equivalent qualification.

Future fields of work are wide-ranging and include the independent arts scene, theatre (drama, dance theatre, physical theatre), radio and TV (layout/advertising), software development, teaching and further education.

Structure MA Composition/Music Theory Major Audiodesign  in German

Below please find the link with all the information on the module descriptions of several FHNW universities.

• At the top right, switch the language settings to English.
• At the bottom right, filter by semester, Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW, the desired degree programme or other criteria to display the relevant module information.
• Use the PDF button at the top left to call up a document from each overview and save it for yourself.
• Course registrations are made via the intranet.

Admission criteria
In order to enter the FHNW Master of Arts in Composition/Music Theory programme with an Audio Design Major, applicants must be awarded a Bachelor in Audio Design or equivalent as well as they must have passed the entrance exam and were offered a free place at the Academy (limited places). Applicants who have submitted all the necessary registration documents in time will be invited to the online entrance exam by mail and online meeting. For further information on the admission criteria, please see the Studienreglement of the Master of Arts FHNW in Composition/Music Theory.

Required skills

• Good skills in recording, producing and sound technology
• Good in handling diverse editing software (ProTools, Logic, Nuendo etc.)
• Basic knowledge about an audio programming environment (PD, Max/MSP, Supercollider or Csound)

Language skills
We expect students to have very good German language skills at the beginning of the studies. Students who are not German native speakers must present a B1 German language certificate according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) at the beginning of the studies.

Entrance exam
The entrance exam consists of several parts.

Procedure
Practical exam 1 (arrange a given assignment)
On the day before the entrance exam, the candidates receive an assignment by mail which they complete at their studio/ at work and return the results after four hours (e.g. by Google drive, Dropbox, one drive, etc.).
Practical exam 2
The next day: Live meeting on-site with the candidate and the jury. In addition, the candidates prepare a presentation of approx. ten minutes of a finalized project.

Dates
The entrance exam by mail and on-site will take place at the end of April. The exact dates may be seen here.

Registration
You may apply between 15th December and 15th February.
Along with the registration, it is mandatory to submit the following documents:

• A curriculum vitae, a motivational letter, the school leaving qualification, the Bachelor Diploma.
• In case that the applicant already holds a Master Diploma, we also need a copy of that. Please add a description to the registration about two projects which you want to acquire during the study course.
• Record a video of a prepared piece and upload it onto Youtube and add the link to your motivational letter/personal statement.

Please upload the video onto YouTube and add the link in the registration tool.

Announcement of the results
The results will be communicated by mail in May.

At Hochschule für Musik Basel, students have the opportunity to participate in various project and ensemble programmes.
To the overview of the recurring offers.

• Welcome: A brief overview
  
• Studying in Switzerland
  
• Tuition fees & Financing
  
• Scholarship
  
• Module descriptions
  

• Dates Entrance Exam on Site
  
• List of works for Entrance Exam
  
• Study Regulations
  
• Semester dates