Music and Sound Design for Visual Media HE Certificate

You’ll be challenged on a regular basis to provide creative and technical sound and music solutions for diverse media productions, from short film scores, theatre sounds, to newer storytelling technologies. 

Our workshops and seminars covering everything, including: studio recording, mixing principles, composition and arrangement, sound design and storytelling are designed to help you grow a professional and creative toolkit that will enable you to: 

• Understand the audio production and media industries with specific reference to self-production, autonomy, entrepreneurship, marketing and enterprise
• Effectively identify and utilise suitable software and hardware tools for a specified brief
• Develop a critical perspective of the broader field of creative sound and music practice as well as its relationship with media culture
• Understand the impact of specific technologies on the music composition, production and sound engineering process
• Know how to plan, develop and problem-solve in both academic and practice-led projects
• Learn how to balance personal aesthetics with the requirements of an external client/collaborator
• Make your first steps towards a career in the film and media industry

More details on workshops and course structure coming soon.

The media industry never ceases to evolve and reinvent itself. We aim to provide you with an education that enables you to either be a change maker or to be capable of adapting and staying at the forefront of this change.

The last 30 years have seen unprecedented growth in the audio and music for media sector with the proliferation of the gaming industry, accelerated production needs for the film/TV and social media industries, as well as the expansion of app and mobile based technologies that require creative audio solutions.

There is growing demand for creative practitioners that are able to adapt to the shifting formats and technologies, from AAA games to indie film developments. Roles with permanent contracts do still exist but it is much more likely that you will work either as a freelancer or as part of a small startup on your way to professional creative autonomy.

Our programme has been designed to give you broad yet relevant experience in a number of specific industries for you to progress into your chosen area of interest.

Here are just a few of the fields you can aspire to after completing our 1-year HE certificate course: 

• Music Composition for film
• Film scoring and arrangement
• Game sound composer / arranger
• Web audio
• Audio app development
• Interactive / installation art

Your initial progression choice will be whether to make your first foray into the music industry or to continue your development in the second and third year of our Music and Sound Design for Visual Media Bachelor's degree course.

There is no right and wrong answer here. It will depend on the skillset you have already developed and what you are planning to do in the music industry.

Your success in either depends entirely on you – what you bring, your approach, and the grit, passion and sheer determination with which you take the next course or start your first project in the music industry.

However you measure it and whatever artistic realm you are working in, most creatives would like to achieve success with their creative endeavour. There are many types of success an individual may want to achieve. From successful completion of an artistic exploration all the way through to financial security and a global audience. 

There are many skills required to develop these dreams into real and practical futures. Our optional course in self-development and leadership is the ‘rocket fuel’ which will provide you with the frameworks, the focus and the drive to help realise your future.

Self development to better understand how to take decisive action, to communicate powerfully with others and take an honest look at how you limit yourself. Leadership to complete your creative project, to bring your work into the external world and to attract an audience to share, appreciate and follow your work. 

This is a brand new course which Catalyst will run for the first time in 2023-24. If you see this message, it means that we are still in the process of accrediting it with our university partner (Plymouth Marjon University), which awards the degrees and certificates that our graduates receive after completing their studies with us.

How does this affect you? After the course is accredited, we will register it with the Berlin Senate, so that students enrolled on it are eligible to apply for funding or a student visa in Germany. If you would need a student visa to live in Berlin for the duration of your studies, then we recommend that you wait until this course is formally approved by the Senate before beginning your visa application. 

We expect this to be finalised by April 2023. In the meantime, you can still submit an application to study with us and we will contact you by email as soon as we receive official accreditation and Senate approval. In our 10 years in Berlin, all of our Bachelor and Master degree courses have been successfully validated within the same framework.

All applicants will be asked to provide: personal and educational information, documentation of their education experience, a portfolio or audition tape, and a personal introduction (which can be submitted as a written statement of motivation or a video/audio clip). 

MINIMUM ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

- Standard entry: graduation from high school at a level which would normally permit entry to university in the country where it was gained. This would be A-Levels in the UK and the Abitur in Germany, for example.

- Non-standard entry: We recognise that not all education happens in the classroom and it may be possible to admit you through a non-standard access route. If you do not possess the required formal qualification, but have acquired relevant professional or life experience, please contact our Admissions team.

If neither of the two categories above describe your situation, you'll most likely need to complete a short course to gain access to our 1 and 3-year HE degree courses.

LANGUAGE 

The language of instruction in all our courses is English and applicants must demonstrate a level equal to IELTS 6. We do not ask for official exam results, but we will assess the standard of English in your application and support materials.

For more information please contact our Admissions team and we’d be happy to discuss your opportunities to come study with us.

Course start: mid-September 2023

Application deadlines

• Round 1 - International (non-EU) and EU students - 31 March, 2023*
  * Non-EU students will need to apply for a student visa to live in Germany. The application process for this takes several months and you can only begin this process after you have been offered a place and enrolled on the course.
• Final deadline - EU students only - 31 May 2023

We offer two ways to pay:

• Single Payment Option:
  Enrolment Fee* €895 + Tuition Fee €9,855 = €10,750 per year
  Single payment tuition fee - August 1st deadline
• Instalment Payment Option:
  Enrolment Fee* €895 + Tuition Fee 10 instalments x €1,085.50 = €11,750 per year
  Monthly instalment plan from August 1st - May 1st

* Note- Enrolment fee is non-refundable. It is due every year as part of the total annual fee.

If you decide to enrol in both a 4-week short course and HE degree course (1 or 3-years long) with us, you will receive a discount of 500€ on the total tuition.

Get a feel for our school from the comfort of your home with our Virtual Open Days and skill-focussed Taster Workshops.

Hosted by our team and students, these online events will give you a sense of what it's like to come and study with us in Berlin.

We look forward to meeting you online soon!