Sound that meets the eye
Explore and define your own creative voice whilst building a rewarding career as a music producer, sound designer and audio creative in the film, TV and media industries.
The Music and Sound Design for Visual Media programme is the latest addition to our audio production courses, providing a focused pathway into the fields of audio production and creative sound design for the film and media industries.
Build an original portfolio through opportunities to produce sound and music for live projects and films as well as writing and recording sound components for film scores, interactive installations, video games, audio libraries and more. Your creative journey will unfold whilst working in historic and vintage studios and through close collaboration with our film, music, visual effects and acting students.
From practical workshops in sequencing and sampling to studio recording, mixing, linear and non-linear composition and more, throughout this hands-on programme you’ll be mastering the technical skills required for a musical concept to take form. Through close collaboration with creative practitioners of varying disciplines, you will expand your understanding of the creative role and influence of sound in any project brief or collaboration.
Guided by a team of industry experts, your time at Catalyst will give you a solid portfolio of original and creative work along with a thriving network of fellow creative practitioners.
Certificate & Bachelors Degree Courses
Our flagship courses focus on 'hands on' reflective practice, collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking.
HE Certificate
Length: 1 Year
Start: September 2023
Develop your creative voice as you explore the principles of sound design, audio production and music composition for Film, TV and emerging audiovisual storytelling formats.
BA (Hons) Bachelor Degree
Length: 3 Years
Start: September 2023
Explore and define your creative voice as a sound designer, audio specialist, and music-making practitioner for film, TV, animation, games, apps, VR and other immersive multimedia formats.
Join a thriving industry
The programme prepares you for the demands of the film and TV industries and provides you with the skills to navigate opportunities in emerging audiovisual and interactive technologies. Traditional linear multimedia formats, such as film, tv and animation, require music compositions from beginning to end. Non-linear multimedias formats, on the other hand, require both expansive and fluid audio solutions. These outcomes can be used in games, VR, apps and other web-based technologies.
Whether scoring for animations or designing audio for 3D environments, this specialist programme will give you the knowledge, skills and experience required to work as a sound designer and music maker for any traditional or contemporary media format.
As well as fostering your creativity in a focused and hands-on way, our Music and Sound Design for Visual Media programme will provide you with skills and resilience needed to overcome the challenges of an industry undergoing radical change.
A radical change that you will be part of.
Our facilities
You bring the ideas, we bring the tools. Throughout the course you’ll be challenged over and over again with creative briefs and interdisciplinary projects that will require you to think creatively to develop quality sound and music solutions that meet the demands and expectations of any project at hand.
In our dedicated music and film production studios at Funkhaus you’ll find all the industry-standard gear and software that you'll need at your fingertips. From classical and electronic music instruments, to sound recording gear, to mixing and mastering consoles, you’ll have access to countless possibilities to create new and original sounds and approaches to sound design in a professional music studio environment.
The sound of collaboration
Music and Sound Design for Visual Media presents a unique opportunity to work with a community of fellow like-minded students and creatives, with the guidance and support of a tutor team of industry specialists and practising artists.
Stretch your capabilities as a sound designer, music composer and audio specialist by learning how to work with others to make small and big ideas come to life. Become an active member of a well-established community, through projects that will see you working directly with students and alumni from all our learning programmes.
Develop the interpersonal skills required to work in both commercial and self-created environments. From giving and receiving feedback, to pitching concepts or negotiating creative directions, our curriculum is designed to give you the tools and confidence needed to hone your creative uniqueness whilst collaborating and exchanging professionally with fellow creatives and clients.
The scene is set for you to delve deeply into the world of audiovisual storytelling and to discover which area of the vast industry you are most drawn to.
Is sound design and music composition for me?
You should be interested in some or all of the following:
- Creating stories with sound
- Composing and producing music using a DAW
- How sound and music for films and tv are created
- Understanding how sound for gaming and 3D worlds is created
- The creative process behind media productions
- Feeling positively challenged and inspired through creative project briefs
- Understanding the impact of sound in any medium
- Audio engineering and production
- Connecting professionally with the audio production and media industries
- Building a comprehensive knowledge of industry standard tools and techniques
- Building a career in the international film, music, media, gaming and wider creative industries
- Learning by doing and gaining hands-on experience applicable to real-life work
- Joining a progressive learning community supported by a dedicated team of experienced facilitators
- Living and working in Berlin, the most exciting city on the planet for music makers
- Collaborating with a community of like minded people from over 70 different countries
Project-based learning
You won’t find any “traditional” classrooms, homework, lectures or tests here. Instead, from day one, you’ll be working on a broad range of projects in tandem with other motivated creatives and tasked with producing and delivering sound and music solutions under challenging creative, technical and logistical constraints.
A bedrock of support
It might be harder than it sounds but don’t worry - we’re here for you. You’ll be supported by our staff of industry professional tutors running hands-on workshops on everything from mic technique to mix engineering to mastering and much more. You’ll also play, listen and critique your work and the work of others in our listening workshops.