Studio Production Techniques - MUS00111M
Module summary
Recording live performances and mixing or remixing in professional studio environments have shaped the history, culture, and sound of popular music production. This module gives you access to the space, equipment, and expertise to develop your skills across the full studio production chain:from live tracking through to mixing and remixing. Working with SSL consoles alongside digital audio workstations, you will explore hybrid analogue/digital workflows and learn to transfer the principles and practices of console-based mixing into contemporary production contexts.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2026-27 |
Module aims
This module teaches you how to produce live studio performances from soundcheck to mastering, throughtracking, editingand mixing. It also presents approaches to remixing that reinterpret and repackage source material. The emphasis is placed on instrument and microphone placement in the performance space, and on signal processing, mixing, and remixing techniques in the studio to achieve a desired sound quality and create new sonic worlds.
You will learn through a combination of workshops with live performers, seminars in the Rymer Auditorium with a high-quality monitoring system, and hands-on inductions on SSL consoles in small groups. You will be offered the opportunity to receive feedback from optional mixing tasks before completing the final assessment, which requires you to produce a track based on live studio performances and a remix drawing on sound material and musical features from the original.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module you should be able to:
-
produce recordings and mixes of live studio performances that meet professional audio standards
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demonstrate ability to use the School’s recording facilities, including SSL consoles
-
re-purpose existing material via appropriate processing and editing to create remixes
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complete music production projects from planning to distribution-ready master
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identify, analyse, and describe recording and production techniques for a range of popular music genres within their historical and sociocultural contexts
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
This assessment is formed of two components:
70% Production of a music work (3-5 min) based on live studio performances with accompanying commentary (800 words) with at least 3 live instruments that include vocals and a drum kit or percussion set.
30% Remix of the production (3-5 min) with accompanying commentary (500 words).
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100.0 |
Module feedback
You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times.
Indicative reading
Bourbon, Andrew, and Simon Zagorski-Thomas, eds. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music Production. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
Johns, Glyn. Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits with the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, Eric Clapton, the Faces. New York: Blue Rider Press, 2014.
Massy, Sylvia, and Chris Johnson. Recording Unhinged: Creative and Unconventional Music Recording Techniques. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard, 2016.
Oltheten, Wessel. Mixing with Impact: Learning to Make Musical Choices. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Secret DJ, The. The Secret DJ. London: Faber & Faber, 2018.
Secret DJ, The. The Secret DJ, Book 2. London: Velocity Press, 2020.
Senior, Mike. Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio. Burlington, MA: Focal Press, 2011.