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POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE

Creative Music Production

Flexible online study with personal tuition

8-month part-time course

Accepting applications for Sep 2024 start. Apply now

This Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Music Production is designed to give you the skills to take your music production and composition skills up to a professional standard, in a shorter timeframe than a full Masters degree.

You will cover three core skill areas needed by musicians and artists of all genres – songwriting and composition, music production, and mixing and mastering.

As a student on this certificate qualification, you will have access to many of the same resources as our Masters degrees student, including tuition from world-class working professionals, regular one-to-one tutorials, live webinars, and lifetime access to your course materials.

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RAISE YOUR CREATIVE AND TECHNICAL SKILLS

This Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) will help you level up your music production and songwriting skills, and cover the core skills delivered on our full MA Creative Music Production course.

You’ll study with world-class professionals: musicians, producers, artists and songwriters – and we’ll help take your music to a new level.

The course is designed to do two main things:

To raise the creative and technical quality of your tracks, with a focus on three main subject areas of composition, production, and mixing & mastering. You'll work on the application of music theory in a way that's relevant to you, and create tracks ready for the market.
To teach you to become more critically self-aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your own music and to collaborate with and exchange constructive criticism with other musicians, composers and songwriters.

We call this process reflect and refresh, a cycle of innovation and constant improvement that is familiar to all at the forefront of the industry.

TAUGHT BY working INDUStry PROFESSIONALS

Our teaching staff and mentors are all current working professionals, many involved at the highest level in the business.

We have access to a vast pool of talent from all over the world, so you can speak with tutors and gain insights from all areas of the music industry regardless of where they, or you, are based.

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. These are the people actually doing the teaching, and does not include guest lecturers.

How It Works

PHIL LARSEN

Producer, Mixer, Remixer (Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Moby)

ELLA WALKER

Songwriter (Michael Kiwanuka, Danger Mouse, RHODES)

BILLY DECKER

Country Producer & Mixer (Billy Ray Cyrus, Sam Hunt, Chris Young)

IRWIN SPARKES

Songwriter (The Hoosiers, White Tail Falls)

CHRIS ROCKALL

Music Marketing & Promotion (Island Records, Universal/Motown)

ANNA OTTRDIGE

Songwriter & Multi-Instrumentalist (Heard on Radio 1, Radio 6, 1xtra)

COURSE BREAKDOWN

This module sets the foundation upon which the rest of the course is built. It will introduce students to a new methodology of critical thinking with regards to their musical goals and how to achieve them through a process of consistent reflection, research, analysis, repetition and improvement.

In the modern world of music technology, it has never been easier to access such a wide palette of sounds. Why is it then, that so much music sounds so alike and, therefore, lacks the uniqueness that often leads to something greater? Easy access to “presets” is one of the reasons that this occurs. In commercial music, success and longevity can often be attributed to innovation and individuality. Thinking about the use and creation of new sounds and textures will encourage students to embrace a world of possibilities that sets them apart from others.

Writing great music is not the only hurdle that students must face on the path to creating professional quality music. Delivering a polished final mix is an essential part in presenting music at its best. In many genres, particularly electronic music, mixing and production is inextricable from the composition and arrangement itself. This is an incredibly important skill for any professional wishing to compete in commercial music.

a schedule that fits around your life

This course is delivered over 8 months, but is built as a part-time schedule, meaning you do not need to compromise on your working life to complete this certificate.

The weekly workload will vary from student to student. We estimate anytime between 5 to 15 hours per week, depending on your rate of work and the strength of your skills when you first join. This time estimate includes every element of the course: live workshops, one-to-one tutorials, reading and watching the course materials, and time spent on assignment projects.

FinancING

Price for the whole degree:

£3,950

You will be invoiced in two instalments at the start of each of your two terms.

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

PAY-AS-YOU-LEARN

We offer interest-free payment plans, where you can spread the cost of your course across the duration of your studies.

STUDENT LOANS

UK student loans are not available on a Postgraduate Certificate qualification, only on full Masters degrees (MA and MFA).

LEARN MORE ABOUT FINANCING

Unsure about studying online with ThinkSpace?

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."

accredited by Arts University Bournemouth

Your Postgraduate Certificate 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 and academic qualifcations, 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 or sound design.

Start your application

"Am I good enough?"

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. 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.

We recommend booking a one-to-one chat with one of our course advisors. As ThinkSpace Masters graduates themselves, then can take al listen to some of your work and tell you where you stand.

BOOK A ONE-TO-ONE

INTERESTED? FIND OUT MORE

REGISTER FOR MORE INFORMATION

Register below to recieve further information by email, and get notified about upcoming online Open Days, events and deadlines.

Have a question? We'd love to hear from you.

postgraduate@thinkspace.ac.uk

+44 (0)1243 256049 (UK-based number)

SCHEDULE A CHAT WITH A COURSE ADVISOR

We recommend booking an informal audio or video chat with one of our friendly course advisors. You can discuss your goals and time commitments, and learn about your different options for subjects, schedules and financing.

They can also review some examples of your music and let you know if you're ready for a Masters. If you're not quite there yet, they'll suggest some practical next steps.

BOOK A ONE-TO-ONE

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.

Being a songwriting and music production course, we are aware that you will all be working with a variety of different workflows, genres, styles, and instrumental skills. We aim to support as many different styles of music as possible. 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.

Both a Postgraduate Certificate and a Master of Arts degree are considered Postgraduate qualification, but of different levels. A Postgraduate Certificate is roughly 1/3 the amount of work compared to the full Masters, but you will still cover the core skills taught on the full Masters.

This is a great option for those of you looking to get qualified without a large time and financial commitment. If you decide you want to complete the full MA qualification after starting the Postgraduate Certificate, this is an option too.

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 may also need:

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

You will need a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). We are able to provide extensive support for:

Cubase 10 (or newer)
Logic Pro X
Reaper
Ableton Live
Studio One
FL Studio
Digital Performer

For this course the range of appropriate DAWs is very wide and as long as it allows you to write, produce, mix and export music to a high quality, you can work with the DAW of your choice.

You must have the samples and plugins required to write your style of music. There are countless libraries and plugins used to create high quality tracks, but if you want to run your setup and workflow by us before you apply we are happy to discuss this via email.

Whilst schedules over different periods of time are not available on this Postgraduate Certificate, the course is still flexible in the sense that you can work on your studies as and when you're available. You will not be required to attend mandatory live events – all live events are recorded, and 1-to-1s can be booked directly with your tutors to find a time best suited to you both.

The goal of this course is to enable you to gain the skills you need without big sacrifices to your day-to-day life.

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.

Related Masters degrees

MFA MUSIC PRODUCTION AND MEDIA COMPOSITION

This course will train and prepare you for a career as a media composer or contemporary artist, focussing on the creative and technical skills required to thrive in both industries. You will cover the skills taught in both our MA Creative Music Production and MA Professional Media Composition degrees.

MFA MUSIC PRODUCTION AND ORCHESTRATION

The orchestra can always be found in the world of commercial music in some form and can be used to great effect. This program will give you the contemporary songwriting and production skills you need to build a strong career, and also the technical and creative skills required to utilise the full capabilities of an orchestral ensemble.

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