Since 1994, the University of Stavanger Department of Music and Dance has offered a one-year graduate program in Music Production and Recording. The 60 ECTS credit program emphasizes the recording of music performance in acoustic spaces and provides practical opportunities for advanced students to enhance their audio education and experience. The program encourages students to work with a variety of music genre and can function as a viable alternative to a traditional, music recording internship.
The fulltime program of study is designed to supplement 3-4 years of higher education (bachelor’s degree) in music or a relevant field. Applicants must document previous education and related experience, including music proficiency. The program is limited to a maximum of ten qualified participants per year. International students, including ERASMUS exchange students, are welcome and encouraged to apply. All instruction is in English, and this has allowed the department to host students from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America, as well as those from Scandinavia.
Music Production and Recording at UiS provides students with opportunities to expand their musical and technical knowledge. As participants have different backgrounds, elements of the program can be modified to allow for specialization based on individual student’s personal interests. As practical exercises are emphasized, all students have generous amounts of individual studio time.
The program is completed in one academic year, beginning in mid-August and ending in mid-June. Instruction is given throughout the two-semester year, with much of the second semester focusing on practical music production and research projects. MPR students are required to complete a variety of live and studio productions and present a combination of papers and projects in music production/recording and critical listening for final evaluation.
The program includes group lectures, individual and small group instruction, study tours, and group projects. Cooperative projects frequently involve the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the NuMusic Festival, the Siddis Brass Festival, the Mai-Jazz International Jazz Festival, the Shell Music Prize Competition, the Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival, Nordic Music Week, and other professional music events.
The Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound shares the same campus as the MPR program and often provides unique research and work-study opportunities for students interested in audio archiving, restoration, and digitization.
Several acoustic environments for music recording are available for projects. The Lille Konsertsal (Small Concert Hall) was originally used by the Norwegian Broadcasting Company for recording the Stavanger Radio Symphony Orchestra. A smaller auditorium is available for solo and small ensemble recordings. A church simulation hall houses an 8-voice pipe organ and is used for performances requiring exceptionally “live” acoustics.
The Stavanger Concert House is often used for recording the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and other ensembles. Professional recording studios are linked to the various spaces, allowing students to compare acoustic environments along with analogue and digital production methods and technology. A new Stavanger Concert House with two halls will open in 2012, and the MPR students will be among the first to work in these performance spaces.
The MPR program’s latest studio is equipped for multi-channel surround recording, mixing, and mastering. The studio is based around a Yamaha DM2000 v.2 mixing console, a variety of popular digital audio workstation software, and a Genelec monitoring system. An additional control room is used for pre-production, editing, premastering, format transfer, and duplication. A variety of portable equipment is available for remote recording, as students frequently record in other regional venues.
MPR students are encouraged to participate in excursions to professional audio conventions within Norway and the rest of Europe, including the annual Audio Engineering Society conventions and the Nordic Sound Symposium. The MPR program is a member of the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services, and students have earlier benefited from travel grants from SPARS. In addition to visiting studios in the Stavanger area, students have travelled to Abbey Road in London and to the Norwegian Broadcasting Company studios, Lindberg Lyd, Rainbow Studio, Propeller Studio, NoTAM, and others in Oslo.
A year at the University of Stavanger will expand your knowledge of music production and recording, broaden your horizons, and change your life! The annual deadline for applications is December 15th, and all are encouraged to apply promptly. The program’s online application is active starting October 1st and is found at www.uis.no/music
Other undergraduate and graduate programs offered by the University of Stavanger’s Department of Music and Dance include classical and jazz performance, chamber music, arranging and composition, conducting, and dance. For more information about our project partners, as well as the University of Stavanger and Norway in general, please browse these websites:
If you have any questions, please contact the program’s director, [email protected].
Posted: Friday, November 18, 2011
