BSc (Hons) Live Sound and Lighting Technology

Core modules studied in live sound and lighting technology alongside practice modules, develop students’ techniques and approaches using a range of sound technologies, as well as fostering professional and industrial contextual immersion and awareness, and experience with specialisms within connected audio and sound related fields. 

BSc (Hons) Live Sound and Lighting Technology sits within the overarching Music & Sound Technology Programme.  There are four-degree awards within this programme: BSc (Hons) Music Production, BSc (Hons) Music and Sound Design Technology, BSc (Hons) Audio Recording and Production, and BSc (Hons) Live Sound and Lighting Technology. All courses share the same ethos, and you’ll have opportunities to work alongside our music composition and music industry management students too, ensuring you benefit from teaching and experiences within a large community of musicians, composers, technologists and performers. 

Within the wider school of creative arts at UH, there are opportunities to collaborate with students from other creative areas, including animation and film and TV, allowing you to network with a broad range of creative industries.

Year 1

Live sound and lighting technology students learn the core principles and layout of our consoles, specifically our Midas Pro Series audio console and our Avolites lighting consoles. Live sound reinforcement is covered in detail, as is training your ear to enable you to dial into what makes a clean mix. In this first year you will also learn to patch, operate and programme our Avolites lighting consoles. 

In addition to your live sound pathway specific module, with our music and sound technology programme core modules you will also gain a solid grounding on a number of major DAW packages, as well as develop your creative and technical skills in mixing and effects processing, studio work and making your own virtual instruments.  In order to develop your technical knowledge of connected audio specialisms, you’ll investigate acoustics, psychoacoustics, audio and Midi protocols and a number of sound projection systems whilst also using lab time to develop an understanding of audio electronics through building your own synthesizer for your own creative output.  Music Business is also introduced where you’ll investigate various music business modules and contexts that connect what you are studying to the music industry. 

Year 2

In year 2 you’ll gain a solid understanding of sound signal routing and also look into the basics of system design (which is further honed, in year 3).  You’ll will develop mixing strategies using a broader range of consoles and also investigate advanced projection mapping systems and the requirements and practicalities of audio reinforcement from a broadcast perspective.  Event management projects, working alongside Audio Recording and Production students under the guise of event management will task you with supporting the delivery of large-scale live events, undertaking various lighting and sound technical roles. 

In addition to your live sound pathway specific module, music and sound technology core modules in year two place much focus on developing your critical ear, and getting your music out there, with detailed work on developing both mixing and mastering techniques, and approaches to digital distribution and delivery.  In addition, students continue to develop their deep understanding of microphones and sound signal routing, including network-based systems using our state of the art Rednet enabled facilities.  You will continue to hone your studio practice and understanding of the wider music industry.   

Year 3 

In much focus is placed around opportunities to work on more complex live sound and lighting events, as well as gaining a solid grounding in audio system design.  Drawing on the programmes’ industry accreditation links, students also engage with a defined real-life / live project within the area of (or relating to) live sound and lighting technology.  This is delivered and supported by sessions from a range of academic staff in addition to bespoke sessions from industry professionals who feed in external expertise, so as to support the realisation, process and achievement of the project as a whole.  Typical projects include large track count mixing, audio and media work, and as such create opportunities for students to test and validate their live sound and lighting skills to a typically externally defined industry brief, including delivering to specification, deadline and budget.  

By year 3, the vast majority of our students have already formed a number of professional connections, and students are able to make use of these and reflect on their approaches within a dedicated field project.  In addition, there is the final major project which under the supervision of a dedicated tutor allows you to specialize in your chosen area. 

UCAS points	A Level	BTEC
104-112	BCC-BBC	MMM-DMM

IB requirement: 104-112 UCAS points.

Access course: Diploma with 45 level 3 credits at merit.

All students from non-majority English speaking countries require proof of English language proficiency, equivalent to an overall IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each band.

You can expect to develop a career in hardware / software system specification, or in technical roles within the music and sound industry. These typically include live sound reinforcement, mixing, recording and engineering, installations at live events, as well as lighting and projection mapping.  Our graduates can be found in many places within the live events industries. 

 “I’ve been involved with working on various stages at various music festivals throughout UK (Secret Garden Party, Wilkestock), providing audio video and lighting for corporate events, sound system installations, lighting design, visual content and video mapping creation, creative installation production and implementation, automation (QLab), sound design and lighting for immersive experiences (haunted house immersive experience Resident Evil).  “I love my job – it’s hectic, rewarding and always changing” 

Viktorija Sevalkaityte – recent graduate - freelancing with Vortex Events. 

“It's a lot of fun since the setup and size of it changes almost on a daily basis.   One day I might be working with a 5-man performance with only a couple of mics, the next day it's 15 people on stage + percussion section + band, moving stages etc. It's very unpredictable, fast-paced, and hours can be tiring sometimes (well, most of the time), but I do get to see the best performances from all over and it never gets boring as the problems and solutions we deal with require some ingenuity.” 

David Soblinskas – recent graduate - Sound engineer for the National Theatre and State Musical Theatre in Kaunas, Lithuania. 

Each year, former students return and talk to our current students about their employed roles and how their degree has been beneficial. 

Whilst a number of our students go one to work for established companies, there are always a number who set themselves up independently, developing their own business.