MA Composition/Music Theory | Audio Design

Learning outcomes

Our program offers comprehensive guidance with electronic music projects, supporting students from idea to completion with excellent production opportunities at the Electronic Studio Basel. Through a variety of tailor-made modules, we foster an environment that encourages individual expression and actively promotes innovation and authenticity in every project.
We further advance students’ development by preparing them for real-world scenarios in the arts and music industry, through direct interactions with field experts and possibilities of showing their work on and off the campus.
By enabling collaboration within the sonic space surrounding (Performance, Composition, Open Creation, Research), we aim to inspire collaborative and interdisciplinary creation and provide students with a possibility to broaden their perspective.

Holders of a FHNW Master of Arts in Composition/Music Theory with an Audio Design Major should be able to carry out the following activities to the highest professional standard:

• compose, produce, perform electronic music;
• perform electronic music, in particular deliver live performances of electronic music in the context of concerts, installations etc.;
• compose and design film/video audio tracks (incl. music, sound effects, speech);
• devise, design and develop sound installations, electronic game interfaces and interactive environments;
• record and produce any genre of music in a professional recording studio;
• devise and develop music software to generate, transform and analyse sound.

Career prospects

Future fields of work are wide-ranging and include the independent arts scene, theatre (drama, dance theatre, physical theatre), radio, TV and new media (layout/advertising), hard- and software development, teaching and further education.

Target audience

The FHNW Master of Arts in Composition/Music Theory with an Audio Design Major is aimed at holders of a Bachelor degree in sound design, electronic music, composition or equivalent qualification.

What is the content of the Master in Audiodesign? What does studying at ESB mean?

Studying Audio Design at Electronic Studio Basel: Jaka Arh (Alumnus)

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The FHNW Master of Arts in Composition/Music Theory with an Audio Design Major offers students the possibility to specialise in one of three fields:

• electro-acoustic composition/ live performance / sound and media installation / performance of electroacoustic music
• recording/production
• audio design & software development

Specials:

• Eduard Brunner Composition Aware:
  Every year, one of our students is awarded a composition prize worth CHF 5,000 as part of an internal sonic space basel competition.
• Annual artistic collaboration with a college/university outside Switzerland

Modules and Regelementes

The BA and MA degree programs at the Basel Academy of Music are based on modules.

The legally binding structure provides an initial guide to the content and weighting of the subjects on the degree program.
The detailed content and modalities of the individual subjects can be found in the module descriptions.
The study regulations come into force together with the study and examination regulations of the Basel Academy of Music FHNW and form the legal framework.

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Prof. Uli Fussenegger

Leitung und Koordination sonic space basel: Komposition, Musiktheorie und Audiodesign, Open Creation, Zeitgenössische Musik und Neue Musiktheorie

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‍Svetlana Maraš

Lecturer for Creative Music Technology / Co-Director of the Electronic Studio Basel

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Volker Böhm‍

Lecturer for Audiodesign / Co-Director of the Electronic Studio Basel

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Dozierende Audiodesign

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Dozierende Klassik

Unsere international renommierten Dozierenden auf einen Blick.

Dozierende Klassik

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Admission criteria

‍In order to enter the FHNW Master of Arts in Composition/Music Theory programme with an Audio Design Major, applicants must be awarded a Bachelor in Audio Design or equivalent as well as they must have passed the entrance exam and were offered a free place at the Academy (limited places). Applicants who have submitted all the necessary registration documents in time will be invited to the online entrance exam by mail and online meeting. For further information on the admission criteria, please see the Study regulation of the Master of Arts FHNW in Composition/Music Theory.

Required skills

• Good skills in recording, producing and sound technology
• Good in handling diverse editing software (ProTools, Logic, Nuendo etc.)
• Basic knowledge about an audio programming environment (PD, Max/MSP, Supercollider or Csound)

Language skills

‍We expect students to have very good German language skills at the beginning of the studies. Students who are not German native speakers must present a B1 German language certificate according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) at the beginning of the studies.
This certificate must be complete, i.e. all modules (reading, listening, writing, speaking) have been tested separately and passed at least at level B1 overall. Only certificates that have been certified with the ALTE-Q-Mark seal of approval (e.g. the B1 certificate of the Goethe-Institut or the telc certificate) are accepted. The required certificate B1 must be submitted with the confirmation of admission but not later than Mai 31.
Exceptions will be decided upon by the head of degree programme.

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sonic space basel

sonic space basel is a Platform of Basel Academy of Music for Audio Design (BA and MA), Composition (BA and MA and MA SP), MA SP Contemporary Music, BA Music Theory Major, MA MP Music Theory, MA SP New Music Theory, MA SP Open Creation and Research.
We consider ourselves a laboratory, a communication tool and an information hub for contemporary music.

Projects / Ensembles

At Hochschule für Musik Basel, students have the opportunity to participate in various project and ensemble programmes.
To the overview of the recurring offers.

Quicklinks

• Welcome: A brief overview
• Studying in Switzerland
• Tuition fees & Financing
• Scholarship
• Module descriptions

Files and Regulations

• Dates Entrance Exam on Site
• List of works for Entrance Exam
• Study Regulations
• Semester dates