Master’s Program in Applied Composition to Audiovisual Media

Objectives

The Master’s Degree in Artistic Education in Composition applied to audio-visual and scenic production is specifically designed to provide the students everything necessary to develop themselves in the professional field of the composition of narrative music for cinema, video games, multimedia shows, theater, and dance. It is one of the most attractive and competitive specializations in the music profession.  The degree aims to develop the student’s abilities to compose music adapted to different styles, without sacrificing the creativity and personal originality, assimilating a global knowledge of narrative determinants. The music is at the service of the dramatic action, using the specific codes of each genre.

Students with training and composition experience, with creativity and the ability to adapt quickly to different contexts, are the ideal candidates for this Master’s Degree. The student, to make the most of the program, needs to be able to express –in a clear and effective way– the ideas through music notation, the ability to convey the essence of a dramatic situation, and the energy and discipline to work under pressure.

Degree:	Official Master’s Degree (accreditation– Boletín Oficial del Estado)
Calendar:	October – May
Language:	English/Spanish/Catalan
Venue:	Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona
Pre-registration 1st period:	From February 1 th  to May 15th  (students interested in the announcement of Scholarships, they must pre-enroll during this period)
Pre-registration 2nd period:	From May 16th  to September 15th
Tuition Fee:	6.500€

Curriculum

The Curriculum of the degree has a defined professional orientation, combining intensive seminar-type sessions (designed to provide conceptual, contextual and theoretical training) with progressive accumulation of practical experience in a wide range of compositional languages. Students will work with the reference software for the audiovisual industry (sequencers, music notation, and post-production) and will receive tutorials and practical experience in orchestration and arrangements, either for real acoustic instruments, as well as sound libraries.

The methodology of the course focuses on the practical application, in specific narrative and technological contexts, regarding the knowledge and the skills acquired. The program includes the following elements:

• Intensive teaching, at the beginning of the Master’s Degree, in concepts and contexts, to establish –quickly and efficiently– the theoretical and aesthetic foundations of the applied composition.
• Analysis of the dramaturgy and narrative grammar, to develop the ability to identify the most appropriate music response in each context.
• Composition and orchestration work to develop competence in the recreation of the stylistic features of a wide range of musical languages.
• Rehearsals and recordings with live musicians.
• Specialized tutoring in the reference software for the audiovisual industry.
• Projects managed and supervised in a variety of technical and aesthetic contexts.
• A program of masterclasses taught by renowned names in the professional world of theater, cinema, and dancing, as well as high-level technicians, specialized in recording and mixing.

All stages of production and post-production will be discussed, and the degree will end with a series of full scoring projects, including the composition of music for a short film in collaboration with the Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (Cinema and Audiovisual School of Catalonia) – ESCAC.

Degree: Master’s Degree in Artistic Education in Composition applied to audio-visual and scenic production.

Credits: 60 ECTS

The Master benefits greatly from the huge artistic and pedagogical experience of composer José Nieto, who has composed  more than 100 soundtracks, as well as scores for ballet and theater. Nieto has the unanimous recognition of the professionals, as evidenced by the many prizes and awards received, including six Goya Awards, and the National Cinematography Award (he is the only composer unitl the date to have received this accolade). The Master also includes working sessions on the specific codes and conditions of the different media, taught by active professionals who are also accredited pedagogues. These sessions will include practical exercises, which in the case of the cinema language will ask from each student to make their own short film (script, storyboard, production, montage), in order to know first hand all the production processes. In the 2018-19 academic year, the Master has welcome experts such as Alex Rademakers (cinema), Paco Azorín (theater), and Oscar Garcia Pañella (videogames). Finally, in the field of recording and postproduction of soundtracks, the Master’s program benefits from the experience of José Vinader, who has recorded and mixed more than 300 soundtracks all over the world, as well as producing recordings of classical, pop music / rock and the music of numerous television series.