Orchestration for Film, Games & Television | ThinkSpace Education

Course summary

If you want a career composing for the orchestra, this course will give you the technical and creative skills to turn that dream into a reality. MA Orchestration for Film, Games and Television takes you from first sketch through to sampled mock-up, then onto your final goal — recording your music with a live orchestra.

Unlike other film scoring Masters, this is an orchestration course that will also teach you the craft of telling stories with music, mentored by current working composers and orchestrators. We'll even help you find work after you graduate with our Employment Support Programme.

Preparing you for the career you deserve
Students on this course go on to work as film, television and games composers, orchestrators, copyists, and composers’ assistants. If you are already a professional composer, this course opens up a wider range of work involving live orchestra and professional grade sampled mock-ups. If you’re looking to start a career, then by graduation you will be ready to tackle real-world composition projects involving both sampled and live orchestra.

On this course, you will learn:

Orchestral composition: Creating and orchestrating awe-inspiring live and sampled orchestral film, TV and games music.
Contemporary commercial standard practice where the emphasis is always on speed and efficiency.
Sampled instrument techniques, including skills like creating and balancing your template, instrument placement, use of reverb, and using controllers to enhance realism and orchestral mixing.
Writing to picture using live and sampled orchestral resources. Your optional film scoring assignments will be drawn from real-world film and video game projects.
How to prepare a record-ready Pro Tools session.
The requirements of different sized orchestral ensembles.
The research and critical thinking skills to help you put media music in context.

Entry requirements

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Fees and funding

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Course options

Sponsorship information

ThinkSpace Education tries to provide exceptional value to all students both in the UK and the rest of the world. Our fee structure is extremely competitive and, as such, does not allow us as much room for bursaries or scholarships as some providers. However, on occasion, we do award part scholarships to exceptionally talented applicants, particularly those from disadvantaged or under-represented groups, to help them fulfil their potential.

If you would like to be considered, please make this clear in your application by filling in the accompanying 'Bursary Application Form'.