CURRICULUM
Academic Programme
The program’s curriculum focuses on a range of core subjects within the field of sound studies, creation, and production. The program is structured around three interconnected conceptual pillars: Societal, Skills and Creative. Each of which plays a crucial role in shaping the educational experience and the skills and knowledge acquired by students.
Pillar 1: Societal
The Societal pillar aims to give students an overview of the impact that sound has on society and culture, including ethical considerations. While also providing students with context for their future work and identifying areas of impact.
Pillar 2: Skills
The Skills pillar aims to provide students with technical skills in capturing and manipulating sound and music. This pillar will also provide students with training in the latest technologies in the field of Sound.
Pillar 3: Creative
The Creative pillar will allow students to explore the creative and artistic possibilities of Sound. Within this pillar, students will combine sound with other media, such as images, film and video games, to explore complementary relationships
Semester 1 — Institute of Art, Design and Technology (Dún Laoghaire, Ireland)
| Subject | ECTS | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| Acoustics & Psychoacoustics | 6 | This module is designed to empower learners with the skills to recognise, identify, and explore the fundamental principles of sound. The goal is to apply this knowledge analytically and creatively, enabling the production of acoustically rich events, performances, or recordings designed to elicit specific and measurable psychoacoustic responses in the listener. Additionally, the module seeks to foster social and environmental awareness by exploring the impact of sound on human behaviour. |
| Audio and Music Production | 6 | This module seeks to enhance the learner’s proficiency in producing audio content by expanding their knowledge of procedural, technical, and physical aspects related to a standard recording studio and its performance spaces. The goal is to deepen the student’s comprehension of microphone techniques, signal flow, and the importance of critical listening. |
| Synthesis and Sampling | 6 | The aim of this module is to give the learner exposure to the techniques and theories of synthesis. They will research the history and impact of technology on the progression of synthesis theory. Analogue and digital techniques will be explored using various tools and will be applied to sound design scenarios. Advanced digital synthesis techniques will be recreated in open-source software environments and then applied to creative sound design scenarios. Students will gain an understanding of the technical challenges and creative possibilities that synthesis offers modern sound practitioners. |
| Interactive Systems | 6 | This module aims to provide students with an opportunity to explore the interactive possibilities of Interactive systems. This module will look at how artists use interactive technology to help them perform music or sound pieces. The objective of the module is to explore key interactive audio technologies and apply them creatively. |
| Sound Psychology | 6 | This module is designed to empower learners with the skills to recognise, identify, and explore the fundamental principles of sound. The goal is to give students an understanding of why people respond to sounds in a conscious and subconscious level. Additionally, the module seeks to foster social and environmental awareness by exploring the impact of sound on emotion and human behaviour. |
Semester 2 — Lusófona University (Lisbon, Portugal)
| Subject | ECTS | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| Film Sound Theory: History, Aesthetics & Subversion | 6 | Sound and Image as experienced in the cinema, are not divisible. One perception influences the other and transforms it. While conventions between these two senses exist, they are subject to manipulation and the whims of subversion. This course tracks the technological and aesthetic history of film sound and frames it in traditional spheres of film theory, including psychoacoustics, fidelity, immersive sound, montage theory, semiotics, diegesis, and phenomenology. Through an historical and pedagogical romp loaded with examples throughout film history, the course instructs students to engage in the process of sound perception and narrative, gaining an appreciation for both the technology and art of sound as they relate to the varied phenomenological dimensions of that unique audio-visual encounter we call cinema. In addition, project-based assignments are coordinated with the Post-Production Tools module such that theories learned are applied while gaining technical skills. |
| Interdisciplinary Project Incubation | 6 | This module aims at supporting the student in the development of a project that may lead to their final master thesis work. Students enter this module with an eye towards exposure to various areas of scientific research in sound. This class offers an opportunity to explore specific areas, sharing and collaborating with their peers to open up further avenues of exploration. They investigate on their own while learning critical skills for research. External researchers in various areas of sound are invited in as guest lecturers from within the university and beyond. By the end of the semester, students are to present an abbreviated paper that serves as a well-researched and narrative outline of the research they are considering for their second year. The module fosters students in developing related theoretical and practical skills, while deepening their knowledge in the framework of academic / scientific research – including concepts, techniques, practices and methodologies. |
| Sound Ecosystems | 6 | Sound Ecosystems delves into the scientific fields of acoustic ecology, sonic archaeology, and sonic anthropology, which study sound’s relationship with the environment, human behavior, and history. With the rise of sound recording and reproduction devices in media and artistic fields, sound studies have expanded academically, offering new ways to understand auditory experiences. Moving beyond traditional visual or text-based knowledge, phonography introduced an aural perspective, enabling the study of humanity and nature through sound. This approach has paved the way for sound mapping, archiving the auditory dimensions of the planet and its inhabitants. Additionally, these developments extend Media Theory, examining how sound technologies impact art, creative industries, and personal and public health. Sound Ecosystems invites students to situate their artistic sound work within this continuum, linking natural spaces, human activities, and cultural practices, while broadening perspectives on the role of sound in understanding the world. |
| Sound/Music Interface | 6 | This module aims at providing students with music theory knowledge which will be bridged with sonic knowledge acquired in previous modules. After music fundamentals are introduced, 20th and 21st century musical developments will be analyzed and seen under the light of sound and acoustics. This will prepare students to develop creative projects in electroacoustic music, soundscape composition and sonic art. A combination of studio practices, field recording, digital sound synthesis and manipulation will characterize this module technically. |
| Film Audio: Post-production tools | 6 | This technology module gives students direct experience with Avid Technology’s ProTools hardware and software for recording, editing and mixing in the Post-Production environment. Skills are learned through the application of methodologies and workflows to challenge-based assignments that align with the theoretical concepts covered in other classes, stimulating creative application of theory. Students also engage in projects with creative teams in other departments. The course also provides ProTools certification at the 101 and 110 level, preparing students for more advanced post-production work in the following semester. |
Semester 3 — Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (Vilnius, Lithuania)
| Subject | ECTS | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| Sound and the Environment | 6 | The aim of this module is to give the learner perspectives into listening, hearing and recording with different objectives and purposes in mind. The theoretical aim is to be able to analyse the objectives of listening and how that affects the listening process. Practically, the aim is to get acquainted and understand the methods, tools and techniques of listening and recording with the following objectives (soundscape composition, sound art, site-specific actions). Field recording and sound editing workflows are subject to industry standards, and the basic level of skills to execute those standards is one objective of the module. The development of collaborative skills is focused on through group- and research assignments. The balance of theoretical, artistic and technical skills is not equal in all assignments, but all those aspects are present, and this multi-layered perspective is aimed at creating an overall objective and interleaved learning method for the course. |
| Film Sound: Integrative methods and practice | 6 | The aim of this module is to give the learner a thorough knowledge and view into the elements of films sound and their use in practical situations. The focus is on practical skills which later lead to future effortless adaptation of those skills into mature design decisions in artistic processes. A major objective is to get familiarized with Film sound workflows and skills in practical editing in film sound and common problem-solving situations in the film sound workflows. Analysing different approaches of editing and their implications for the artistic, productional and collaborative process is an underlying objective and thread of this module. The module also aims to continue with a theme of research as a method for continuous improvement of practical skills. Skills obtained within this module create the foundation for a realistic artistic planning process, which is the theme in the following module. |
| Sound Concepts | 6 | The aim of this module is to give the student tools to use sound to materialise concepts in a coherent, informed manner in artistic or musical creations. To do so, this module will make use of case studies and a practical approach to techniques for the sonification of ideas. The objective of the module is for the students to clearly articulate concepts that will be rendered in a sonic work. The learners will also build on previous modules on interaction to utilise such techniques while realising new concepts through sound. Participants will also be given the opportunity to work and reflect on the interaction between contemporary music, conceptual sound art, and their interaction with multidisciplinary solutions, using case studies and practice work. |
| Sound Design and Immersion | 6 | The aim of this module is to give the learner advanced skills to apply sound ideas and plans into practical sound design execution. Although film sound mixing isn’t the focus of the module, there is an objective for the student to understand storytelling aspects of immersive sound for film, and to some extent master the tools for creating and mixing immersive audio. The aim is to give the learner the ability to deepen the understanding of the interaction between the story, character, image and sound. One objective of the module is to give the learner tools for understanding the process of the actor while internalizing their character, and then to gain the ability to develop sound for characters through empathetic processes. Advanced skills in peer review and critique are a fundamental learning objective for this module. |
| Thesis Preparation | 6 | The aim of this module is to deepen the previously introduced topics of Research, Theses writing and Project management. The module prepares for the actual Thesis- on research as well as project planning and execution. The module will inform the faculty about intelligent division of content, resources and the students in anticipation for the 4th semester. |
Semester 4 — Students develop the Final Project/Thesis in IADT, Lusófona or LMTA
| Subject | ECTS | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| Thesis | 30 | The learning objectives of this module emerge from students’ successful completion of masters-level thesis work, guided by faculty in individualised tutorial support. Practice-based research is defined as “the pursuit of research which is centrally predicated on realising actual practice within the arts”*. In the context of ReSound, this implies that the output is well-grounded in research that informs goals, methods, and critical assessment of the artistic or technical output. Having formulated a topic for enquiry prior to this semester, students will synthesise a range of research skills and methodologies, allowing them to expand and deepen their approach to their creative practice beyond the completion of the program. The pedagogical objective is to provide learners with the ability to conduct informed, independent research in an interdisciplinary context informed by the most recent and contemporary debates within their specific area of interest in the world of sound. * Good Practice in the Quality Assurance of Arts Research Degree Programmes by Practice. Ireland. HETAC, 2010 |
The Thesis
At the heart of ReSound are the students’ final projects—unique, boundary-pushing works that showcase their creativity, technical expertise, and research skills. The Thesis can take the form of a practice-based research project that merges artistic vision with technical innovation, students have the freedom to define their own medium and field of application.
Each project is complemented by theoretically and critically grounded research, allowing students to reflect on their work’s impact and position within the broader landscape of sound studies. This ensures a deep engagement with both practice and research, equipping graduates with the skills to innovate in academia, industry, and the arts.
In the final semester, students are placed into carefully curated cohorts, designed to align their research ambitions with expert mentorship from leading institutions. This holistic, personalized approach ensures that every student benefits from tailored guidance, collaborative opportunities, and a strong professional network as they prepare to launch their careers in sound.
Mobility Scheme
The mobility scheme offered by ReSound is mandatory. During the first semester, the students all work together in Dublin.
In the second semester, all students move to Lisbon, to work together at Lusófona University followed by a move to Vilnius, at LMTA, for the third semester.
Finally, for their final semester, students will be guided in selecting a host institute between IADT, Lusófona, and LMTA.
Diploma / Degree Awarded
The ReSound consortium will award successful students with joint or multiple degrees (including joint diploma supplements) based on the already existing and locally accredited master courses (second cycle degrees) in the area of Sound, Music and Film, offered by each one of the schools in the consortium.