New jobs, new master's: electronic music opportunities

The sight of a fleet of keyboards plugged in around the classroom sent pulses racing. We'd make our approach, splitting off into groups of four or five, and take it turns to use the crude sound effects. Occasionally, these pieces of music would be recorded on a tape for posterity. This was the mid-90s, and for both students and teachers, music technology was an exotic subject. It wasn't yet an established GCSE course or even an aspect of the A Level curriculum. Fast-forward to today and things couldn't be more different, as music in many forms increasingly requires production techniques. ‘In the not so distant past, a film composer would write the score, send it to the director and see whether it was what they had in mind; now, the normal model is that the composer turns out the entire soundtrack – including any special effects – so even what might be seen as a conventional area of music involves a high level of understanding of electronics,’ explains Mike Roberts, head of electronic music and music technology at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama.