BA (Hons)

Live Sound & Event Management

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BA (Hons)
Undergraduate - Level 4,5 & 6

Live Sound & Event Management

Online
Locations
Bristol / Manchester
Start Date
September 2026
Course Length
3 years
Attendance
Full-Time
UCAS Codes
W479 / W480

Why choose this course

Built around real live events

This degree is rooted in the reality of the live music industry. You’ll be working on real events, building PA systems, mixing, rigging and managing logistics in professional venues alongside artists, engineers and technicians.

Live sound meets production

Build technical confidence in front-of-house mixing, sound systems and digital desks while learning to manage teams, coordinate artists and deliver safe, efficient events. A dual skillset that prepares you for the full spectrum of live events.

Shape your studies to your ambitions

With optional modules in festival production, management and leadership, advanced system design and acoustics, and many more, you’ll be able to specialise or diversify and align your studies with your career goals.

Key Information
  • Where can I study?
    Bristol / Manchester
  • Start Date
    September 2026
  • Study Modes
    Full-Time
  • Course Length
    3 years
  • UK/Home Fees (Per Year)
    £9,535
BA (Hons) Live Sound & Event Management

Course Overview

This course is designed for those who want to work at the heart of live sound & event management, combining technical sound engineering with the skills to plan, manage and deliver exceptional events. You’ll gain hands-on experience in live sound while developing the professional knowledge needed to run safe, sustainable and successful shows, tours and festivals.

You’ll build core skills in front-of-house mixing, sound system setup, digital desks and audio signal flow. Alongside this, you’ll explore the practical and logistical aspects of event production, including licensing, event law, health and safety, budgeting, scheduling and artist liaison. The course also encourages creative thinking, giving you the tools to design events that are not just technically sound but innovative, engaging and inclusive.

With modules in sustainability, immersive sound, technical planning and festival production, this course reflects how real-world events are delivered through collaboration between engineers, managers and creative teams. Optional modules in live broadcast, advanced mixing and leadership allow you to deepen your expertise and tailor your path.

You’ll work alongside producers, performers and technicians from across our music degrees on real events, building the experience and confidence to take on key roles in the live music industry. Whether you're aiming to tour as a sound engineer, run multi-stage productions or lead technical teams, this course prepares you to thrive.

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This course is delivered at dBs Institute. Taught and awarded by Access Creative College

This course is taught by the dBs Institute and awarded by Falmouth University

Module Details

In Year 1, you’ll build a practical and professional foundation in live sound and event management. You’ll get hands-on experience with front-of-house mixing, digital desks, and live sound setup, while exploring the core principles of audio systems, signal flow, and technical stage planning. Alongside this, you’ll begin developing essential event skills through modules in event production and logistics, learning how to design, coordinate, and deliver safe, efficient, and engaging live music experiences.

Core Modules

Industry Foundations

Explore the music, sound and events industries while developing the creative, collaborative, and professional skills needed to build a sustainable career in your chosen field.

Live Event Fundamentals

Learn how live events come to life, from concept to delivery. You’ll explore audience experience, event design, logistics, accessibility and safety, while gaining a solid understanding of how teams collaborate to produce professional shows.

Front-of-House & Signal Flow

Explore the core principles of live sound, including signal flow, gain structure, EQ and routing. Through practical tasks and system setup, you’ll develop the skills to operate Front-of-House (FOH) in a range of live settings.

Digital Mixing Techniques

Build on your core FOH skills by working with digital mixing consoles, exploring features such as scene automation, dynamic processing, remote mixing and audio networking. You’ll develop confidence working on digital desks, building efficient workflows and being able to adapt to a range of live mixing scenarios.

Live Event Production

Turn planning into practice as you produce and deliver small-scale events. You’ll build skills in scheduling, artist liaising, budgeting and licensing, while managing teams and technical elements to create well-run, engaging event experiences.

Live Sound Planning & Pre-Production

You’ll be introduced to the core planning and coordination processes required to deliver professional live sound in a range of performance environments. From creating stage plots, input lists and signal routing plans to how to manage technical prep, soundchecks and changeovers.

In Year 2, you’ll strengthen your skills across both live sound engineering and event operations. You’ll study sound system theory, event law, and logistics in greater depth, learning how to coordinate teams, manage risk, and work closely with artists and crews. A core focus on sustainability and health and safety supports your development as a responsible and adaptable event professional. Optional modules in broadcast sound, marketing, and performance technologies allow you to tailor your direction to your interests and career goals.

Core Modules

Industry Practice
Building on Industry Foundations, this module focuses on professional development, including valuing your work and developing an understanding of contracts, rights management, and how to generate sustainable income long-term.

Sound System Theory & Application
Learn how to design, configure and optimise sound systems, exploring key areas such as speaker types/coverage, power distribution, tuning and alignment. With students from the Live Sound course, you’ll learn to work collaboratively to design, deploy and manage systems. 

Event Law & Logistics

Understand the legal and safety responsibilities and frameworks behind live event delivery. You’ll cover licensing, contracts, risk assessments, insurance and accessibility, learning how to plan responsibly, meet regulations and create safe, successful experiences for artists and audiences.

Creative Research Practice

Explore how research can inform and expand your work in live sound and events. You’ll investigate topics that matter to your practice, from audience behaviour and sustainability to event formats and cultural trends, while developing skills in critical thinking, project planning and reflective analysis that will support your final year portfolio and innovation work.

Sustainable Event Practice

Plan and deliver a live event that prioritises sustainability, ethics and social impact. You’ll explore accessible design, resource use, environmental impact and wellbeing. Gaining hands-on experience delivering purposeful, inclusive events that respond to real-world challenges.

Option Modules

Marketing & Promotion

Explore the principles, tools and strategies of marketing and promotion within the music industry, including social media, digital distribution, content creation, how to communicate your message and build a presence.

Integrative Performance Technologies

Experiment with creative and technical tools such as show synchronisation systems, reactive visuals, and live processing to support performances. Working individually and with performers/artists, you’ll prototype and deliver live experiences that reflect your role and specialism within contemporary event production.

Live Recording & Broadcast

Develop the technical and creative skills needed for live recording and broadcasting through an exploration of capturing high-quality audio in live environments, managing multi-track recordings and delivering real-time broadcasts.

Advanced Mixing Techniques

This module takes your live mixing skills to the next level, preparing you to take charge of complex sound environments with speed, precision, and creative control.

In Year 3, you’ll focus on professional delivery, innovation, and self-directed work. Two major projects enable you to explore new ideas and build an industry-ready portfolio. Whether designing sound systems or leading production teams, you’ll apply everything you’ve learned to real-world scenarios. Optional modules in festival production, acoustics, leadership, and collaborative practice allow you to deepen your specialism or broaden your capabilities. You’ll graduate with the confidence, knowledge, and experience to thrive across the live music and events industry.

Core Modules

Innovation: Exploration

This is the beginning of your final-year innovation journey where you will challenge the conventions of your creative discipline and build on the technical, creative and research skills developed throughout your degree.

Industry Portfolio Development

Plan, shape and build a professional portfolio that reflects your creative identity, strengths, and long-term goals, researching professional expectations, exploring formats and creating a strategy tailored to your sector.

Innovation: Realisation

Realise the work completed during the Innovation: Exploration module, bringing together your technical, creative, and research skills and taking your initial idea through to a completed outcome.

Industry Portfolio Delivery

Building on the Industry Portfolio Development module, you will finalise a body of work that aligns with your professional goals and presents your skills clearly to your intended audience.

Option Modules

Sound Cultures

This module invites you to critically explore the cultural, social, and political dimensions of sound and music, applying research methodologies explored in Creative Research Practice.

Festival Production: Sound, Staging and Technical Design

Discover the fast-paced and collaborative world of festival production, with a focus on the advanced technical, logistical, and creative considerations required to deliver safe, high-quality environments for artists and audiences. 

Music Education & Wellbeing Practice

Investigate how music can be used in educational, therapeutic and community settings as you explore its role in supporting learning, wellbeing and social connection.

Management & Leadership in the Music Industry

This module will build your confidence, knowledge and adaptability to succeed in complex industry environments; equipping you with the professional skills needed to lead, manage and innovate in the industry.

Collaborative Creative Practice

Design, develop and deliver an original creative project in collaboration with others. You will refine your creative identity while you contribute to a shared artistic vision.

Advanced System Design & Acoustics

This module explores how sound behaves in real environments and how to design loudspeaker systems that deliver clarity and impact across a range of venues

How you’ll learn

Learning is collaborative, practical and grounded in the realities of live music production. You’ll work in event spaces, rehearsal rooms and sound labs using the same professional tools found in industry settings, from digital mixing desks and PA systems to logistics software and event planning frameworks.

Workshops, live briefs, and production simulations support your learning across sound engineering, scheduling, stage management and artist liaison. These experiences prepare you for the complex, fast-moving nature of live event delivery.

You’ll collaborate closely with students across our music degrees, including performers, producers and sound engineers. This reflects how real events are brought to life - through teamwork, creative chemistry, and shared responsibility.

Throughout the course, you’ll be encouraged to take initiative, lead aspects of production and refine your technical and organisational approaches. This emphasis on cross-disciplinary working and professional collaboration equips you for a wide range of roles in the music and live events industries.

On average you should allow for between 40-50 hours per week for your studies, of which approximately 25% will be taught (c.10 hours) and 75% will be self-study.

How you’ll be assessed

  • Assessments are 100% coursework
  • Portfolio development of live performance, creative, practical and/or technical work.
  • Written assignments. 
  • Presentations.

Please note. Option modules are subject to availability and may change, depending on factors such as demand, staffing and timetabling. As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.

Design your degree

With shared modules and cross-course collaboration, you can customise your studies to focus on your specialism or explore new creative disciplines, giving you the tools and freedom to shape your own creative direction.

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Flexible Module Options

Tailor your learning experience with a range of flexible module options including live recording & broadcast, festival production, marketing & promotion, management & leadership and many more.

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Cross-Disciplinary Projects

Work alongside other students, specialising in production, performance, vocal artistry, composition, sound design and live sound engineering to reflect the professional environment of the music industry.

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Real-World Collaboration

Work on real-world briefs and develop a professional profile while you study via dBs Pro, our in-house creative studio, which works on commercial projects and hires interns from dBs to help bring them to life.

Got questions about
this course?

If you want to know more about the course, how to apply or what our graduates have gone on to achieve, our friendly admissions team is here to help.

Book a call with an admissions advisor
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Who's this course for?

We’re looking for people who are excited by the challenge of making live events happen, from the sound desk to the production office. Maybe you’ve helped run gigs, managed tech at school or college, or volunteered at a festival. You might be more drawn to live sound, or more interested in planning, logistics and coordination or a bit of both. You thrive on the energy of live events, whether you’re mixing front of house or coordinating staging and artist riders. This course is for those ready to scale up their impact, take on bigger events, and lead at the intersection of sound and show production.

Entry Requirements

96-112 UCAS Points

As a guide our typical offer at undergraduate level is 96-112 UCAS Tariff points, primarily from Level 3 qualifications such as but not limited to A-levels, a BTEC/UAL Extended Diploma or a Foundation Diploma. 

We consider all applications on their own individual merit and potential, you will be invited to an interview/audition, where you will have the opportunity to discuss your experience and suitability for the course. 

We welcome applications from all subject backgrounds, whether you’ve specialised in STEM, the arts or humanities. If you do not hold the minimum entry requirements but can demonstrate aptitude, enthusiasm and motivation you will be considered on an individual basis.

For applicants whose first language is not English, we accept a variety of English language tests and they are listed on Falmouth University's International Entry Requirements page. If you don’t yet meet our undergraduate degree entry requirements, our Access to HE Diplomas offer a flexible and tailored route to prepare you for higher education.

A dBs student records vocals in our flagship Plymouth studio

Course Details

Two students setting up some loud speakers

How You'll Learn

Learning is collaborative, practical and grounded in the realities of live music production. You’ll work in event spaces, rehearsal rooms and sound labs using the same professional tools found in industry settings, from digital mixing desks and PA systems to logistics software and event planning frameworks.

Workshops, live briefs, and production simulations support your learning across sound engineering, scheduling, stage management and artist liaison. These experiences prepare you for the complex, fast-moving nature of live event delivery.

You’ll collaborate closely with students across our music degrees, including performers, producers and sound engineers. This reflects how real events are brought to life - through teamwork, creative chemistry, and shared responsibility.

Throughout the course, you’ll be encouraged to take initiative, lead aspects of production and refine your technical and organisational approaches. This emphasis on cross-disciplinary working and professional collaboration equips you for a wide range of roles in the music and live events industries.

On average you should allow for between 40-50 hours per week for your studies, of which approximately 25% will be taught (c.10 hours) and 75% will be self-study.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Apply

Applying for this course is easy! Simply click the "Apply" button below to submit your application directly through our website.
A member of our Admissions Team will then be in touch to discuss your suitability for the course, your interests and to arrange an interview.

Applications for undergraduate degrees are made through the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). You can apply online through the UCAS website.

The equal consideration deadline for September 2025 entry applications is  29th January 2025. 

UCAS Codes
Campus
Course Code
Campus Code
Institution Code
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Apply now

Ready to make your application? You can apply online, via Falmouth University by clicking the button below.

Apply now

Have a question?

To find out more about this course, get application advice and find out what funding is available, get in touch with our Admissions Team using our online form.

Register your interest

How to Apply

You can apply for this course through UCAS.

UCAS Codes
Campus
Course Code
Campus Code
Institution Code
Bristol
W479
D
D16
Manchester
W480
J
D16
Plymouth
E
D16

Institution Code: D16

Need help applying? Check out our Guide to UCAS or get in touch with our Admissions Team, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Student works on a document on a laptop
A female student works on her laptop

Fees & Funding

A full guide to fees, eligibility and funding can be found in our guide to fees and funding.

Tuition fees are set annually and are subject to review each year. Therefore, tuition fees may rise in the second or subsequent years of a course, in line with inflation and/or the maximum permitted by law or Government policy. Students will be notified of any changes as soon as possible.

UK & Home Status Students

Tuition fees from September 2025 for new UK and home fee status students starting in the academic year 2025-26.

Course Type
Annual Tuition Fee
BA(Hons) / BSc(Hons) courses, 3 years, on campus
£9,535

Channel Island & Isle of Man Students

Tuition fees from September 2023 for new UK and home fee status students starting in the academic year 2023-24.

Course Type
Annual Tuition Fee
BA(Hons) / BSc(Hons) courses, 3 years, on campus
£9,535

International Students

At this time, we are currently unable to accept international students on our on-campus undergraduate degree programmes.

EU students who hold settled or pre-settled status may qualify for home fees if:

  • You have settled or pre-settled status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme
  • You are an Irish national living in the UK or Republic of Ireland
  • You are a British national living in the EU/EEA or Switzerland

If none of these exceptions apply, you'll be classed as an international student and will not be eligible to study on-campus at dBs Institute.

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Important: Students who are ordinarily resident in Wales should be aware that this course is not currently designated to receive statutory student funding support from the Welsh Government.

Why Choose dBs

Why Choose dBs & ACC

Here at dBs Institute, we pride ourselves on creating a learning environment that reflects the industry that you want to work in. Our state-of-the-art facilities ensure that you are working on professional-grade equipment; our course leaders have years of industry experience to draw from and we foster a community of students and staff that inspires and encourages collaboration.
Throughout your studies and beyond, we will also provide you with career support and guidance to reach your future goals.

Facilities

Equipped with industry-standard facilities, as well as ground-breaking new technologies, our campuses have been meticulously designed to mirror the industry; giving you the ultimate environment to hone your skills, collaborate with creative professionals and learn from experts in the field.

Facilities

Bristol
The Midas Verona 320 mixer in our live sound hall
Manchester
Mixing a live show in the New Century venue (Credit: Honey Productions)
Bristol
A guest workshop in our live sound hall
Bristol
Hands-on with the Yamaha MC7L mixer
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    Why Choose an Online Degree at dBs

    Our online Master's degrees offer a high-quality, immersive, and community-driven learning experience, led by industry experts who are passionate about their craft. With 24/7 access to course materials and resources, you can learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world. Plus, our hands-on projects will equip you with practical skills necessary for a successful career in the music industry.
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    Flexible study

    Enjoy the freedom to fit your learning around you. For online students, course content – other than one-to-one sessions – will be available to access whenever suits you.

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    Learn from the pros

    You will learn from tutors whose expertise extends across production, composition, sound design, sound engineering, label management, marketing and promotion.

    You’ll also have access to our extensive guest lecture programme, giving you the chance to meet leading industry professionals – ranging from respected producers and performers to specialist technical staff from world-class audio companies.

    Student working on a project at dBs Pro

    Industry Connections

    As a student of this course, you will be encouraged to apply for placements and opportunities with dBs Pro, our in-house creative audio company.

    This will allow you to further your experience and apply the skills you have been honing, as well as showcase your skills to clients and develop your creative own links in the industry.

    What our students say

    Who better to tell you about our course than students already doing the course? In this video, some of our latest cohort talk about their experience of the dBs online masters degrees.

    What our
    students say

    Learn what makes dBs Institute so special from the people who matter most - our students!

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      Taught by the experts

      Our staff aren't just educators, they're active professionals who bring current industry practices directly into your learning experience. They're producers, engineers, composers, sound designers, and audio innovators who maintain parallel careers alongside their teaching.

      Every member of our teaching team maintains professional practice in the music and sound industries. From running studios and record labels to creating sound for films and games, they bring real-world experiences and want to share this with you.

      Meet your tutors

      Opportunities

      Engaging with our industry

      In our 20+ year history, we’ve built a strong network of contacts across the creative industries, that include AMS Neve, Solid State Logic, Avid and many more.

      Career support

      We strive to equip our students with the skills and opportunities to secure roles across the creative industries, and this goal underpins the student experience at dBs Institute.

      dBs Pro

      dBs Pro is a creative audio company with a difference - it’s dedicated to providing our students with real-world experience alongside their studies.

      Your Future Prospects

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        Your Future Prospects

        Students progressing on from the live sound & event management degree will possess a vast expertise in both the technical and logistical elements required to produce high-quality live events. By the time they graduate, our students have all developed a specialist set of skills within the wider live sound and events industry that they will pursue at a professional level.

        Two dBs students stand next to a flying speak stack in a festivalA string session been recored in a music halla female dBs tutor takes a lecture in our Dolby atmos roomA dBs student adjusting there synth sound

        You might also be interested in

        Register your interest

        Let's get started

        Thinking about an undergraduate degree at dBs? Want to know more about our courses? We're excited to help you explore your options.

        Simply fill out the form below and our dedicated admissions team will be in touch with all the information you need.

        If you're ready to apply, you can also apply directly through UCAS.com

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        Please note that if you are an international student or require a visa to study in the UK you are only eligible to study our online courses.

        Register your interest

        If you’d like to find out more about our postgraduate courses, please fill in the form below. Once submitted, a member of our admissions team will be in touch to discuss our postgraduate course offerings and the next steps of the application process.

        Please note, if you currently live outside of the UK and require a Tier 4 VISA to study in the United Kingdom, we are unable to accept your application for our on campus full-time or part-time postgraduate degree programmes. If this is the case, please apply for one of our online postgraduate courses instead.

        Apply for our Access to HE Diploma

        Let's get started

        If you’re 19+ and aiming for higher education, our diplomas provide the essential qualifications and skills you need to progress confidently onto university courses. Whether it’s a career shift, skill enhancement, or pursuing a long-held passion, our

        Access to HE Diplomas open doors.

        To apply for our diplomas, please complete the application form below. Once we have received your information, our admissions team will contact you to arrange an interview.

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