BSc (Hons) Audio Engineering graduate, Joe Elsom, shares with us his experience studying a music and sound degree at the Leeds School of Art and what he enjoyed most about his course. 

Course: BSc (Hons) Audio Engineering 

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you've been doing since you graduated?

After graduation, I immediately returned to work at Celestion, which is the company I completed my placement year with. Since returning, I have led and managed the design of Celestion's next-generation guitar response plugin SpeakerMix Pro.

What have been the highlights and challenges of your career so far? 

Personally, an obvious highlight has been taking a leading role in delivering our newest digital market venture SpeakerMix Pro. The challenge of management, cross disciple learning, coordination, and delivery of a complete product is significant but immensely rewarding. 

How has your experience studying at Leeds Beckett influenced you and your career? 

My experience studying at Leeds Beckett has been great, it gave me the ability to learn. From my own experience, I have found that simply knowing an answer does not translate to understanding an answer. In almost all avenues of research or engineering, there is a subject you will not yet have come across. In those situations – of which there are many – the ability to consume, digest and understand subjects of great complexity is compelling. 

It is learned through lectures, seminars, labs and your own reading and interests. Flexibility and support from the course team have provided a fantastic platform to explore ideas and gently steer me towards fascinating subjects. After graduating, the ability to learn for yourself sticks and applies to all parts of life, not just at university. 

What attracted you to study your course? 

Initially, I chose to attend Leeds Beckett's Music Technology course. At the time, I was working in recording studio environments and was particularly interested in pursuing that specialism in the music industry. The course is generally quite open to exploring acoustics and music and provides a balanced overview of recording/mixing/mastering career paths. 

After delving into the physics behind acoustics and loudspeakers on the course, which connected the dots between science and my experiences in heavily engineered acoustic environments and recording music, I was fully consumed by the engineering side of the subject. I transitioned to Audio Engineering and hit the ground running. 

The staff's flexibility in supporting my passion for audio and (later) the physics behind it has undoubtedly been integral to my progress and career. The course's wide aperture of subject areas provides an excellent basis for finding the subject that suits you best. 

What did you enjoy about your course?

The flexibility. Audio Engineering, Acoustics and Electroacoustics are quite niche fields in the grand scheme of human knowledge. The team behind Audio Engineering provide a significant wealth of knowledge and diverse course subjects. In all of my projects and modules, I felt I could quite easily put my own personal spin on the subject and delve into a particular component of a subject that fascinated me with the help of the tutors. 

This course is well suited to connecting audio engineering and acoustics questions to the real world. For example, give the answers to how we hear sound and then apply that to a particular real-world problem, such as fire alarms or setting up the most killer main stage backline. 

What advice would you give someone thinking about studying this course?

My advice to any prospective students of Audio Engineering, or any course, is to ask every possible question you can think of. You're unlikely to know your niche when you start university, which is perfectly fine. The best way to find your passion subject is to explore. Be curious, dream big and exploit the knowledge and experience of the course team. The more you ask, the more you learn and naturally the more you decipher what you enjoy and what you don't enjoy. 

If you're still undecided on the course. Start by asking questions based on the modules themselves. What does that subject mean? What does it involve? Don't look at workload or exams, look at the topics themselves. If you feel fascinated by the subjects and modules, you're much more likely to enjoy everything about the course. Bear in mind that your main interests at the end of university will be very different from those you start with. Don't just pick a location, rank, title, or career path. Pick the course that you feel will be personally rewarding based on the modules and contents. People who enjoy their work are often the most successful. 

What's next for you?

I am focused on my research for the foreseeable future. I have several novel projects running that I hope to present as products or new technologies. I also indent to pursue a part-time PhD in the near future, such as the thirst for knowledge that university often leaves us with.