Music, Media And Performance Technology

Cmufc

Hey everybody, I've been looking around online to find out more about the Music, Media And Performance Technology course in UL, but old threads seem very out-dated, so I just want to hear some up to date options.
I would just like to find out more about the course, either your personal experiences with it, or what you've heard about the course.
I'm into video and sound production and camerawork etc. I don't play any instrument or don't really have a music background. Does this matter?
Are there any real job prospects after completing this course, in any field related (i.e. broadcasting, editing, production etc.). Also what laptop should I get for this course?

Any general info on the course would be great.

chrislad

I'm not speaking from personal experience, as I didn't do the course, but rather a course that was in with some of the MMPT students from time to time. I'd strongly advise against it, as it seems like the job prospects are really very poor. I don't know what the job rate was for people who graduated recently, but I can't imagine it was too high as most people I knew didn't seem to have much luck. That said, I've not talked to them since graduation and things may have changed, but to me, the course is a tough sell.

I don't know if this is true, but I was told that one of their "projects" for a module was to create a 20 video playlist of world music and explain their choices.

FlyingIrishMan

I'm in first year of it at the moment. I'll be changing after Christmas. I don't feel I'm doing anything worthwhile at the moment, though I've been told it gets better in second year. The work load is basically zero so I'm finding it boring, few pointless modules.

We've done no proper video work so far, that doesn't properly start until year 2 afaik. Only basic music production atm on Logic. Playing an instrument doesn't seem to be essential, but a good understanding and interest of music is.

If it's video production you really want to get into, I'm sure there are better courses that are more dedicated to that. This is more of a jack of all trades, master of none type of thing imo.

If you do decide to go for it, you won't need a laptop, you'll have full access to labs all the time. If you do get one though, it'll need to be a Mac. I also hate macs so there's that too.

OhMSGlive

Hello, former MMPT student here. I was there for about 2.5 years (I repeated 2nd year) before I dropped out.

At the end of the day, it depends what you want to do. If you've no idea what you want to do (but want something to do with media or technology) then it's handy as it covers a lot of different aspects of media and technology, from film to audio to other things like mobile app development.

If you have your heart set on video production though, I'd say go somewhere else, the job prospects for MMPT are very slim unless you do something specific and even then, you'll be bored out of your head doing most of the stuff there. Personally, I've known for years that I wanted to do something related to audio (either live sound, post production or radio), so when I realised that the course wasn't for me I jumped ship, I'm now doing a diploma in Audio Technology in Pulse College in Dublin and I love it! The course is a lot more relevant to my tastes than MMPT and Pulse has a solid reputation so if you put the work in you could get a decent job out of it!

Christ, a year and 7 months since my last post.......