Daniel Burgoyne

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

I’m from London. I have been making electronic music in my spare time for nearly 10 years and I have experience working as an intern at a recording studio. I studied Music Technology, Computer Science and Further Maths at A-Level.

What made you want to apply to your course and to Leeds?

The course appealed to me a lot because it was the combination of everything I was interested in – within and outside of my studies; programming, electronic music and hardware electronics. Not many other universities offered a course like this that also has the flexibility for me to go down a more ‘creative’ path or a more ‘technical’ engineering path. Also, I knew Leeds was a great hub for interesting arts and electronic music events, which I have gotten involved in recently.

What is it that makes you passionate about your area of study?

Making my own electronic music has been my main interest for almost a decade. I have always wanted to understand the physical and technological processes that go into the production of new music technologies that allow me to make my music.

What aspects of the course did you enjoy the most?  

There is a lot of freedom to do what you want and be very creative within a lot of the projects in my modules. The studio work and the programming in Max to create my own musical devices have been the most enjoyable examples of those.

What would you say about the learning facilities in your School and at the University in general?

The School of Music has all the software, hardware and study spaces you need for work and great studio spaces. The staff are always helpful and encouraging.

What other activities are available for students to take part in outside of their studies, and which ones have you tried out yourself?

Music students have access to loads of practice rooms and studios that I’ve used for working on personal projects and having band rehearsals. My housemate helped set up the MME Society which has been very fun to be a part of! Always great events and great people to talk to about music. The underground electronic music events across Leeds are always really interesting too and I’ve been able to do a few gigs myself!

What would you say to anyone thinking of applying to your course?

This is a niche course that allows you to be very creative and learn all you need to know about electronic engineering, sound technology and theory, with all the resources you need to further your skills in those areas. If you love music and you want to know more about the technological side of it, it’s perfect!