The Audio for Games & 3D Environments postgraduate elective course is open to the entire postgraduate community at the Glasgow School of Art, while serving as a vital collaborative sandbox for MDes Sound students. It offers a deep dive into the deployment of music and sound within interactive digital spaces. Rather than treating audio as an afterthought, this course empowers students to design immersive 3D environments where sound is the central, driving force of the aesthetic and emotional experience.
Working in small, interdisciplinary teams, students are encouraged to push the boundaries of the medium. The focus of the course extends beyond standard industry preparation, acting instead as a laboratory for sonic and interactive experimentation. Drawing inspiration from contemporary digital arts, students might craft interactive soundscapes that evoke the transcendental, acousmatic listening experiences of Francisco López, or build surreal, hyper-digital worlds akin to the video art of Ed Atkins.
"Audio for Games & 3D Environments is designed to explore the possibilities of immersion within digital environments where sound is central—not merely to the finished experience, but from the very inception of design. No one is disadvantaged by their background in digital literacy, music, or coding; all you need is drive and creative ideas."
Treating digital technology as creative tools, students build and populate their environments using the Unity game engine. Students are encouraged to explore the vast possibilities of sound creation through sound design, synthesis, and non-linear playback methods with Audio Middleware. Through the use of spatial audio tools, occlusion, environmental reverb, and scripting, static 3D spaces are transformed into living, responsive sonic worlds.
Students have complete creative freedom over the interactive artefacts they choose to build. Whether developing an esoteric virtual exhibition, a simulated real-world space, or a wholly abstract interactive soundscape, the auditory world is theirs to shape. To finalise their coursework, teams deliver a fully executable, playable build alongside a video recording of the experience, showcasing their mastery of spatial and interactive audio.