Sonic Arts Degree

Survey of music theory fundamentals: notation, rhythm, scales, intervals, key signatures, triads, and inversions. This course also serves as preparation for the music major entrance exam.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Introduction to music notation, rhythm, scales, key signatures, and beginner pieces on the piano. This course also serves as preparation for the music major entrance exam.

2 credits, 2 hours.

Introduction to singing and dictation skills: matching pitch, singing scales and rudimentary diatonic melodies, sight-singing, and the fundamentals of melodic dictation. This courses also serves as preparation for the music major entrance exam.

2 credits, 2 hours.

Overview of contemporary music production, recording, & sound design concepts and techniques including a hands-on lab component. 

3 credits,  3 hours.

Introduction to the recording studio. Studio layout, signal flow, gain staging, patch bays, headphone mixes and talk back. Analog audio concepts, formats and practices. Intro to microphones. Intro to signal processors. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Permission of the department. Coreq: Music 21900.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Conceptual and practical exploration of Digital Audio Workstations/DAWs. MIDI specification, recording, programming, editing and refining. Audio editing and arranging. Fundamental mixing practices. Digital audio concepts, formats and practices. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Permission of the department. Coreq: Music 21800.

3 credits, 3 hours.

A study of contemporary tonal harmony, melody, and voice leading. Concepts include pentatonic and blues-based tonalities, diatonic modes, and an introduction to functional harmony. Work includes song analysis and composition.

Permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Rhythm, sight-singing, and dictation skills corresponding to the concepts covered in Harmony I. Pentatonic and diatonic melodies, melodic and harmonic dictation. Work includes song analysis and simple improvisation.

Permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Introduction to guitar basics corresponding to the concepts covered in Harmony I. Common chords, scales, and progressions. Work includes simple composition and improvisation.

Permission of the department.

2 credits, 2 hours.

Synthesizers in music production and audio sound design. Advanced MIDI techniques. Acoustics review. Voltage and digital control. Oscillators. Modulation and secondary modulation. Envelopes and Low-Frequency Oscillators. Synth filters. Audio-rate modulation, hard sync, width and symmetry modulation. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time. 

Prereq:  Music 21800 and 21900.  Coreq: Music 32500 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Expert use of production tools and functions in audio and MIDI recording, editing, arranging and collaborating. Thorough examination of signal processing concepts and techniques. Lead sheet creation. Mixing practices, including preproduction, groups, subgroups, sidechain, filtering, levels, headroom and metering. Vocal and acoustic guitar recording. Mixing vocals and small recordings. Flex/elastic time. Pitch correction. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 21800 and 21900. Coreq: Music 32100 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Continuing study of contemporary tonal harmony, melody, and voice leading. Concepts include diatonic modes, functional harmony, and mode mixture. Work includes analysis and composition.

Prereq: Music 2310 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Rhythm, sight-singing, and dictation skills corresponding to the concepts covered in Harmony II. Diatonic and chromatic melodies, melodic and harmonic dictation. Work includes song analysis and improvisation. 

Prereq: Music 26100 or permission of the department. 

3 credits, 3 hours.

Functional keyboard skills. Playing typical pop-rock chord progressions with appropriate chord voicing and voice leading in various keys. Simple comping from a lead sheet.

2 credits, 2 hours.

Sampler instrument creation and operation. Commercial music and orchestral sample libraries. Articulation switching and expression. Basic techniques in sound design and underscore for picture and games. Advanced synthesis techniques including additive, granular, analysis/resynthesis, wavetable, waveshaping, etc. Vocoding and other sidechain effects processing. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32100. Coreq: Music 32600 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Advanced music production tools, expert use of automation, and advanced MIDI manipulation. Drum and percussion software. Intro to recording electric guitar and bass. Intro to recording drums. Mixing more complex projects. Basic underscore and post-production practices. Intro to game audio middleware. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32500 Coreq: Music 32200 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

History of popular music from the 1960s to the current music scene. Music ranging from the emergence of Rock and Motown to Punk and Reggae to Gangsta Rap and Alternative Rock explored in terms of cultural developments, technology, economics, and politics.

Prereq: Music 231000 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Supervised internships at professional music and audio technology facilities. Students observe and interact with production and business practices in the professional marketplace. Requires a minimal commitment of eight hours per week.

Prereq: Permission of the department.

2 credits, 2 hours.

Review of microphone technology. Microphone positioning. Matching microphones to microphone preamps. Recording session procedures and documentation. Recording techniques for electric and acoustic guitar, piano, electric and acoustic bass, and drums. Advanced concepts in Compression and Equalization.  Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32200 and 32600. Coreq: Music 32701 and 37100 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Production Analysis. Song preproduction considerations. Arrangement as a production tool. Developing a production point of view. The Producer and the artist.  Individual and group song production projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32200 and 32600. Coreq: Music 32700 and 37100 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

The study of audio recording on location including dialog, room tone, and sound effects. The course exposes students to the hardware, software, protocols, and work flows of the professional environment. Subjects include boom, plant, and wireless microphones and hops. Location mixer/recorders, timecode sync, slates, sound reports, and power distribution.

Prereq: Music 32200 and 32600. Coreq: Music 32700 and 32701 or permission of the department.

2 credits, 2 hours.

Basic tracking and overdubs with various music ensembles. Multitrack editing techniques. Stereo and surround sound microphone techniques. Advanced Music Mixing. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32700. Coreq: 32801 and 43500 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

In depth look at the principles and practices of music underscore. Underscore function, style, mood, and themes. Diegetic and non-diegetic music. Analysis of various scores. Voice over recording. ADR (automated dialog replacement) setup, recording, and producing. Matching ADR to production audio.  ADR alignment.  Individual creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32701. Coreq: 32800 and 43500 or permission of the department.

3 credits, 3 hours.

Synchronization of audio to moving images. Introduction to video and film   technologies. Video and audio compression codecs. Introduction to video editing software. FX, Foley, narration, dialog, music underscore, and sound design. Post production mixing. Audio restoration. Broadcast television and film audio standards. Individual and group creative projects. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32700, 32701, & 37100. Coreq: Music 32800 and 32801.

3 credits, 3 hours.

An introduction to the software, hardware, practices, and procedures for sound reinforcement. Subjects include: wireless microphones and in-ear monitors. Speaker and amplifier design, construction, and interconnections. Front of house (FOH) and Monitor mixing. “Ringing out” and tuning a system. Concert sound reinforcement, recording, and broadcast.

Prereq: Music 32700 and 32701 or permission of the department.

2 credits, 2 hours.

Students will explore audio techniques presented in previous courses in greater depth and detail. A capstone project is required for each student in this course. These projects are presented to the students and staff of the Center and guest professionals at the end of the semester. An in-depth study of mastering. Also presented will be various production techniques, as well as people, organizational and business skills that will be useful in real world recording and production situations. Assigned studio time.

Prereq: Music 32800 and 32801.

3 credits, 3 hours.

An in-depth study of advanced concepts in audio post production. Subjects will include the Avid Eucon protocol and Avid control surfaces. Mixing for cinema including the 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos formats. Mixing for broadcast and streaming including the 5.1 and 5.1.2 Atmos formats. Providing deliverables including the creation of a DCP, Blu-ray encoding, Dolby TrueHD, and Dolby Digital+ encoding. An audio post production capstone project is required.

Prereq: Music 43500 or permission of the department.

3 credits,  3 hours.