Computer Music Studios

Our computer music studios provide extensive, state-of-the-art facilities for music synthesis, electronic composition, and digital recording, editing, processing, and mixing. Studio Director: Inés Thiebaut. For any questions, please reach out to Inés Thiebaut.

The studios are the working home of the department's music technology and sound design courses, and of its electronic music ensemble.

MUS 381: Essentials of Music Technology (3 units)

The foundation course in music technology, built from the ground up for students new to the field. It starts with the building blocks of sound and acoustics, then moves into recording, sample editing, and mixing through hands-on work in the Computer Music Lab. MUS 381 is the entry point to the department's sound design path, and it previews where that path leads: digital signal processing and synthesis.

MUS 485: Advanced Sound Design I (3 units)

Sampling, Editing, and Mixing. The first half of the upper-division sound design sequence. Building on MUS 381, students go deeper into music production: sampling, detailed editing, and mixing, with programming introduced as a production tool.

MUS 486: Advanced Sound Design II (3 units)

Synthesis, Modulation, and Creative Digital Signal Processing. The second half of the sequence, focused on making sound from scratch. Students learn synthesis and signal processing as compositional tools and build stand-alone electronic music pieces through synthesis programming and other computer-based techniques. Prerequisite: MUS 381. Offered in fall.

MUS 366: Electronic Music Ensemble (1 unit)

The department's performing group for electronic music, known as EME. Undergraduate and graduate students of every background expand what composition and performance can be, working with analog and digital tools alike: everyday objects, acoustic instruments, live electronics, fixed media, and performance-installation. The ensemble rehearses toward concert performances and meets in fall and spring.