Music

Degrees and Certificates

Courses

MUS 103: Guitar Ensemble I

Credits 1
This course is a guitar ensemble workshop for the study of classical guitar performance practice and the rehearsal of guitar repertory in preparation for a public concert at the end of the semester.

MUS 104: Guitar Ensemble II

Credits 1
This course is a guitar ensemble workshop for the study of classical guitar performance practice and the rehearsal of guitar repertory in preparation for a public concert at the end of the semester.

MUS 105: Jazz Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is an auditioned jazz ensemble for the study of jazz performance practice and the rehearsal of repertory in preparation for a public concert at the end of the semester.

MUS 106: Jazz Workshop

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition jazz workshop for the study of jazz performance practice. Rehearsals of repertory include instruction, demonstration, and exploration of jazz improvisation techniques.

MUS 107: Chamber Ensemble

Credits 1
This course consists of weekly chamber music coaching with a focus on learning basic concepts in chamber music including: cueing, intonation and voicing, expression, phrasing, interpretation, performance practice and style, stage presence, ensemble etiquette.

MUS 112: Dragon Chorus

Credits 1
This course is a non-auditioned mixed-voice chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 113: Vocal Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition mixed chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 115: Fundamentals of Music and Sound Design

Credits 3
This course offers an introduction to the fundamentals of music and sound design, and an overview of the production of music and sound for animation, film, and video games. Topics include music notation, key, meter, rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, tempo, genre and form; historical musical styles; dialog and timing; and digital audio production methods and techniques.

MUS 118: Chamber Singers I

Credits 1
This course is a small vocal ensemble workshop for the study of a advanced choral practice and the rehearsal of vocal repertory in preparation for a public concert at the end of the semester. Students participating in the Chamber Singers will also participate in the Dragon Chorus.

MUS 120: Music Theory and Musicianship I

Credits 2
This course offers an introduction to basic music theory and musicianship. Topics include pitch, intervals, scales, chord structure, keys, music notation, functional harmony, modes, simple analysis, sight singing, transcription, and ear training. Musical examples are drawn from various styles and periods.

MUS 121: Music Theory and Musicianship II

Credits 2
This course is a continuation of MUS 120, offering further studies in basic music theory and musicianship. Topics include modal and diatonic harmony, triads and inversions, modulation, four-part writing, sight-singing, transcription, and ear training.

MUS 130: Introduction to Music Theory and Musicianship

Credits 3
This course is an introduction to the elements of music, including study of the staff, clefs, key signatures, scales, time signatures, notation, meter and rhythm, intervals, major and minor chords, form, instrumentation, musical styles, music history, application of theory at the keyboard, and rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ear training.

MUS 150: Sound Design Project I

Credits 2
This course provides an introduction to digital audio recording, processing, and mixing. Students are introduced to software and hardware components of the digital audio workstation, including microphones, mixers, MIDI sequencing and multitrack recording software. Further topics include fundamentals of acoustics, recording, sound synthesis, and MIDI.

MUS 150L: Sound Design Project I Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 150. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, including one game or animation project.

MUS 151: Sound Design Project II

Credits 2
This course is a continuation of MUS 150, exploring in more detail the concepts and techniques of audio recording, processing and mixing. Topics include: fundamentals of acoustics, recording, sound synthesis, and the MIDI language; microphones; mixers; MIDI sequencing; multi-track recording software.

MUS 151L: Sound Design Project II Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 151. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, including one game or animation project.

MUS 160: American Popular Music

Credits 3
This course provides a survey of American Popular Music from the 19th Century to the current day. Topics may include the interaction of European American, African American, and Latin American traditions; the influence of mass media and technology; and the role of popular music as a symbol of identity.

MUS 212: Vocal Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition mixed chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 213: Vocal Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition mixed chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 220: Music Theory and Musicianship III

Credits 2
This course explores topics in music theory, analysis, and ear-training, including diatonic harmony through secondary dominants and diminished sevenths, modulations to dominant and relative keys, and analysis of musical forms including binary, ternary, sonata-allegro, and variation technique.

MUS 221: Music Theory and Musicianship IV

Credits 2
This course is a continuation of MUS 220, offering further studies in music theory, chromatic harmony and modulation. Topics include: impressionism, atonality, set theory, serialism, and minimalism.

MUS 230: Composition I

Credits 2
This course introduces counterpoint as a compositional tool. Topics include: five species of counterpoint, and compositional practices of the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

MUS 231: Composition II

Credits 2
This course continues the study of composition using polyphony and counterpoint, expanding on the principles explored in MUS 230. Topics may include: historical development polyphony and counterpoint, fugue and related forms, use of counterpoint in classical, romantic and modern music.

MUS 240: Sound Design Collaborative Project I

Credits 1
This course consists of a collaborative sound design project with a team of students working on a video game or animation. Evaluation of the contribution may come from faculty in several departments which oversee the team project.

MUS 242: Sound Design Collaborative Project II

Credits 2
This course consists of a collaborative sound design project with a team of students working on a game, animation, or other project. Evaluation of the contribution may come from faculty in several departments which oversee the team project.

MUS 250: Sound Design Project III

Credits 1
This course builds on MUS 151, with further exploration of the concepts and techniques of music and sound design for animation and video games. Topics include: multi-track audio recording; processing and mixing, with emphasis on MIDI sequencing; scoring; the use of virtual instruments and software synthesizers for the creation of music and soundscapes.

MUS 250L: Sound Design Project III Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 250. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, which may include work on a production team to provide sound and music for game and/or animation projects.

MUS 251: Sound Design Project IV

Credits 1
This course is a continuation of MUS 250, exploring in more detail the concepts and techniques of sound design for animation and video games. Emphasis is placed on MIDI sequencing and scoring, and the use of virtual instruments and software synthesizers for the creation of music and soundscapes.

MUS 251L: Sound Design Project IV Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 251. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, which may include work on a production team to provide sound and music for game and/or animation projects.

MUS 260: Music History and Literature I

Credits 3
This course presents a survey of Western music from the Middle Ages through the Classical period. Representative compositions will be studied within their cultural contexts through the development of methods for analysis of musical style.

MUS 261: Music History and Literature II

Credits 3
This course is a continuation of MUS 260, presenting a survey of Western music from the Romantic period through the 20th century and beyond. Representative compositions will be studied within their cultural contexts through further development of methods for analysis of musical style.

MUS 270: Survey of Jazz

Credits 3
This course provides an overview of the most prominent jazz artists and literature from its early roots to the present. Additional study will include the musical elements of jazz styles within the cultural context of the times.

MUS 275: Survey of Opera

Credits 3
This course presents a survey of the history and development of Western Opera, including an in-depth study of a representative opera from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras.

MUS 280: World Music

Credits 3
This course centers on folk, popular, and traditional musical genres, particularly those of the non-Western cultures, examining both elements of musical style and features of society that influence music.

MUS 290: Percussion for Composers

Credits 3
This course provides instruction in composition for percussion instruments, including drum kit, Latin percussion, and orchestral percussion. Properties and performance techniques for various percussion instruments are explored through hands-on study of the instruments themselves. Principles of effective scoring for real and virtual percussion instruments are presented through a combination of study, listening, physical training, and composing.

MUS 312: Vocal Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition mixed chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 313: Vocal Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition mixed chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 320: Conducting and Instrumentation

Credits 2
This course explores the basics of conducting technique and instrumentation. Students will practice live conducting of small ensembles and also study the principles of conducting and instrumentation for full orchestra.

MUS 321: Introduction to Orchestration

Credits 3
This course introduces the principles of orchestration and arranging. Examples from classical through modern times will be explored and modeled in student compositions and arrangements.

MUS 322: Adaptive Music for Video Games

Credits 3
This course explores concepts and techniques for writing and producing dynamically interactive musical scores for video games. Topics include: the history of video game music, and methods for composing and prototyping adaptive musical scores.

MUS 330: Advanced Composition I

Credits 3
This course teaches the principles of creative composition through the process of composing in one'92s own style. Topics include: stimulating the musical imagination, current musical languages, analysis of contemporary scores, technical exercises, techniques for starting a composition, and approaches to composing for instruments and voices.

MUS 331: Advanced Composition II

Credits 3
This course develops the principles and techniques of creative composition presented in MUS 330, with a focus on original composition in various styles. Emphasis is on analysis and practice of compositional methods and techniques through a series of case studies, each focusing on a specific historical musical style.

MUS 340: Sound Design Collaborative Project III

Credits 1
This course consists of a collaborative sound design project with a team of students working on a video game or animation. Evaluation of the contribution may come from faculty in several departments which oversee the team project.

MUS 342: Sound Design Collaborative Project IV

Credits 2
This course consists of a collaborative sound design project with a team of students working on a game, animation, or other project. Evaluation of the contribution may come from faculty in several departments which oversee the team project.

MUS 350: Sound Design Project V

Credits 1
This course builds on MUS 251, with further exploration of music and sound design for animation and video games. Emphasis is placed on recording, editing, mixing and mastering for voice, acoustic and electric solo instruments, and ensembles.

MUS 350L: Sound Design Project V Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 350. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, which may include work on a production team to provide sound and music for game and/or animation projects.

MUS 351: Sound Design Project VI

Credits 1
This course builds on MUS 350, with further exploration of music and sound design for animation and video games. Topics include: foley recording; use of sound effects libraries; advanced editing and processing techniques for soundscape production.

MUS 351L: Sound Design Project VI Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 351. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, which may include work on a production team to provide sound and music for game and/or animation projects.

MUS 360: Advanced Sound Synthesis

Credits 3
This course explores the principles and applications of oscillators, filters, amplifiers, and envelope generators found in software and hardware sound synthesizers, from the perspective of the sound designer and audio content creator. Topics include the use of additive, subtractive, granular and modulation synthesis in music and sound design, as well as other techniques of producing sound using a computer, including practical applications and historical background.

MUS 370: Audio Design Project I

Credits 1
This course is the first of a two-semester lecture and lab sequence providing instruction and practice in the tools and techniques for the recording, editing and implementation of music, sound and voice for video games. This course focuses on the desktop digital audio workstation for the production of music and audio assets. Topics include principles of digital audio, nonlinear sound design, synthesis, MIDI sequencing, and desktop audio recording.

MUS 370L: Audio Design Project I Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in producing music and sound using a desktop digital audio workstation, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 370. Students are required to apply knowledge and skills to produce original content and to implement it in a game project.

MUS 371: Audio Design Project II

Credits 1
This course focuses on the principles and operation of a multitrack digital recording studio while continuing to work with tools introduced in MUS 370. Topics include microphone techniques, tracking, mixing, mastering, foley, and field recording. This course is the second of a two-semester lecture and lab sequence providing instruction and practice in the tools and techniques for the recording, editing, and implementation of music, sound, and voice for video games.

MUS 371L: Audio Design Project II Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in producing music, sound effects, and voice recordings in a multitrack digital recording studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 371. Students are required to apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more game projects.

MUS 390: Sound Design Internship

Credits 3
An internship is any carefully monitored work or service experience in which an individual has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what she or he is learning throughout the experience. It is usually a professional activity under general supervision of an experienced professional and in a job situation, which places a high degree of responsibility on the student.

MUS 412: Vocal Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition mixed chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 413: Vocal Ensemble

Credits 1
This course is a non-audition mixed chorus providing training in vocal technique and musicianship. The class performs in concert at the end of each semester.

MUS 415: Private Lessons - Music Composition III

Credits 1
This course consists of private lessons in advanced music composition. Emphasis is placed on mastery of advanced techniques of composition in one particular area, such as electroacoustic music, algorithmic composition, film scoring, or adaptive music for video games.

MUS 420: Advanced Orchestration I

Credits 3
This course explores advanced techniques of orchestration and arrangement. Topics include: ranges and characteristics of the instruments of the orchestra; transposing instruments; exercises in scoring and notation; techniques and software for sequencing.

MUS 430: Film Scoring and Synchronization

Credits 3
This course explores advanced topics in film scoring. Topics may include: history of films, synchronizing animation and music tempo, synching music to pictures, and copyright and publishing.

MUS 450: Sound Design Project VII

Credits 1
This course builds on MUS 351, with further exploration of music and sound design for animation and video games. Emphasis is placed on production of adaptive music and sound for video games.

MUS 450L: Sound Design Project VII Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 450. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, which may include work on a production team to provide sound and music for game and/or animation projects.

MUS 451: Sound Design Project VIII

Credits 1
This course builds on MUS 450, with further exploration of music and sound design for animation and video games. Advanced topics will vary in accordance with specifications of students'92 final projects.

MUS 451L: Sound Design Project VIII Lab

Credits 2
This lab offers students hands-on experience in a project studio, applying the concepts and techniques presented in MUS 451. Students will apply their knowledge and skills as sound designers and composers on one or more projects, which may include work on a production team to provide sound and music for game and/or animation projects.

MUS 470: Audio Design Project III

Credits 1
This course explores advanced topics in audio design and implementation. Lectures address issues that come up in audio programming at several levels: low level algorithms, midlevel components such as plugins and graphs, and high-level programming such as user interfaces and interactive music. Lecture topics include audio engine design and implementation, spatial audio, and digital signal processing.

MUS 470L: Audio Design Project III Lab

Credits 2
This course presents a guided lab environment to pursue project work in audio design and imple- mentation. Particular topics and project work include: parametrized audio components with user interfaces, audio-plugin development, and audio algorithm implementation.

MUS 471: Audio Design Projects IV

Credits 1
This course continues to explore advanced topics in audio design and implementation. Lectures address issues that come up in audio programming at several levels: low level algorithms, mid-level components such as plugins and graphs, and high-level programming such as user interfaces and interactive music. Lecture topics include: audio engine design and implementation, spatial audio, and digital signal processing.

MUS 471L: Audio Design Project IV Lab

Credits 2
This course continues to present a guided lab environment to pursue project work in audio design and implementation. Particular topics and project work include: parametrized audio components with user interfaces, audio-plugin development, and audio algorithm implementation.

MUS 490: Sound Design Internship

Credits 3
An internship is any carefully monitored work or service experience in which an individual has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what she or he is learning throughout the experience. It is usually a professional activity under general supervision of an experienced professional and in a job situation, which places a high degree of responsibility on the student.