Program Requirements
The goal of this Minor is to provide instruction in practical and creative applications of technology for musical purposes. This program will help prepare students for production-oriented jobs in the creative arts.
This program is open to students from any discipline and has no prerequisites other than familiarity with computers. Applications will only be considered for fall admission. Late applications will not be accepted and no students will be admitted to the Minor in January. Registration will be limited to available lab space. To apply, submit an online application through the Music website: www.mcgill.ca/music/programs/minor/mat.
Students will be selected on the basis of their previous background or experience in music technology and/or sound recording, their computer programming skills, their expressed interest in the program, and their Cumulative Grade Point Average.
Advising for the Minor is available from the Area Chair for the Music Technology Program. Further information on this program is available on the Music Technology website at: http://www.music.mcgill.ca/musictech/programmes_and_admissions.
Required Courses (12 credits)
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MUMT 202 Fundamentals of New Media (3 credits)
Overview
Music Technology : A theoretical and practical introduction to selected areas of music technology. Topics include digital audio and sampling theory, MIDI and sequencing, audio editing and mixing, elementary sound recording, score editing software and current areas of research interest.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
3 hours
Prerequisites: none
Restriction: Open to all students though priority will be given to students in the Music Technology MAT Minor, followed by Schulich School of Music students.
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MUMT 250 Music Perception and Cognition (3 credits)
Overview
Music Technology : Basic processes by which the brain transforms sound waves into musical events, dimensions, systems and structures and the processes by which musicians imagine new musical sounds and structures and plan movements that produce music on instruments.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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MUMT 302 New Media Production 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Music Technology : Techniques for producing and manipulating music and sound for new media applications. Synthesis techniques including FM, granular and physical modeling. Audio effects including delay, reverberation, dynamics processing, and filtering. Audio compression, HCI and MIR concepts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
3 hours
Prerequisite: MUMT 202
Restriction: Open only to students in the Music Technology MAT Minor or by permission of the instructor.
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PHYS 224 Physics of Music (3 credits)
Overview
Physics : An introduction to the physics of music. Properties of sound and their perception as pitch, loudness, and timbre. Dissonance, consonance, and musical intervals and tuning. Physics of sound propagation and reflection. Resonance. Acoustic properties of pipes, strings, bars, and membranes, and sound production in wind, string, and percussion instruments. The human voice. Room reverberation and acoustics. Directional characteristics of sound sources.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
3 hours lectures
Designed for students in the Faculty of Music but suitable for students with an interest in music and its physical basis.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken PHYS 225
Complementary Courses (6 credits)
6 credits selected from:
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MUMT 301 Music and the Internet (3 credits)
Overview
Music Technology : A brief history of Internet technologies (protocols, web servers, web browsers) and their relationship to music and musicians (physical vs. virtual music distribution, digital music formats, streaming services). Locating, retrieving, and working with online music information through Web APIs and coding exercises. Basic static website creation for musicians (HTML/CSS/JavaScript). Technology-enhanced music creation.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
3 hours
Prerequisite: MUMT 202
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MUMT 303 New Media Production 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Music Technology : Advanced audio processing with general considerations of aesthetics in sonic art. Introduction to theory and practice of digital video processing using Jitter.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
3 hours
Prerequisite: MUMT 302
Restriction: Open only to students in the Music Technology MAT Minor or by permission of the instructor.
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MUPD 204 Production for Digital Media 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Music Professional Development : Fundamental video production techniques for music and general applications. Professional video camera operation, lighting and shooting techniques. The lab component of the course includes camera setup and operation during Schulich School of Music productions for live internet streaming. Capture and editing of video, audio, text and graphics for use in creating digital media. Basic techniques of recording audio for video.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor
Restriction: Enrolment will be limited to 16.
A Macintosh laptop will be an asset.
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MUSR 200 Audio Recording Essentials (3 credits)
Overview
Sound Recording : A basic overview of audio recording. Topics include fundamentals of audio; a historical overview of recorded sound; analog and digital signal flow; listening environment design; listening and analysis; simple recording; connecting audio to a video camera; and audio on the web.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
No experience in audio recording required.
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MUSR 232 Introduction to Electronics (3 credits)
Overview
Sound Recording : Basics of electricity including: Ohm's law, electronic components, DC circuits, block diagram, amplifiers, filters, power supplies, electrical measurements (frequency levels, distortion). Emphasis will be placed on electronics applied to audio.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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MUSR 300D1 Introduction to Music Recording (3 credits) *
Overview
Sound Recording : The theory and practice of music recording including a study of recording environments, equipment and studio techniques. The analysis of music scores and recordings with respect to the requirements and possibilities of the recording studio. Studio work will include recording sessions, recording of live concerts, editing, mixing and music p.a.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
3 hours lecture plus 4 hours studio time.
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
It is recommended that all students taking this course register concurrently for PHYS 224 Physics of Music if they do not already have a background in this subject.
Students must register for both MUSR 300D1 and MUSR 300D2.
No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 300D1 and MUSR 300D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken MUMT 300D1/D2.
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MUSR 300D2 Introduction to Music Recording (3 credits) *
Overview
Sound Recording : See MUSR 300D1 for description.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: MUSR 300D1.
No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 300D1 and MUSR 300D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
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MUSR 339 Introduction to Electroacoustics (3 credits)
Overview
Sound Recording : Basic principles of operation and design of electroacoustical devices and systems; transducers and signal processing devices; magnetic tape sound recording - reproducing systems; disc recording, motion picture sound recording and reproducing systems; practical demonstration of some of these devices and associated measuring, testing and analyzing equipment and techniques.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
*MUSR 300D1/MUSR 300D2 has limited enrollment and should be selected together. This course is generally restricted to students in the Sound Recording Qualifying Year program. Students interested in taking this course should contact the Sound Recording Area Coordinator to seek permission to register.
