<p>And is a degree of this sort useful? How does this contrast to a more general "music major" or with those are you more limited to teaching or public performance? new to this music part here and wondered how you narrow down when there is an interest in music but not for public performance but more the composition, theory, equipment, and all that, not the "star" but rather like the support. </p>
<p>Is there a list on CC already of good places to go for this that specialize in this way?</p>
<p>There are differences between music technology and sound engineering. The music focus will involve coursework in music theory, aural skills, music history, piano/keyboard skills, and theory and applied coursework in the science of acoustics and the aspects of recording. Additional program focus can be in the areas of promotion/business/management, or more hands on studio type applications. There are BA, BM, and the occasional BS variant. Sound engineering is more of a science based focus, will not include as many music background courses, but will contain more theoretical and applied coursework in the "science" of sound and its many applications. Normally a BS degree, but I'm sure you'll find BA variants. As my son is a Hartt performance graduate, I'm most familiar with their offerings. As an example or reference point, you might want to look at the two variants they offer here THE</a> HARTT SCHOOL: MUSIC-DANCE-THEATRE, as well as the difference in admissions requirements. You will find variations at most of the schools you'll look at.</p>
<p>General music is a survey of theory, aural training, music history, piano/keyboard skills, conducting, composition. It will usually encompass some aspect of participation in vocal/instrumental ensembles, and may require a concentration in one of the named areas. BA and BM variants abound. In general it will not prepare you to meet the educational theory, and applied coursework such as observation, practicum and student teaching required for most state public K-12 teacher licensure. It may enable you to teach privately, or in private institutions not requiring teacher certification or licensure. If you want to teach in a public school, you'll want to look at music education programs.</p>
<p>This series from Rice may help in providing some general background and additional information sources Navigating</a> Music Careers</p>
<p>If you use the search this forum feature/advanced and use music technology as your criteria and search by thread title, you'll find 24 or so titled threads containing specific and general info. There's more if you search by thread.</p>
<p>Also, BassDad's thread here <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=258796%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=258796</a> is a great overview in what to look for and think about in a an undergrad program. It is geared to performance, but is well worth the read. There are music specific aspects that are unique to the standard college app/search process.</p>
<p>There are current parents/students starting or in music tech/music business programs on the board. I'm sure you'll get some specific program type questions answered in broader detail.</p>
<p>Not sure if this was in one of the links above: AES:</a> Educational Directory Institutional Listing by Geographic Area - Eastern Region, USA/Canada</p>
<p>I wonder why you see composition as a "support" function!</p>
<p>Orangepop, we've just gone through the process of trying to find programs that fit my s's particular interests in this area and I would say there is a difference in terms of what a student would spend the majority of his or her time doing. Here's what we've found to date that may (or, <em>may not</em> : ) be helpful - realize it may be limited in its scope...There seem to be "streams" to follow...: In my son's case, once he visited three programs and sat in on classes, he pretty quickly identified his favorite approach due mostly to his own tendencies (eg. he loves creating music but the technology is his instrument...not the instruments, although he is proficient at a few and can play several. He absolutely wants and needs both the school-of-music foundation and classes in composition...Yet he wants to obtain a deep technical grasp and develop transferable tech skills as a "creator" and "producer" of content for multiple media, including audio but also beyond...). Mind you, the three programs he looked into are all portfolio+interview/audition-based, very competitive, and admit small numbers (eg. U. Mich admits apx. 16). So, we await future decisions to see what he'll ACTUALLY be doing...</p>
<p>At any rate, here's a stab at describing the difference from my non-music, layman's perspective:</p>
<p>Recording engineering at university level with strong school of music option -- possible to achieve at a handful of schools via different avenues (eg. U Mich can be a Performing Arts Tech BFA Curriculum C with engineering concentration OR Curriculum D, BS...the latter is more engineering intense...Indiana Jacobs School of Music, Recording Arts Department, very hands on in terms of recording/sound reinforcement opportunities, is BS degree, however, not as much emphasis on actual composition, especially electronic composition, decided aversion to electroacoustic genre...NYU Clive Davis at Tisch school, emphasis on producing, including recording, with decided music business emphasis while NYU Steinhardt Music Technology is more composition and performance (and digital performance) focused...we did not deeply explore the following due to son's geographic interests, but you may also wish to look into University of Miaimi, USC, Colorado, Northwestern, plus a myriad of tech/engineering options at the primary music schools. In my son's case, he wanted his evaluation to be on his portfolio of created works as opposed to single-instrument performance superiority (guess why : ).</p>
<p>All the programs we visited were phenomenal in their own ways, and are well-regarded. At NYU's Clive Davis, our particular concern was that being part of Tisch school and having a contemporary/pop music feel seemed to separate the program from the (separate) school of music and the western canon. It also seemed challenging to integrate with other specializations such as film (this is true everywhere, as this type of program is in essence, already "specialized honors.")
At Indiana, the opportunities to record live were awesome due to the size of the school of music and the program was very well put together. Our principal concern was that there did not seem to be a required curriculum around electronic composition at this time.
At University of Michigan, my son found his perfect fit in terms of flexibility. The program is actually called Performing Arts Technology and is very customizable to meet/match a student's intended area of concentration. It is part of the School of Music, and as such, has a strong core of theory and musicianship underlying its foundation. There is a BM stream for those who want to pursue performance PLUS develop technology skills; there is a sonic arts stream, a multimedia stream, an engineering stream, etc. Courses include some film, can include digital performance, include math (calculus 1) and computer programming. It's quite a unique combination and definitely worth exploration. And the bonus is that it's at U. Mich, a school my son immediately bonded with.</p>
<p>I can't tell for sure, but based on the way you asked the question, you may wish to explore these programs.
You may also want to do so as early as possible because the portfolio work is unbelievably time-consuming.</p>
<p>Best wishes for a productive search!
Cheers,
K</p>
<p>thanks everyone for the great answers. i see there is a lot to learn on this!!!</p>