Is this possible?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello all
First time posting in this forum - second child now a junior and the college looking time is upon us. My daughter and I got so much information from the Musical Theater major board when she was going thru the process - looking forward to learning from all of you music major experts now.</p>

<p>My son plays guitar and piano. He plays mainly popular music, and is very interested in music technology, recording, production. Finding schools with strong music tech/production programs isn't easy - but we have a small list generated. If this were what he wanted to do as a major - things would be easy (well - not easy - we'd be doing the "are you good enough?" "what do you need for an audition?" thing - which is tough going - but...)</p>

<p>Right now he's leaning toward majoring in his other big interest which is biology. He's talked about med school for years - and he thinks that's what he wants to do. However, he doesn't want to completely give up the music thing, and would love to find a school where he can do both (bio major with music tech/production classes thrown in). </p>

<p>My question is whether there is any such place out there? Any schools that might have a minor in music tech that you can pursue without being a music major? Any schools that he could take classes in music tech without being enrolled in the major? If he's crazy to even consider this - we're willing to listen to that as well. All information is helpful.</p>

<p>We haven't started visiting schools yet - so many schools out there with bio programs - hoping if we can find some schools with the music stuff he's interested in we can begin to narrow the list.
Thanks so much!</p>

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<p>Well, a quick google search gave me lots of pages. Looking through them, I found a few possibilities.</p>

<p>Here is one:
Welcome</a> to the Penn State School of Music</p>

<p>
[quote]
The MUTEC minor has been pursued by students majoring in areas such as Music, Theatre Sound Design, Integrative Arts, Film Production, Information Science & Technology, and Computer Science, although students in any major may pursue the MUTEC minor.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I think Iowa State is possible, too - they have a tech minor, and I think they allow it to be pursued by a non-music major, although it is a little confusing on their website.</p>

<p>Iowa</a> State University Department of Music</p>

<p>Susquehanna also might be an option.</p>

<p>Music</a> Degree Requirements</p>

<p>It is nice that he is wanting a major in such an "available" field - almost every school offers biology. So you can search for the music tech minor first.</p>

3

<p>binx's googling/searching skills put my rudimentary efforts to shame, so I won't even try.</p>

<p>What I will offer are some thoughts on some of the potential issues you may encounter.</p>

<p>Both biology and a music tech program tend to be very time intensive studies, either as degree or even minor concentration. Issues you may run into can be conflicts of schedules, particularly labs, which tend to kill a large chunk of time on a given day.
At a larger school, you might work around this as they tend to have more available time slots for the same course offering, but it's not always the case.</p>

<p>A school may have a minor concentration, or accept non-majors, but you may find that many classes will be closed to non-majors, particularly upper division level coursework. </p>

<p>A program may be a minor course of study, and still be an audition based admit process.</p>

<p>The music department policies of institutions vary widely, and there are no general rules. Sometimes the policies are deep within the university undergrad or school/department specific handbooks. This is normally the operative document for detailed policies, (program)admission criteria, minor designation requirments and course descriptions and prohibitions/limitations.</p>

<p>If he's considering a double degree major in these two disciplines, then I'd say it's going to be a five year program at most schools, and most of those may well be audition based admits for the music portion. Some institutions also offer a sound/recording/audio BS degree program more science and applied acoustics based than a music centered BM tech/recording degree program.</p>

<p>Anything is possible for the right student, but often the key is finding the right program. In general, combining a science or tech degree with a BM music degree is often one of the most time and credit intensive paths out there. The attrition rate tends to be quite high for students with these aspirations, and most end up dropping (or minoring in) one or the other.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

4

<p>AES:</a> Educational Directory Institutional Listing by Geographic Area - Eastern Region, USA/Canada</p>

<p>There are many, many programs and they vary greatly in orientation and rigor.</p>

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<p>My first son majored in audio technology (recording arts) at Indiana University. It is quite a small department (about 15-20 per year) and very competitive to get into. This is really an engineering degree and the course requirements are so intense that a second non-musical major would be close to impossible. You can double major in composition and, I believe, performance, but both of those fields cross with the audio major in the theory and ear training requirements. He received a B.S. from the Jacobs School. He emerged with significant experience in live and recorded sound engineering because Jacobs School has so many events that require sound people and the audio students cover all of these. They definitely do not have an audio minor and non-majors are not allowed to take courses past the first or second level.</p>

<p>That's the only one I know much about.</p>

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<p>UMass Lowell is a possibility.</p>

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<p>My son is currently an Audio Arts & Acoustics major at Columbia College Chicago. The program is very strong, especially in live sound, and less classically oriented than most. I don't know about their biology program at all, but the school isn't known for sciences in general.</p>

<p>American University in DC also has a good no-audition audio program, and University of Hartford has programs both associated with the Hartt School (audition) and (I think) the Engineering Program (no audition). University of New Haven might also be an option.</p>

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<p>I just heard a piece on Morning Edition (NPR) about the audio program at Tisch School. It is pop-based and has a very entrepreneurial tilt which is good in today's audio world because most of the large recording studios have closed up shop. They have several very well-known NYC engineers teaching there which is a big plus. I imagine you might be able to do a double major at NYU. It sounds worth looking into if pop is your focus.</p>

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<p>The Hartt/UHartford programs are both very good. The Hartt program is a BM, and is audition based, while the UHartford BS is not. There may not be minors or limited accessibilty to the Hartt program, you'd have to check. I can find the Hartt undergrad handbook link if you pm me. Son is '07 Hartt BM performance grad.</p>

<p>I would seriously take a hard look at UNew Haven. I have heard very mixed reviews of thrit program.</p>

<p>NYU's Tisch program is very good. Downside is NYU is expensive, and historically stingey with aid.</p>

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<p>Thank you to all - keep the info coming if there is any more. We do know about the Hartt program - we're from the Hartford area. He's looking to go farther from home than that - but I've heard it's a great program.<br>
Will give him a list of what's been mentioned here so far and have him do some looking.
Thanks again!
Kelley</p>

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<p>A few more schools that offer music tech minors.</p>

<p>Michigan Tech
MTU</a> Visual and Performing Arts - Academics - Minors</p>

<p>University of Alabama at Birmingham
Academics</a> In The UAB Department of Music

[quote]
Students majoring in other fields may complete a minor in music or music technology and may take music courses as electives.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>University of Dayton

[quote]
The Department of Music offers a minor in Music Technology for non-music majors. Students receive training in analog and digital audio recordings as well as MIDI, multimedia, video, and other computer applications.

[/quote]

UD</a> College of Arts and Sciences - Department of Music - Academics </p>

<p>Stanford offers a minor in Music, Science & Technology
Music</a> @ Stanford: Undergraduate Studies in Music

[quote]
The Department of Music welcomes all students to participate in the Department’s offerings regardless of their major.

[/quote]
</p>

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<p>Famcruisefun: We're in the same boat - guitar and piano, interested in recording and production, but with liberal arts as well. My son is applying to SUNY Purchase, Hartt, Skidmore College and the College of St. Rose. I keep trying to get him to apply to Stevens Institute of Technology as well, but he doesn't want a tech school. Good luck!</p>

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<p>James Madison University offers a Music Industry major and a Music Industry minor. </p>

<p>2008-2009</a> Undergraduate Catalog</p>

<p>Scroll down for the requirements.</p>

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<p>I agree with Edad: check the site of AES (Audio Engineering Society). It lists (by three U.S. regions: eastern, central & western) the schools that have the program and how they handle it (i.e. AA, BA, BS, BFA and masters). There is great diversity in program admissions, structure and academic difficulty. AES does not vouch for, or rate, any of the schools, however. The site is a starting point. From a visit, I know that Ithaca College does not offer music recording as a minor. Check Drexel & UMass Lowell. Good luck.</p>