Music Technology

The UO offers three degree programs in music technology:
  • Bachelor of Science in Music, Music technology option 
  • Master of Music, Intermedia music technology
  • Doctor of Musical Arts in Music performance, emphasis in Performance of Data-driven Instruments
The educational focus is on the creation of new types of musical content, not on the vocational training of recording engineers or related technicians. 
 
Each curriculum strives to balance the development of artistic and creative skills with the mastery of the technical aspects of the discipline. Courses emphasize music composition, performance, and real-time interactive musical and new media environments. 
 
Alumni hold positions on university faculties, pursue various careers in the music industry, work in multimedia production and sound for video, and independently compose technologically based music. 
 
Future Music Oregon, the UO’s music technology center, is dedicated to the exploration of sound and its creation, to new forms of musical and new media performance, and to the innovative use of computers and other recent technologies to create expressive music and new media compositions. 
 
The UO’s music technology faculty members embrace dual roles, facilitating both educational and creative pursuits.

Among the courses offered are Electronic Composition, Interactive Media Performance, Sensormusik, Musical Performance Networks, Performance with Data-Driven Instruments, Digital Audio and Sound Design, and History of Electro-Acoustic Music.

The Oregon Electronic Device Orchestra (OEDO) employs all types recent technology to provide a unique performance experience for its members. Students enjoy the opportunity to learn from Guest artists like John Chowning, Chris Chafe, Jon Appleton, Allen Strange, Xiaofu Zhang, and Carla Scaletti.

Music Technology Facilities

Future Music Oregon features a suite of outstanding studios for electroacoustic and new media composition that provide powerful and high-quality environments in which students learn, create, and thrive. Studios are equipped with current software, digital mixers, and game controllers and sensor-based interfaces for technological and artistic exploration.

Performance Opportunities

Student work is presented live three times each year as part of the Future Music Oregon concert series. Music technology students enjoy numerous opportunities to collaborate with students in music, dance, and digital arts.

Summer Academy for Computer Music

Each summer the UO School of Music and Dance hosts students from the top music institutes in China at the Summer Academy for Computer Music. This intensive two-week workshop examines technical and artistic topics related to music composition with computers. Past participants include students from the Central Conservatory of Music, the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Peking University, and the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts. Contact Jeffrey Stolet for more information.

Conference and Festival Appearances

Students’ creative work is presented around the country and world at festivals including the International Computer Music Conference, the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States National Conference, the Kyma International Sound Symposium, the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Musicacoustica, Electronic Music Midwest, the Música Viva Festival in Spain, the Re-New Digital Arts Festival in Denmark, and the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival.

Minor in Audio Production

This degree provides students with a comprehensive course of study emphasizing artistic and creative skill in a variety of fields and applications, from recording, mixing, mastering, and sound reinforcement. Audio Production emphasizes the production of all types of musical content, both digital and analog, and includes all genres, for example, jazz, classical, and pop. In the pursuit of artistic excellence, Audio Production focuses on the quality of sound with regard to music’s dissemination in a variety of environments (live, print, and online formats), not simply new media environments.

Students learn to explore the artistic and technical sides of music production within the Recording Studio facilities at the University of Oregon. Directed by Lance Miller along with assistant Jasper Walton, the UO SOMD Recording Facilities provide superb quality for recording of recitals, faculty artists, student recordings, and special projects. Learn more about Audio Production coursework by reviewing our “Challenge Song” Audio Recording Techniques III course, MUS 482.

Degree requirements and courses may be found by visiting Undergraduate Degree Programs. Even if students do not minor in the Audio Production degree, the UO SOMD Recording Facilities are available for one low hourly rate. Email somdav@uoregon.edu to book your session.

For questions about the Audio Production minor, students may contact either the Music Undergraduate Advisor, Instructor Jon Bellona, or Senior Sound/Video Recording Engineer Lance Miller.