Music Production

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(Program added to the catalog November 2020)

Music Production Mission

The mission of the Music Production department is to prepare student musicians with the knowledge, technical skill sets, and diverse cultural perspectives for lasting careers as the composers, recording and production engineers, and creative entrepreneurs who will reshape tomorrow’s music and multimedia production industries.

Music Production Description

The RMCAD Music Production Department is founded on the idea that music making has always been an exploration of new technological means for perceptual, expressive, and intellectual inquiry into aural experience. The academic study of digital music production reinforces this idea and is uniquely positioned to address the contemporary relevance of key issues in music— tensions between the aesthetic and functional dimensions of music experience, theory and practice, art and craft, and modes of listening and means of voicing. The BFA in Music Production is designed to empower students to identify, mediate, reconcile, and ultimately navigate these tensions toward the development of an applied creative practice, individual style, life-long musicianship abilities, cultural stewardship, and tangible and marketable skill sets.

Music production graduates will endeavor upon careers marked by accelerating industry change and an ever-shifting landscape of technical, social, and aesthetic priorities. The BFA degree ensures that students acquire the strong conceptual knowledge needed today to grow and adapt to future technologies and new musical horizons. The curriculum prioritizes the development of foundational musicianship and music technology skills, combined with coursework throughout the degree that emphasizes the applied context and future relevance of specific production tools, techniques, workflows, and communities of listeners. The degree program is designed to first cultivate thoughtful musicians and then shift to equip these musicians with the ability to utilize emerging sound technologies to apply their musical knowledge, realize their creative visions, and hone their technical skills in alignment with professional expectations.

In addition to the creative and technical knowledge needed for future success, students must also have practical business skill sets to navigate changing industry trends and capitalize on career growth opportunities. The degree includes targeted coursework in project management, business operations, accounting principles, intellectual property rights, publishing, marketing, and distribution. Upper-level courses, portfolio reviews, and the graduation project requirements are designed to help students integrate the various creative, technical, and business competencies that must come together to achieve success realizing large creative projects— to produce music for games, film, and other commercial and artistic venues. This integrative, STEAM-oriented education ultimately prepares students for employment as multimedia music composers, songwriters, and producers, studio and field recording engineers, post-production audio engineers, audio editors, arrangers, interactive sound designers, and other careers in the media production and communications industries.

The Music Production BFA equips students with the musical knowledge, technology skills, and business principles that are more essential than ever to achieve long-term growth in a creative career, and enables graduates to leverage creative and critical thought towards all aspects of their work, present a relevant and focused portfolio, and demonstrate the necessary project experience to embark on their professional journey.

Music Production Program Objectives

• Compose, produce, and arrange music that reflects an applied knowledge of music theory, contemporary composition styles, and production technologies.
• Edit, mix, and master audio proficiently for a variety of media and formats using established and emerging industry technologies.
• Use contemporary music business practices and professional development resources to plan for and pursue a financially viable career in the music, audio, or media production industries.

Music Production Program Learning Outcomes

Music Production Program Learning Outcomes Rubric  

MUSICAL
Students compose, produce, and arrange original music in various styles using both electronic and acoustic sound materials.

TECHNICAL
Students record, edit, and post-produce digital audio for distribution according to established industry formats and standards.

CRITICAL / CULTURAL
Students evaluate and critique the cultural, aesthetic, and technological significance of sound apparent in popular forms of music and audible media.

MUSICAL / CRITICAL
Students make and defend musical decisions based on the identification, evaluation, and critique of relevant examples of existing music.

PROFESSIONAL
Students schedule, budget for, and execute on the production, distribution, and promotion of new musical work following a strategy for financial remuneration, career growth, or societal benefit.

COMMUNICATION
Students communicate, in writing and speech, informed perspectives on different styles of music and craft socially conscious arguments regarding aesthetic trends and emerging production techniques.

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