Associate of Applied Science | 65 credits minimum
Communication and Performing Arts Division
South City Campus
General Information (801) 957-4073
Program Information (801) 957-4130
Program Website
Academic and Career Advising
Academic Advisor SCC 1.061.ME, (801) 957-3114
Academic Advisor SCC 1.061.MD, (801) 957-3125
Program Faculty
Associate Professors - Thomas Baggaley, Jon Clark
Program Description
The Music Recording Technology AAS degree program will provide students with the required skills to perform high-level tasks in the music recording industry, the business skills to be successful entrepreneurs, and the opportunity to build a portfolio of projects that will demonstrate their skills and technical abilities. Broadcast and sound engineering technicians and radio operators perform a wide variety of tasks. Their duties include setting up, operating, and maintaining the electronic equipment used in nearly all radio and television broadcasts, concerts, plays, sound recordings, and movies. They also install and maintain audiovisual equipment in businesses, schools, homes, performance venues, and other settings. There are many specialized occupations in this field.
This program will help students develop the requisite skills and technical knowledge to install and maintain audiovisual equipment and to make professional quality audio recordings for a variety of media (film, television, radio, commercial recordings, computer games, etc.); it will also help students develop the entrepreneurial ability to help them to monetize these skills. The program strives to combine a solid foundation in traditional musical and technical instruction with opportunities to gain experience working on projects modeled after those regularly encountered by professionals in the music and multimedia production industries. Music Recording Technology students will collaborate with students from other programs, such as film or animation students, as a part of their education and training.
Career Opportunities
Students completing the degree program will have received training that will help to prepare them to work as a recording engineer in a music recording studio and for freelance work as a sound designer for live concert productions. According to the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Handbook 2010-11 edition, about 29 percent of broadcast and sound engineering technicians and radio operators worked in broadcasting (except Internet broadcasting), and 15 percent worked in the motion picture, video, and sound recording industries. About 13 percent were self-employed. Students may also find freelance work in the allied fields of sound design/synthesis, film sound, songwriting, composition and arranging, although the best preparation for such jobs will take place through the completion of the appropriate elective courses.
Transfer/Articulation Information
The core of classes of the Music Recording Technology AAS, also required for the Music AS degree, have been articulated with all state-sponsored higher education institutions in the state of Utah.
Program Entry Requirements
A musical background with performance experience including basic piano/keyboard skills and the ability to read music notation are desirable and will benefit students entering the program. Students with insufficient prior preparation may be required to take MUSC 1100 - Introduction to Music Theory before being allowed to begin taking the required courses in Music Theory. Students with insufficient piano/keyboard skills may be required to take MUSC 1150 and MUSC 1160 to complete the piano proficiency requirement. Contact Thomas Baggaley: thomas.baggaley@slcc.edu.
Total Program/Course Fees
In addition to tuition, students will need to purchase $550-$600 worth of books while completing the specified courses.
Estimated Cost for Students
While not required for completion of the program, over time, any professional recording engineer will accumulate a large collection of equipment required for work in the field, such as microphones, mixers, audio cables, digital recording equipment, computers, and software, etc. Students may find it helpful to begin to purchase the most essential parts of this equipment while still participating in the program.
Estimated Time to Completion
If students follow the suggested sample schedule, completion time is four semesters.
| Program Student Learning Outcomes |
Related College-Wide Student Learning Outcomes |
| |
1 - Acquire substantive knowledge
2 - Communicate effectively
3 - Develop quantitative literacies
4 - Think critically and creatively
5 - Develop knowledge and skills to be civically engaged
6 - Develop the knowledge and skills to work with others in a professional and constructive manner
7 - Develop computer and information literacy |
| Students demonstrate the ability to work on all aspects of a music recording project, both recorded in a live performance setting and recorded in a controlled studio setting. These aspects include but are not limited to microphone placement, live sound mixing, tracking and final recording mixing and mastering. |
1, 4 |
| Students demonstrate an understanding of the mathematics and science associated with basic electronics and instrumentation technology. |
1, 3 |
| Students demonstrate an understanding of the mathematics and science associate with musical acoustics, especially as they relate to recording situations including but not limited to studio design, the acoustics of instruments and sound production and performance space acoustics that might affect live audio production. |
1, 3 |
| Students demonstrate the ability to work in a collaborative team environment on professional-quality music projects for both musical and non-musical clients. |
1, 2, 4 |
| Students demonstrate the appropriate entrepreneurial skills necessary for a freelance artist including but not limited to portfolio development, networking, promotion/marketing and basic business accounting. |
1, 4 |
| Students demonstrate intermediate-level proficiency in academic understanding of the basic structures of music including the ability to compose and analyze music according to common theoretical practices generally accepted in the music industry. |
1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Students demonstrate intermediate-level proficiency in the ability to fluently read and write music notation in accordance with practices generally accepted in the music industry. |
1, 2 |
| Students demonstrate proficiency in musical performance with appropriate expression, accuracy and artistic value. |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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