Music Technology & Production

Effective: Fall 2024
Associate in Arts Program Map
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This program map from the 2024-2025 catalog year represents one possible pathway to complete this program. Your pathway may vary depending on your transfer plans and also previous college credit, including AP Test scores, concurrent enrollment courses and high school articulated courses.

I'm ready to get started. What do I do next?

  1. Review this program map to get an overview of the required courses
  2. Meet with a counselor to develop your customized student education plan www.chabotcollege.edu/counseling
  3. Use DegreeWorks, an online student education planning tool, to track your progress toward graduation www.chabotcollege.edu / admissions / degreeworks
Program Description

The A.A. in Music Technology & Production is designed for degree-seeking students who are looking for a hands-on education that will provide them with a strong foundation for employment in the largely freelance professional music & audio industry. This broad range of study in a variety of areas within the field will provide students a dynamic basis from which to discover their own unique pathway into the music industry.


What can I do with this major?

This program, while not a requirement to entry into the music industry, will provide students with a solid foundation for primarily freelance and project-based work. This includes but is not limited to the following areas: sound engineering technicians, audio equipment technicians, music producer/composer, artist management, concert promotion, sound design & game audio, audio for visual media, and performing musicians. As such, the Music Recording & Technology program at Chabot College seeks to provide students with a broad, dynamic package of courses and completion options.


Learning and Career Pathway
  • Arts and Design

Icon Key

= Critical Course = Prerequisite for Other Courses = Prerequisite Required = Required for Major GE = General Education

Semester 1

13-14 units

MUSL 6 or MUSL 2A (Choose one)

3-4 units

MUSL 6
Basic Music Skills

3 units
An introduction to the notation and primary elements of tonal music. Incorporates the following concepts: staff notation in treble and bass clefs, rhythm and meter; basic properties of sound; intervals; diatonic scales and triads; and diatonic chords. Development of skills in handwritten notation is expected.
or

MUSL 2A
Harmony and Musicianship I

4 units
Study of the fundamentals of Western music applicable to both classical and popular styles: notation; fundamental theoretical concepts; musicianship skills including sight singing, rhythmic training, ear training, dictation, and keyboard realization; and basic compositional skills.
Course Details:
  1. Strongly Recommended: MUSL 6
  • Transfers to CSU

    • MURT 20
    Digital Audio Workstation

    3 units
    Fundamentals of digital audio manipulation, recording and production within industry-standard digital audio workstation software. Focus on essential functionality and technical proficiency within audio platforms such as Avid ProTools and Ableton LIVE. Introduction to MIDI sequencing, digital signal processing and audio editing.

    MUSL 8
    History of Rock and Roll and Popular Music

    3 units
    A cultural survey of original American music traditions, forms and trends influenced by cultural, socio-economic, socio-political and economic changes including blues, jazz, early rock, the “British invasion,” rap, hip hop culture, Latino rock, heavy metal, jazz-rock fusion, electronic, modern rock, and pop

    English 1- Critical Reading and Composition

    4 units
    GE

    Semester 2

    16-17 units

    MURT 21
    Audio Recording I

    3 units
    Fundamentals of audio recording and the digital audio workstation. Basic acoustics, principles of analog and digital audio basics, studio set-up, microphone technique, basic mixing techniques and digital audio workstation fundamentals.

    MURT 22A
    Electronic Music I

    3 units
    This intermediate course cover the fundamentals of electronic music production and MIDI sequencing. Principles of synthesis, survey of electronic music instruments and their development, MIDI sequencing, drum machines, beat making, and multitrack electronic music production will be studied.
    Course Details:
    1. Prerequisite: MURT 20
  • Transfers to CSU

    • MUSL 28
    Musical Structure & Songwriting

    3 units
    Study of contemporary rock and popular music theory with a songwriting implementation. Common chord progressions, harmonic development, song forms, lyric structure and analysis, orchestration, history and analysis of studio recording effects on important popular music styles of the mid to late 20th Century.
    Terms Offered: Spring

    General Education Course- see a counselor to choose the appropriate general education pattern and general ed course option for this term.

    4 units
    GE

    Math Course for General Education: see a counselor to choose the appropriate course.

    3-4 units
    GE

    Summer 1

    1 unit

    MURT 25
    Live Concert Sound1

    1 unit
    Sound design and amplification management for live music events. Management and manipulation of audio signal flow, interconnected amplification hardware, stage monitoring, and real-time audio signal processing for live audio events. Hands-on participation in on-campus live audio events.
    Terms Offered: Summer
    • 1 - Only offered during the summer.

    Semester 3

    16 units

    MURT 22B or MURT 23 (Choose one)

    3 units

    MURT 22B
    Electronic Music II

    3 units
    Advanced electronic music production. Projects will include audio for film and video, theatrical productions, video games, advertisements, sound effects and sound installations.
    or

    MURT 23
    Audio Recording II

    3 units
    Advanced studio recording techniques. Highly specific and refined microphone selection and implementation, complex multichannel signal flow, analog and digital signal processing, and multitrack mixing in the digital audio workstation. Student-produced, hands-on recording sessions in both the studio and live-concert settings.

    Guitar, Piano or Jazz Piano (Choose one course)

    1 unit

    MUSA 20A
    Guitar I

    1 unit
    Students will be led through a one-semester course to introduce them to the guitar. The course will be split into several units that cover various aspects of understanding the instrument and the music that can be created with it. Students will learn using a combination of folk and classic approaches to playing technique, utilizing basic scales and chords in first position, and music notation. Students will also be led through a routine of tuning their guitars, warming-up, group instruction, and independent group practicing and playing.
    Course Details:
    1. Strongly Recommended: MUSL 6
    or

    MUSA 21A
    Piano I

    1 unit
    Beginning piano. Contemporary and classic approaches to playing piano using basic scales, chords and music notation.
    Course Details:
    1. Strongly Recommended: MUSL 6
    or

    MUSA 22A
    Jazz Piano and Musicianship I

    1 unit
    Voicings, chords, and guidelines for improvisation in the contemporary styles of the jazz pianist. Post bop-era, through modern to avant-garde piano playing in the jazz idiom.
    Course Details:
    1. Strongly Recommended: MUSL 6

    MURT 26
    Music Business and the Law

    3 units
    Legal issues in the music industry, with a focus on music publishing and licensure, the role of the record label, and distribution and retailing.
    Terms Offered: Fall

    General Education Course- see a counselor to choose the appropriate general education pattern and general ed course option for this term.

    3 units
    GE

    General Education Course- see a counselor to choose the appropriate general education pattern and general ed course option for this term.

    3 units
    GE

    General Education Course- see a counselor to choose the appropriate general education pattern and general ed course option for this term.

    3 units
    GE

    Semester 4

    14-15 units

    MURT 24 or MURT 31 (Choose one)

    3 units
    Take MURT 24 if you previously took MURT 23. Take MURT 31 if you previously took MURT 22B

    MURT 24
    Advanced Mixing Techniques

    3 units
    Focus of course is on advanced multitrack mixing techniques. Implementation of signal processing to a multichannel audio mix using outboard and virtual signal processors, submixing, busing and summing mixes, complex signal flow, advanced mixer automation, and selected topics in mastering
    or

    MURT 31
    Sound Design

    3 units
    Introduction to Sound Design and Audio Post-Production for Multimedia. Includes creating and editing Sound Effects, ADR, Foley, Music, and Ambience, for multiple visual mediums such as Film, TV, Video Gaming, Theatre, and Dance. Emphasis on computer assisted production using Digital Audio Workstations and sound design techniques using industry-standard equipment.

    MURT 50
    Music Industry Internship

    1 unit
    Internship in the music industry as approved by Music Recording & Technology faculty in the context of the student’s coursework and interests in the MURT department. Cooperative effort between student and music industry supervisor to accomplish agreed upon work objectives and experiential goals. Student provides verification of service experience hours during the term. Music industry organization to be approved by MURT faculty. Hours and duties made in agreement between student and music industry supervisor. Students will meet on-campus with MURT faculty for one hour per week to discuss experience & progress. Faculty permission required for registration in the class.
    Course Details:
    1. Prerequisite: MURT 20
    2. Prerequisite: MURT 26

    Elective- see a counselor to choose a course that counts for elective units (can be any credit course).

    1-2 units

    General Education Course- see a counselor to choose the appropriate general education pattern and general ed course option for this term.

    3 units
    GE

    General Education Course- see a counselor to choose the appropriate general education pattern and general ed course option for this term.

    3 units
    GE

    General Education Course- see a counselor to choose the appropriate general education pattern and general ed course option for this term.

    3 units
    GE
    Total Units: 60-63 units
    This program map is not a guarantee of course availability or financial aid applicability.