BA in Audio Arts and Technology

Program Overview

A BA in audio arts and technology (AAT) provides students with the creative and expressive abilities and technical skills to build productive careers in many fields in which sound and audio are central including:

  • Music recording and media production
  • Sound design for media and games
  • Live event support
  • Broadcasting
  • Acoustic analysis and design of the built and natural environments
  • Consumer product design and development

The program offers a high degree of flexibility to enable students to combine studies in music, business and economics, media studies, studio arts, English and film studies, biology, psychology, or other areas that interest the student.

For more detailed information about the major in audio arts and technology, see the AAT Curriculum Guide (pdf).

Major Requirements

The AAT BA requires 54 credit hours in the major, including a two-credit upper-level writing course. All students must also complete the primary writing requirement, as well as two clusters—one in the humanities and one in a social science. Visit the sample schedule page to see how these courses might look broken out over four years. 

Math and Computing Requirement

Both of the following courses:

  • MATH 161: Calculus IA*
  • ECE 114: Intro to C/C++ Programming**

*MATH 171, or MATH 141 can also be used to meet this requirement, depending on placement by the Department of Mathematics.

**The computer programming requirement also may be satisfied by completing CSC 161, however students should contact the AME 262/AME 264 instructor to demonstrate their familiarity with the C and C++ programming languages before taking these courses.

Primary Writing Requirement

All students are required to complete the primary writing requirement by taking WRTG 105 for its equivalent. See the Writing, Speaking and Argument Program’s primary writing requirement page for more information.

Pre-Major Requirements

All of the following courses are required:

  • AME 140: Introduction to Audio and Music Engineering
  • AME 141: Fundamentals of the Digital Audio
  • AME 191: Art and Technology of Recording
  • AME 193: Sound Design

AME Elective Courses

Choose four courses:

  • AME 196: Interactive Computer Music
  • AME 227: Podcasting History: Hear UR
  • AME 240: Revolutions in Sound
  • AME 242: Listening and Audio Production
  • AME 244: Audio for Visual Media
  • AME 247: Audio for Gaming
  • AME 262: Audio Software Design I
  • AME 264: Audio Software Design II

Arts and Science Elective Courses

Choose two of the following courses:

  • ENGL 255: Film History: Ealy Cinema
  • ENGL 259: Popular Film Genres
  • ENGL 260: Film History: 1989-Present
  • ENGL 261: Film Theory
  • FMST 161: Introduction to Video Art
  • MUSC 101: Elements of Music
  • MUSC 110: Introduction to Music Theory
  • MUSC 111: Theory I
  • MUSC 134: Style and Genres: Introduction to Music History
  • SART 151: New Media and Emerging Practice 1
  • SART 153: Introduction to Sound Art

Capstone Project

Students are required to take and complete AME 385: Capstone Project in Audio Arts and Technology. Projects will be of the students’ choosing in consultation with an AME 385 advisor. Typically, the capstone project will be completed in the senior year.

Instructor permission is required to register for AME 385. The instructor you choose as advisor to your project will depend on your project proposal.

Upper-Level Writing Requirement

Most AAT students will take WRTG 273/277: Communicating Your Professional Identity to complete their upper-level writing requirements, however, student may substitute this for another writing course, so long as they get approval from the undergraduate coordinator.

Substitutions must be approved before students register for the course.  

Cluster Requirement

Students must complete two clusters, one in the humanities and one in a social science. Please refer to advising’s cluster page for cluster regulations and a link to the Cluster Search Engine.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Credit Hour Requirement

It is a New York State requirement that programs granting the bachelor of arts degree must include a minimum of 90 credit hours in liberal arts and sciences (LAS), which includes humanities, social science, mathematics, and the sciences, but not engineering and business courses.

After completing the AAT major, primary writing course, and two clusters, a total of 46 free elective credits remain. To satisfy the LAS requirement, 40 of the 46 credit hours must be taken in LAS disciplines.

For students completing a double major in areas such as music (including Eastman students), mathematics, the sciences, humanities, or social sciences, the courses required by those majors automatically will satisfy the LAS credit requirement. However, students completing a double major combining AAT with engineering, computer science, or business must be mindful of the LAS requirement.

Questions

Please contact Barbara Dick, undergraduate program coordinator, with any questions. You can reach her by calling (585) 275-5719 or emailing barbara.dick@rochester.edu.