Prerequisites (27 credits)
If you did not complete the prerequisites for this program during your undergraduate studies in music, you may apply for a one-year qualifying program as a special undergraduate student. Contact the Sound Recording Area Chair for further information. Prerequisite courses include:
Required Prerequisite Courses (21 credits)
MUCO 260
Instruments of the Orchestra
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Composition: An introductory study of the instruments of string, woodwind and brass families, elementary acoustics of the instruments. Techniques of playing including embouchure, fingering, bowing, hand-stopping, transposing instruments. Evolution of the instruments, their technique and their music from the 18th century to the present.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours
- Prerequisite: MUTH 150 or MUTH 111 or MUJZ 160
- Restriction: Not open to students in the Major Composition
- Priority will be given to students in the Minor Composition and Special Students in the prerequisite package for Sound Recording. Other students may be admitted with permission of the instructor.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUMT 250
Music Perception and Cognition
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Music Technology: Basic processes by which the brain transforms sound waves into musical events, dimensions, systems and structures and the processes by which musicians imagine new musical sounds and structures and plan movements that produce music on instruments.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 232
Introduction to Electronics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Basics of electricity including: Ohm's law, electronic components, DC circuits, block diagram, amplifiers, filters, power supplies, electrical measurements (frequency levels, distortion). Emphasis will be placed on electronics applied to audio.
Offered by: Music Research
- 2 hours lecture plus 2 hours laboratory.
- Prerequisite or corequisite: MATH 112. Available as Arts/Science elective in B.Mus. programs.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken MUMT 232.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 300D1
Intro to Music Recording
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: The theory and practice of music recording including a study of recording environments, equipment and studio techniques. The analysis of music scores and recordings with respect to the requirements and possibilities of the recording studio. Studio work will include recording sessions, recording of live concerts, editing, mixing and music p.a.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours lecture plus 4 hours studio time.
- Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.
- It is recommended that all students taking this course register concurrently for PHYS 224 Physics of Music if they do not already have a background in this subject.
- Students must register for both MUSR 300D1 and MUSR 300D2.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 300D1 and MUSR 300D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken MUMT 300D1/D2.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 300D2
Intro to Music Recording
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: See MUSR 300D1 for description.
Offered by: Music Research
- Prerequisite: MUSR 300D1.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 300D1 and MUSR 300D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 339
Intro to Electroacoustics
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Basic principles of operation and design of electroacoustical devices and systems; transducers and signal processing devices; magnetic tape sound recording - reproducing systems; disc recording, motion picture sound recording and reproducing systems; practical demonstration of some of these devices and associated measuring, testing and analyzing equipment and techniques.
Offered by: Music Research
- 2 hours lecture plus 2 hours laboratory.
- Prerequisite: MUSR 232 (previously MUMT 232). Available as Arts/Science elective in B.Mus. programs.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken MUMT 339.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
PHYS 224
Physics of Music
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Physics: An introduction to the physics of music. Properties of sound and their perception as pitch, loudness, and timbre. Dissonance, consonance, and musical intervals and tuning. Physics of sound propagation and reflection. Resonance. Acoustic properties of pipes, strings, bars, and membranes, and sound production in wind, string, and percussion instruments. The human voice. Room reverberation and acoustics. Directional characteristics of sound sources.
Offered by: Physics
- Fall
- 3 hours lectures
- Designed for students in the Faculty of Music but suitable for students with an interest in music and its physical basis.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken PHYS 225
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
Complementary Prerequisite Courses (6 credits)
Select one of following two courses:
MUMT 203
Introduction to Digital Audio
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Music Technology: An introduction to digital audio and the technologies involved in its practical realization and use in computer music. Topics will include audio signals and systems, sampling & quantization, signal encoding, compression, transmission and storage, filters, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, digital audio effects, sound sampling and synthesis techniques.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours
- Restriction(s): Open only to students in the Music Technology MST Minor or by permission of the instructor.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
<<OR>>
MUMT 202
Fundamentals of New Media
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Music Technology: A theoretical and practical introduction to selected areas of music technology. Topics include digital audio and sampling theory, MIDI and sequencing, audio editing and mixing, elementary sound recording, score editing software and current areas of research interest.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours
- Prerequisites: none
- Restriction: Open to all students though priority will be given to students in the Music Technology MAT Minor, followed by Schulich School of Music students.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
*Note: Students who lack any previous training in sound recording should take MUMT 202 in lieu of MUMT 203
And select one of the following courses:
MUMT 302
New Media Production 1
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Music Technology: Techniques for producing and manipulating music and sound for new media applications. Synthesis techniques including FM, granular and physical modeling. Audio effects including delay, reverberation, dynamics processing, and filtering. Audio compression, HCI and MIR concepts.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours
- Prerequisite: MUMT 202
- Restriction: Open only to students in the Music Technology MAT Minor or by permission of the instructor.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
<<OR>>
MUPD 204
Production for Digital Media 1
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Music Professional Development: Fundamental video production techniques for music and general applications. Professional video camera operation, lighting and shooting techniques. The lab component of the course includes camera setup and operation during Schulich School of Music productions for live internet streaming. Capture and editing of video, audio, text and graphics for use in creating digital media. Basic techniques of recording audio for video.
Offered by: Music Research
- Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor
- Restriction: Enrolment will be limited to 16.
- A Macintosh laptop will be an asset.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
- Meet with your supervisor and select the 3 elective seminars to take over 2 years.
- Compile and submit your recording portfolio at the end of each term.
- Fill out your progress reports.
Year 1, Fall required courses
MUSR 629D1
Technical Ear Training
2 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: This course will, through a sequence of specific auditory exercises, develop and improve students' aural sensitivity to small changes in sound quality. Students train to identify spectral variables in sound, develop stable reference of sound quality and learn about spectral characteristics of musical instruments.
Offered by: Music Research
- 1 hour tutorial, 2 hours laboratory.
- Students must register for both MUSR 629D1 and MUSR 629D2.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 629D1 and MUSR 629D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken MUMT 629D1/D2.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 668
Digital/Analog Audio Editing
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Using analog and digital record/playback equipment, students learn, through practice, the art of replacing, patching, rebalancing, reconstructing, or generally speaking, improving recorded music through editing. Teaching will include cut and splice editing, disk-based editing, and editing by transfer and mixing.
Offered by: Music Research
- 1 hour tutorial, 3 hours studio time.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 670D1
Recording Theory & Practice 1
5 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Theoretical and practice study of recording equipment, procedures and techniques. Recording sessions and live stereo recording, using the recording studio, concert hall and portable equipment for on-location recording. Also included will be an introduction to the areas of radio drama, broadcast recording and radio commercials.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours seminar, 6 hours studio time.
- Prerequisite: MUMT 300.
- Students must register for both MUSR 670D1 and MUSR 670D2.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 670D1 and MUSR 670D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 672D1
Analysis of Recordings
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: The analysis of recording engineering, production, performance, aesthetics and technical quality of selected recordings.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
Year 1, Winter required courses
MUSR 629D2
Technical Ear Training
2 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: See MUSR 629D1 for description.
Offered by: Music Research
- Prerequisite: MUSR 629D1.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 629D1 and MUSR 629D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 667
Digital Studio Technology
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Technical and operational characteristics of different digital recording systems currently employed by the recording industry.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 670D2
Recording Theory & Practice 1
5 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: See MUSR 670D1 for description.
Offered by: Music Research
- Prerequisite: MUSR 670D1.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 670D1 and MUSR 670D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 672D2
Analysis of Recordings
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: See MUSR 672D1 for description.
Offered by: Music Research
- Prerequisite: MUSR 672D1.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 672D1 and MUSR 672D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 678
Adv Digital Editing&Post-Prod.
2 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: This course covers advanced concepts and techniques of audio post-production using digital workstations. Students practise the assembly of raw material into a complete final product through editing, signal processing, mixing, sound restoration and pre-mastering.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 691
Mastering and Restoration
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Advanced practices in mastering and remastering of recorded music. Emphasis on
digitizing and restoration (“clean-up") of ageing analog sources, print-through correction, and the assembling/mastering/finalizing of new recordings utilizing various techniques. Specific topics include archiving/preservation/metadata,
analog tape transfer including alignment/azimuth and record bias, 78rpm disc transfers including stylus choice/speed correction and playback curve selection. Instruction is included in equalization and dynamic range control processes as they relate specifically to the mastering process.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
- Compile and submit your recording portfolio at the end of each term.
- Apply in February to graduate in Spring (see graduation webpage).
- Fill out your progress reports.
Year 2, Fall required courses
MUSR 671D1
Recording Theory & Practice 2
5 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Emphasis on multi-track recording theory and practice. The course will also concentrate on expanded multi-track procedures: signal processing, overdubbing, mixing, editing, and producing.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 669D1
Topics:Classical Music Record
1.5 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Issues involving classical music recording. Topics may include: analysis of performance styles, acoustics of concert halls, production of music videos, seminars with recording producers, tonmeisters, classical music in multimedia, and others.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 677D1
Audio for Video Post-Prod
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: Theoretical study includes historical analysis of sound for image, audio post-production process for film and video, aesthetic and technical considerations in sound design, time code and synchronization, and final mix formats. Practical skills include field recording, sound library management, sound design, dialog, effects and music editing, and final mix process.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours seminar, 4 hours studio time.
- Students must register for both MUSR 677D1 and MUSR 677D2.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 677D1 and MUSR 677D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
Year 2, Winter required courses
MUSR 669D2
Topics:Classical Music Record
1.5 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: See MUSP 669D1 for description.
Offered by: Music Research
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 692
Music Production Workshop
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: The Seminar aims at giving Music Performance and Sound Recording students the tools to becoming better recording artists, performers and recording engineers in today’s music scene. It will help them acquire skills and abilities as well as develop an informed judgement about recorded music performances and the recorded sound.
Offered by: Music Research
- 3 hours.
- Restriction(s): This seminar is open to second year masters and doctoral Sound Recording students, master's and doctoral Performance and Graduate Artist Diploma students only.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 671D2
Recording Theory & Practice 2
5 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: See MUSR 671D1 for description.
Offered by: Music Research
- Prerequisite: MUSR 671D1.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 671D1 and MUSR 671D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
MUSR 677D2
Audio for Video Post-Prod
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Sound Recording: See MUSR 677D1 for description.
Offered by: Music Research
- Prerequisite: MUSR 677D1.
- No credit will be given for this course unless both MUSR 677D1 and MUSR 677D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2024 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024 academic year
Progress Reports and Degree Audit Forms
To avoid running out of time, fill out your progress reports at least once a year with your supervisor.
Graduate Progress Report Guidelines, Research tracking form, M.A. Sound Recording (non-thesis) forms are found HERE
