Commercial Music Production and Audio – CMUS 218
CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 09/20/2023
Course Description
This course provides training in studio production techniques. Students learn studio miking for instruments and voice, digital audio workstations, and general techniques for studio production.
For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.
Rationale
Those who pursue music as a career often need skills in miking, mixing, and music production. This is particularly true for those training in commercial music. This course will prepare students to produce demos of their music and to engage appropriately with music production technology.
Course Assignment
After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.
Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will participate in 1 Discussion in this course. The student will post a thread of 250-300 words. The student must reply to two of their classmates. Each reply must be at least 150 words. For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least one scholarly citation in Turabian format. Each reply must incorporate at least one scholarly citation(s) in Turabian format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include the textbook, the Bible, and industry publications and/or websites.
Quizzes will be given on a regular basis to test understanding of assigned Learn items. Quizzes are open book, open notes. Questions will be true/false, multiple choice and multiple answer with a time limit of 60 minutes. Each quiz may be attempted twice, with the highest score counting towards the grade. (CLO: 1, 2, 3)
Students will be assigned a collaborative project in which they mic instruments and voice, use basic Pro Tools skills, mix audio, and produce a song demo recording.
Quiz: Project Song Choice
Students will register their song choice by completing a 1-question quiz.
Project: Check-In Assignments
These assignments will provide an opportunity for students to receive instructor feedback on each project stage to improve the quality of the submissions and address any specific areas, with time to make corrections before the final submission.
Project: Instrumental Track Assignment
The student will ensure progress through the course project by completing a music track as the first stage. This assignment is intended to have the instrumental production completed as the student moves into vocals and mixing in future project stages.
Project: Vocal Comp Assignment
As the second stage of the course project, this assignment is based on real-world scenarios and techniques for capturing and editing vocals in the music production process. The student will be able to apply the techniques learned in this assignment to their future professional work. The general workflows and editing within Pro Tools will translate to other digital audio workstation software.
Project: Final Assignment
For the third and final stage of the project, this assignment exactly models how a student may submit their creative content to a potential client such as a producer, publisher, record label, etc.
(CLO: 1, 2, 3, 4)
A final exam will be given to assess each student’s knowledge and skill in audio production. Projects will be reviewed and graded during the Final Exam time. Attendance is required. (CLO: 1, 2, 3, 4)
