Andy Brink - first ECE student to sign up for the AME program on track to be the first to graduate with BS degree in AME this May

Two years ago, Andrew Brink ‘14 despaired of ever finding a way to blend his love of music with an engineering major.

    And then, during his junior year, along came the new Audio and Music Engineering program.

     Talk about a perfect match! And just in the nick of time.

     Brink was the first Electrical and Computer Engineering student to sign up for the program, and is on track to be the first to graduate with a B.S. degree in audio and music engineering this May.

       Combine that with his experience as performer/business manager with No Jackets Required and as a UR Events Support technician, and Brink anticipates all kinds of job possibilities after graduation.

      “My favorite thing is to record -- whatever, wherever – and edit it and fix it,” Brink says. “Whether it be sound effects for movies or video games, or working in broadcasting doing audio editing or dialogue replacement, or working in live sound with bands.”

       “I’m also looking into event planning companies, digital media support, advertising firms . . . where the whole point is to ‘build your show.’ “

      So what is this new audio and music engineering major all about?

     According to the Program Description (go to  www.ece.rochester.edu/assets/pdf/AME_CurrGuide.pdf ) the major “combines studies in engineering and applied sciences with music and audio production to give students a technically rigorous, design-based education in the field of audio, music and sonic engineering.” The major integrates  “elements of music, audio content production, acoustics, fundamental engineering science, signal processing hardware and software, electronics, and software engineering.”

     What that’s meant for Brink is a great opportunity to actually apply the math and theory of engineering in ways that appeal to someone who loves music as much as he does.

     Consider the senior capstone project he’s working on with a fellow AME student. They’re adapting the technology used by theremins – the electronic instruments that detect hand motion to produce eerie, “sci-fi” sounds, such as the “good vibrations” of the Beach Boys’ classic oldie. The goal of the project is to create a “soundscape” for an exhibit. Slide your hand up and down a wall, and you’ll be able to adjust the reverbs and tonality.

     Or consider the way Grammy-award winner Stephen Roessner, one of Brink’s instructors, taught AME students how to recognize different frequencies. “He would play tracks with a lot of white noise, and would boost certain ranges of frequencies around a certain pivot frequency,” Brink said. “You could associate with different frequencies that sounded like they were under water, or empty sounding, or tinny -- and by telling the difference you could then associate a number with them.”

     “That made my job (with UR Events Support) much easier in ringing out a room -- making sure it doesn’t feed back and knowing what the feedback frequencies are without having to guess.”

    Brink, who plays electric guitar, at one time flirted with attempting a double major in music. Though that didn’t work out, he’s had plenty of additional opportunities at the UR to pursue music – primarily with No Jackets Required. The UR student organization promotes the performance, discussion and appreciation of contemporary popular music, and puts on at least one major show per semester.

    Brink has performed with the group, come up with themes for its shows, and even served as business manager. He handled the logistics for two shows, including the “planning, promotion, organization … everything. It was a lot of work.”

    But also good experience that could help Brink down the road. Eventually he would “like to work in a professional studio, as a recording engineer or record producer, or in concert organization. Because I have worked as a performer and technician, I can understand both sides of the argument you bring to the table. I enjoy working between clients and artists, and artists and engineers.”