Undergraduate Program
Undergraduate Courses
Courses currently being offered:
Check the course schedules/descriptions available via the Registrar's Office for the official schedules for the widest range of terms for which such information is available.
Below you will find a list of all undergraduate courses that have been offered.
NOTE: Not all of these courses are offered in any given year.
- AME 140 INTRO TO AUDIO MUSIC & ENGIN
Provides an introduction to the science and technology of audio. Students will learn about the vibration of strings, musical tuning systems, overtones and timbre, modes of oscillation through the concept of a guitar. Fourier analysis, transducers and passive electrical components and circuits will be introduced when discussing amps and audio components. Hands on projects introduce the fundamental concepts of electronics, including voltage, current, resistance and impedance, basic circuit analysis, ac circuits, impedance matching, and analog signals. The course then introduces basic digital signal processing concepts, where they will use Arduinos and Pure Data to learn about conversion of sound to digital format, frequency analysis, digital filtering and signal processing and musical sound synthesis. AME140 is recommended as an introduction to the Audio and Music Engineering major but is accessible to students of music or other non-technical disciplines who wish to learn the fundamentals of music technology.
Prerequisites: HIGH SCHOOL ALGEBRA AND TRIGONOMETRY
Last Offered: Fall 2019 - AME 191 ART AND TECH OF RECORDING
This course covers the acoustical and psychoacoustic fundamentals of audio recording including the nature of sound, sound pressure level, frequency and pitch, hearing and sound perception, reflection, absorption and diffusion of sound, sound diffraction, room acoustics, reverberation, and studio design principles. The course also provides practical experience in audio recording including an introduction to recording studio equipment, microphones and microphone placement techniques, signal flow, amplification, analog and digital recording, analog to digital conversion, digital processing of sound, multi-track recording and an introduction to mixing and mastering. Each student is required to complete a substantive recording project at the end of the course.
Prerequisites: Not open to First Year students
Last Offered: Spring 2020 - AME 192 LISTENING AND AUDIO PROD
This course is a continuation of AME191. Emphasis is on the development of critical listening skills and proficiency in audio mixing and mastering. Fundamental topics covered include the human auditory system, theories of hearing and audio perception, perception of loudness and pitch, critical bands and auditory masking, beats and roughness, temporal and pitch acuity, binaural hearing. Listening skills development include hearing “width” and “depth” in audio, mixing techniques in various musical genres, recognition of various effects including reverb, delay, compression, phasing and distortion. Production skills development includes equalization and achieving spectral balance, the use of compression and dynamic range control, achieving depth and dimension in recordings, panning and auditory scene control.
Prerequisites: AME 191and Instructors permission
Last Offered: Fall 2019 - AME 193 SOUND DESIGN
The course is intended to provide students a basic understanding of sound design, audio recording, and working with sound for picture. The emphasis is on demonstrations and hands-on The course is intended to provide students a basic understanding of sound design, and working with sound for picture. The emphasis is on demonstrations and hands-on experience to enable students to gain a practical knowledge of sound and music production using computers. Topics include synthesizers & samplers; recording and editing with Pro Tools; sound effect creation; foley & automatic dialog replacement; basic soundtrack composition; and working to picture. Many techniques are explored employing software and hardware based sound creation tools throughout the course. Students will complete a major project at the conclusion of the course.
Last Offered: Spring 2020
- AME 194 AUDIO FOR VISUAL MEDIA
This course is intended to provide students with a basic understanding of the process and the skills for creating music for picture. The course emphasizes hands-on experience where students gain practical skills in scoring to picture using computers and it features guest lectures by industry leading professionals, who will share their insights on creating music for TV Shows, Advertising, Movies, Gaming, Animation, and Industrial Work. Topics also include soft synthesizers, samplers and virtual instruments; recording and editing with Pro Tools and Logic; and sound design on audio workstations. Students will complete a number of projects throughout the course.
Prerequisites: Strong musical ability, basic piano keyboard proficiency, AME 193 or familiarity with either Pro Tools, Logic Pro, or Ableton are highly recommended for this course.
Last Offered: Spring 2020 - AME 196 Interactive Music Programming
In this course, students will explore digital audio synthesis and real-time interactive technologies by learning ChucK, a primary music programming language for most of the laptop orchestras in the world. Students will be able to design interactive computer music and manipulate sound with MIDI controllers, laptops, mobile devices, joysticks, mice, Leap Motion controllers, and Wiimotes by sending MIDI or Open Sound Control (OSC) messages. We will also explore algorithmic composition, which is the technique of using algorithms to generate music. Each student is required to build a drum machine piece for the midterm project. At the end of the semester, we will have a Sonic Showcase presenting interactive surround-sound pieces designed by our students.
Prerequisites: All students, including music and technology majors, are welcomed to take this course.
Last Offered: Spring 2020 - AME 197 Audio for Gaming
The course is intended to provide students a basic understanding of audio for gaming. The emphasis is on demonstrations and hands-on experience to enable students to gain a practical knowledge of the integration of sound and music into video games using middleware. Students will primarily work with Wwise, Unity, Reaper, Pro Tools and Logic Pro X; Topics will include basic soundtrack composition for interactive; Advanced sound effect creation; foley; Dialog recording and editing; Working directly within a game environment; and audio for virtual reality. Supplementary software discussed will include FMod, Unreal, Fabric, Nuendo, and Elias. The course will also feature guest lectures by industry leading professionals, who will share their experience and insights.
Last Offered: Spring 2020
- AME 223 AUDIO ELECTRONICS
The devices, circuits, and techniques of audio electronics are covered in this course. Included is a survey of small signal amplifier designs and small-signal analysis and characterization, operational amplifiers and audio applications of opamps, large-signal design and analysis methods including an overview of linear and switching power amplifiers. The course also covers the design of vacuum tube circuits, nonlinearity and distortion. Other important audio devices are also covered including microphones, loudspeakers, analog to digital and digital to analog converters, and low-noise audio equipment design principles.
Prerequisites: ECE 221 or instructors permission
Last Offered: Spring 2020 - AME 227 PODCASTING HISTORY: HEAR UR
No description
Last Offered: Fall 2019
- AME 233 MUSICAL ACOUSTICS
Engineering aspects of acoustics. Review of oscillators, vibratory motion, the acoustic wave equation, reflection, transmission and absorption of sound, radiation and diffraction of acoustic waves. Resonators, hearing and speech, architectural and environmental acoustics.
Prerequisites: MTH 164,PHY 121, PHY 122 or equivalents.
Last Offered: Spring 2020 - AME 240 Revolutions in Sound: Artistic and Technical Evolution of Sound Recording
This course provides a multifaceted account of the evolution of sound technologies, starting with Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877 through the development of microphones, radio, magnetic tape recording, vinyl records, multi-track recording, digital audio, compact discs, the MP3 format, surround sound, online music streaming, and 3D audio. We will discuss how technology has shaped the musical experience, and, conversely, how the performance of various genres of music, including classical, rock, jazz, hip-hop, and country, has influenced the development of audio technologies. We will also investigate, drawing from a variety of primary and secondary sources, how certain legendary recordings were produced, including those of Enrico Caruso, Bessie Smith, Les Paul, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. A special topic focuses on spatial audio for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), binaural recording, and ambisonics.
Prerequisites: All students, including technology and music majors, are welcome.
Last Offered: Fall 2019 - AME 262 AUDIO SOFTWARE DESIGN I
In this course, students will develop the ability to design programs in C, Python, Max, and Pure Data for audio/music research, computer music, and interactive performance. We will begin with an introduction to computer music and audio programming. After a quick review of C, we will use the PortSF library to generate and process basic envelopes and waveforms, and to explore the development of the table-lookup oscillator and other DSP tools. Max and Pure Data are similar visual programming languages for music and multimedia. We will use Max to explore topics in sound synthesis, signal processing, and sound analysis, as well as computer music. Python is a general-purpose programming language used in many application domains. We will use JythonMusic, a special version of Python, for music making, building graphical user interfaces, and for connecting external human interface devices. Students will practice their programming techniques through a series of programming assignments and a final project.
Prerequisites: ECE114 or instructor permission
Last Offered: Fall 2019 - AME 263 COMP MODELS OF MUSIC
We will explore various computational approaches to musical problems (rule-based approaches, connectionism, dynamic systems, and probabilistic models), focusing on two main areas: 1) models of musical processing and information retrieval; 2) models of musical styles. Our focus will be on the symbolic level of music representation rather than on the signal level (there will be no signal processing in this course). Most assignments will consist of reading articles and answering questions about them. There will be some programming assignments, with other options for students without programming ability.
Prerequisites: Students should understand music notation and have knowledge of basic musical concepts such as key and meter.
Last Offered: Spring 2014 - AME 264 AUDIO SOFTWARE DESIGN II
This course is a sequel to Audio Software Design I. Students will learn how to create audio applications and plug-ins with Faust and C++. Faust is a high-level functional programming language designed for real-time digital signal processing (DSP), sound synthesis, and sound analysis. The Faust compiler can translate the same source code into other programming languages and export to audio applications or plug-ins running on various platforms, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux, iOS, and Android. JUCE is a cross-platform C++ application framework used to design audio applications, audio plug-ins, animated applications, and OpenGL applications. Many professional audio applications and plug-ins have been built with JUCE, mainly used for its GUI, plug-in, and DSP libraries. At the end of the semester, we will have an Audio Software Show demonstrating the audio applications or plug-ins designed by the students.
Prerequisites: AME 262, ECE 475 or instructor permission
Last Offered: Spring 2020 - AME 271 COMP MODELS OF MUSIC Processes
This course is designed for engineering and science students to learn the basic elements of music theory and analysis, but employing concepts and tools from digital signal processing, pattern classification, machine learning and data mining. Class requirements include weekly readings and programming assignments, and a final project in which students complete an analysis of a large-scale symphonic work combining their subjective aesthetic response to the piece with the computational analysis using the tools developed throughout the course
Last Offered: Spring 2013
- AME 272 AUDIO SIGNAL PROCESSING
This course is a survey of audio digital signal processing fundamentals and applications. Topics include sampling and quantization, analog to digital converters, time and frequency domains, spectral analysis, vocoding, digital filters, audio effects, music audio analysis and synthesis, and other advanced topics in audio signal processing. Implementation of algorithms using Matlab and on dedicated DSP platforms is emphasized.
Prerequisites: ECE 114 and basic Matlab programming, ECE 241 or other equivalent signals and systems courses.
Last Offered: Spring 2020 - AME 277 COMPUTER AUDITION
See AME 477
Last Offered: Fall 2019
- AME 292 ACOUSTICS PORTFOLIO
This is a follow on course to AME233, Musical Acoustics. In this course students will complete a major project in acoustics, such as the acoustical characterization of an architectural space, design or re-design of an architectural or studio space, development of acoustical computer simulation tools, design or characterization of acoustic musical instruments, design and fabrication of loudspeakers, design and implementation of a live sound or sound reinforcement system, or any other project in acoustics with the agreement of the instructor. Weekly meetings and progress reports are required.
Prerequisites: AME 233
Last Offered: Fall 2019 - AME 294 AUDIO DSP PORTFOLIO
This is a follow on course to AME272, Audio Digital Signal Processing. Students will complete a major design/build project in the area of audio digital signal processing in this course. Examples include a real-time audio effects processor, music synthesizer or sound analyzer or other projects of student interest. Weekly meetings and progress reports are required.
Prerequisites: ECE 241; strong MATLAB expertise, and C/C++ programming familiarity (ECE 111 and ECE 113 recommended)
Last Offered: Fall 2019 - AME 295 AUDIO ELECTRONICS PORTFOLIO
This is a follow on course to AME 223, Audio Electronics. In this course students will complete a major design/build project in the area of audio electronics. Examples include a solid state or tube-based instrument amplifier, audio power amplifier, audio effects processor, audio analog/digital interface or any other audio electronic project with the agreement of the instructor. Weekly meetings and progress reports are required.
Prerequisites: AME 223
Last Offered: Fall 2019 - AME 386 SENIOR Design Project I
Senior Design Project in Audio and Music Engineering. In this first semester of the year-long AME Senior Project course students will define their product, possibly in collaboration with an outside customer, and then develop product concept documentation, detailed requirements specifications, system level designs, detailed sub-system designs and hopefully build demonstration prototypes.
Last Offered: Fall 2019
- AME 387 SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT II
Senior Design Project in Audio and Music Engineering. In the second semester of the year-long AME Senior Project course students will complete their projects including final system level designs, detailed sub-system designs, prototype building, testing, evaluation and final presentation to the customer.
Last Offered: Spring 2020
- AME 390 SUPERVISED TEACHING
No description
Last Offered: Spring 2019
- AME 391 INDEPENDENT STUDY
No description
Last Offered: Spring 2020
- AME 395 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
No description
Last Offered: Spring 2020