Commercial Music BM
Program Purpose
This is a limited-enrollment program requiring departmental admissions approval. Please see the college advisement center for information regarding requirements for admission to this major.
The Commercial Music degree prepares students in modern music technology and production practices. Built on a strong academic music core, the program's wide range of electives gives students both theoretical grounding and hands-on experience in MIDI sequencing, audio recording and mixing, jazz studies, studio and live performance, producing, arranging, songwriting, scoring, post-production audio for film and video, broadcast audio, entrepreneurship, and other skills essential to today's music industry.
The Commercial Music Degree consists of the University Core Requirements, the School of Music Core Requirements, the Commercial Music Core Requirements, and a set of electives that let students concentrate their studies around their own interests and career goals. Together, this structure gives students the foundation to understand the commercial music field while building personalized areas of focus.
On-campus resources include one large high-end, state-of-the-art recording studio, two medium-sized recording studios, five MIDI production studios, and 25 digital audio workstations featuring the latest recording and production software.
Faculty are experienced industry professionals who bring real-world expertise into the classroom.
Learning Outcomes
Technology
Students will be able to utilize the latest technological developments and industry-standard production, recording, and mixing techniques to produce meaningful, high-quality professional-level projects.
Students will be able to produce and perform meaningful, high-quality professional-level projects and performances in a variety of genres, contexts, venues, and distribution channels.
Students will be able to apply numerous business, production, and performance skills and techniques to effectively guide projects through from conception to completion.
Students will be able to effectively evaluate their projects and performances to determine the potential impact for good that their artistic endeavors may have on individuals, families, communities, the profession, the Church, and the world at large.
Evidence of Learning
The successful candidate for graduation from the Commercial Music Program will demonstrate technical, creative, and production proficiency in their chosen track, as evidenced by multiple direct and indirect assessments aligned with program learning outcomes.
Learning and Teaching Assessment and Improvement
Direct assessment of student progress and ability occurs through class assignments, written exams, performances, and projects. Given the program's emphasis on applied, hands-on skills, projects - both large and small - carry significant weight in these assessments.
Indirect assessment draws on in-class student evaluations of course effectiveness, ongoing discussion with faculty and industry professionals who interface with students both during and after their studies, and observations of the extent to which students are being sought out for and engaging in freelance and professional opportunities.
Student work, mid-course evaluations, and student recognition such as awards or competition placements all serve as tools for measuring course and program effectiveness. As the culmination of this project-based approach, the capstone project is designed to showcase the best of students' skills and serves as an overall evaluative tool for assessing each student's proficiency in their chosen track and skill set.
The rate at which our students enter the industry - measured against other institutions and historical data - provides an additional benchmark of program success.
This field of study is shaped by rapidly advancing and changing technology. While the essence of music composition and production rests on a fundamental set of musical skills, the way musical ideas are organized and presented is being transformed regularly by technological advancements. Continual improvement of the program depends on regularly evaluating whether classroom materials remain current and relevant, balancing theoretical instruction with hands-on experience, and maintaining facilities that allow us to teach the most applicable and far-reaching skills as the field evolves.