Northwestern University
Bienen School of Music
Programs of Study
Music Technology

| Degrees Available | About the Music Technology Program |
| Music Technology Faculty |

Degrees Available

  • Bachelor of Music
  • Bachelor of Arts
  • Master of Music
  • Doctor of Music

 

About the Music Technology Program

At Northwestern, we believe that computer technology is the most important factor shaping the future of music and audio. We are excited about how technology can shape the education of young musicians as well as how new technology is expanding the role of sound and music in everyone's lives. The music technology program at Northwestern brings together a broad range of computer applications within music, and emphasizes interdisciplinary study. Faculty backgrounds include composition, music education, and music theory.

At many schools "music technology" is identified primarily with "recording engineering." While recording and mixing is taught at Northwestern (and there are many opportunities for working in Chicago studios), students also learn to be authors of multimedia/web-based projects, technological composers, and developers of software tools for industry and education. Graduates can be found in the music and audio industries, in education and research, and in the multimedia and games industries.

When one looks ahead to employment opportunities whether in academia or industry, it is difficult to predict which skills will provide a competitive advantage in the future job market. Believing that students are best served by acquiring a diverse set of skills, Northwestern offers a curriculum that is practical and project-oriented.

For additional departmental information, visit Music Technology's home page.

Contact for further information:

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Music Technology Faculty


Brett Masteller

Lecturer, Music Technology

b-masteller@northwestern.edu

Biographical information to come.

Christopher Alan Mercer

Lecturer, Music Technology

c-mercer@northwestern.edu - 847-467-2334
PhD, University of California, San Diego

Coordinator, Music Technology program. Composer of electroacoustic music, combining lo-tech analog techniques with extensive digital signal processing; specialist in multi-channel audio and spatialization. Composer of acoustic music focusing on extended instrumental techniques, modified conventional instruments, and instruments of the composer's own design and, most recently, combining this approach with real-time electronics and spatialization. Author of articles on musical aesthetics and composition. Residencies at Experimentalstudio SWR in Freiburg, Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf, and Sound Traffic Control in San Francisco. Principal teachers were Peter Otto and Roger Reynolds, electronic music and Chaya Czernowin and Chinary Ung, instrumental music.

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