Associate in Arts in Music Technology and Production

The Associate in Arts in Music Technology and Production at Chabot College is designed for degree and certificate-seeking students who are looking for a hands-on education that will provide them with a strong foundation for employment in the largely freelance professional music & audio industry. Housed in the state-of-the-art Chabot College recording studio & technology lab, this program offers instruction in audio recording, music production, sound design, audio for visual media, live concert sound reinforcement and multiple business aspects of the music industry. This broad range of study in a variety of areas within the field will provide students a dynamic basis from which to discover their own unique pathway into the music industry.

The program and curriculum offerings are setup such that only a maximum of 24 students can complete annually. Real world projections are between 14-20 completers total per year for the A.A. degrees being submitted for approval. 

Worth mentioning here that we have put a great deal of discussion and thought into "right-sizing" the number of program completers relative to the job opportunities available. One of the (many) sins of the for-profit schools that teach these skills has been empty promises of work that has not been there. These empty promises has led, along with a number of other factors, to the closure of many of these expensive, (arguably) predatory for-profit schools (Ex'pressions, SAE, and SF Academy of Arts being the primary examples).

 An important factor for the Committee to consider also is the fact that freelance work largely is not counted in the LMI data, and most work in today's music industry (recording, production, artistry) is DIY, independent, freelance work. 

We feel strongly that, all things considered, our program has an appropriate place in the larger community, and that we are appropriately sized relative to the number of students who will complete and the opportunities that await them after school. To a large degree, musicians and music professionals make their own opportunities in the professional world through hustle, professionalism, and effective networking, and these are indeed cornerstones of our realistic approach to pedagogy.

The Associate in Arts in Music Technology and Production at Chabot College is an occupational/vocational program designed to prepare students for a primarily freelance career in the music industry. In the past decade, digitization has radically changed the economy of the music industry from a corporate, record label-driven model to one that is now primarily driven by freelancers and sole-proprietors. Diversification and multiplicity of skill sets—both technical and artistic—are now the foundations for relevant vocational training in this industry. As such, the Music Recording & Technology program at Chabot College seeks to provide students with a broad, dynamic package of courses and completion options that will provide the best possible points of departure for a wide variety of career pathways in the new music industry.

Below are the program requirements for the Associate in Arts in Music Technology and Production. 

We observe a subtle but important separation of necessary professional skills in the freelance music industry. Audio recording and mixing vs Music Production. Capturing vs creating music, if you will. Depending on a student's specific, individual career goals, we seek to offer thorough yet efficient courses of study that cover both of those bases. 

The program outlined below are extremely similar to the Certificate of Completion that we already offer, we are merely converting those to Certificates of Achievement to be more aligned with state curriculum guidelines. 

Additionally, we would like to add an A.A. program offering for students who wish to have a general education component to their matriculation. While an A.A. degree is not a required achievement for those in the freelance music industry, we believe that it is our responsibility to provide an option for students who both want to acquire foundational career skills while at the same time growing as a whole person through general education study. We feel that the AA offering resonates strongly with the principle of "better", as it puts well-rounded, college educated students into the workforce.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
The following apply to the Associate in Arts in Music Technology and Production	30-31 Core Units + 30 - 31 General Education		4 total semesters
MURT 20	Introduction to Music Technology	3	Y1
MURT 21	Audio Recording I	3	Y1
MURT 22A	Electronic Music Production I	3	Y1
MURT 22B -or- MURT 23	Audio Recording II  -or- Electronic Music Production II	3	Y2
MURT 24 -or- MURT 31	Advanced Mixing Techniques -or- Sound Design	3	Y2
MURT 25	Live Sound Reinforcement	1	Summer only
MURT 26	Music Business & the Law	3	any
MUSL 28	Musical Structure & Songwriting	3	any
MUSL 8	History of Rock and Roll and Popular Music	3	any
MUSL 6 -or- MUSL 2A	Basic Music Skills -or- Harmony & Musicianship 1	3 -or- 4	Y1
MUSA 20A -or- MUSA 21A -or- MUSA 22A	Guitar I -or- Piano 1 -or- Jazz Piano 1	1	any
MURT 50	Music Industry Internship	1	Y2

Chabot College has been doing the work of preparing students for a primarily freelance career in the music industry for several years already, having offered Certificates of Proficiency in Audio Recording and Music Production since 2014, and a la carte courses in music industry and technology since 2009. At present, we are aiming to convert those Certificates of Proficiency to Certificates of Achievement, and to add an A.A. degree. In our region, community colleges are the primary institution making commercial music/music industry/audio production courses available to Bay Area students. There are no programs of significance at any of the regional 4-year colleges or universities that offer instruction in the recording and/or production of popular music—not a single major. In our region—and, largely, nation wide—four year schools of music focus primarily on classical and jazz music and music education. While we believe that there is going to be a coming trend of four-year schools starting to cultivate educational offerings in commercial music production, that has yet to take hold in any significant way here in the Bay Area (although SF State has recently made some significant early steps). Conversely, all of the for-profit schools that have offered this kind of education have shuttered or are in the process of doing so. SAE (Ex’pressions and SAE San Jose) and all of the San Francisco Academy of Arts campuses being the two primary examples of this. The opinion of many people is that these for-profit schools are closing down because of the high price tag of their tuition relative to the hustle-based, freelance nature of the industry, as well as the availability of an abundance of free (YouTube) educational resources in this area of study. As a result, the community colleges are really the only viable educational institutions in our region that offer training in this occupational area. This is an important consideration, and in our opinion puts an extra onus on us to “do it right”

Diablo Valley College – Music Industry Studies Program, Dr. Nick Vasallo, director. The DVC program offers both an A.A. and a certificate program in Music Industry Studies. Dr. Vasallo and I have spoken recently and have great respect for each other’s programs. Based on the geographic “neighborhood” distance between our two campuses, there is a sense that any crossover or competition between the two colleges would be minimal. Further, both Dr. Vasallo and I would be encouraging of any students who wanted to take courses (or complete) at the other campus if it was a better fit for the student. Las Positas College – Chabot’s sister college, offers certificates in Scoring for Film & Visual Media and Music / Business. I have spoken with Dan Marshak numerous times about our programs. The LPC program is not quite as thoroughly cultivated, both in terms of overall curricular breadth and facilities. This is by design, our two colleges are not trying to compete with each other, but augment and provide alternate options for common students within our district. The two certificate programs at LPC do not significantly overlap with ours and therefore are not direct competitors. Again, this is by design. Ohlone College – Ohlone College offers a 12-unit “Certificate of Accomplishment in Commercial Music”. I have not spoken with any faculty members from Ohlone, but in terms of breadth, scope and facilities, our programs are not comparable. Laney College – Laney College offers an A.A. in Music Industry Studies. I have not spoken with anyone from Laney College about this program. A review of the course requirements for this program shows two significant differences in our programs: 1) the Laney program is significantly tied into music for video, as the core courses are called “Advanced Music Video Production”; and 2) of the 22.5 major units required for this program, only twelve are technology-specific courses, and of those twelve units, only three are exclusively for music. Based on these observations, as well as geographic distance, there would not appear to be any kind of significant overlap in our two programs.