Certificate of Achievement in Music Production

The Certificate of Achievement in Music Production is designed for musicians and songwriters who want to develop their creative skills while learning how to use current technologies to make music. This is a hands-on certificate program in which students will be constantly required to make sounds, create music and work on their craft. Housed in the state-of-the-art Chabot College recording studio & technology lab, this program offers a streamlined, efficient pathway for emerging musicians to establish a solid foundation of technical and aesthetic knowledge to begin working in the largely freelance and project-based creative 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 this Certificates of Achievement 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 Certificate of Achievement in Music Production is to provide opportunity gaining skills necessary to become a competent music produce. To do this, students are introduced to the fundamentals of electronic music production and MIDI sequencing. Learning outcomes of this certificate include principles of synthesis, survey of electronic music instruments and their development, MIDI sequencing, drum machines and beatmaking, and multitrack electronic music production. This provides “on-the-job” experience as students are evaluated through projects which include audio for film and video, theatrical productions, video games, advertisements, sound effects and sound installations. The goal is that when students complete the program, they also compile a portfolio of exemplary work. The certificate along with examples of students work gives them an advantage for occupational internships and job opportunities.

Below are the program requirements Certificate of Achievement in Music Production;

We observe a subtle but important separation of necessary professional skills in the freelance music industry around Music Production. Depending on a student's specific, individual career goals, we seek to offer thorough yet efficient courses of study that cover these bases. 

It's important to note that the two certificate programs 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. 

While this certificate 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 this certificate 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 Certificate of Achievement in Music Production		16 total units	4 total semesters
MURT 20	Introduction to Music Technology	3	S1
MURT 22A	Electronic Music Production I	3	S2
MURT 22B	Electronic Music Production II	3	S3
MURT 31	Sound Design	3	S4
MUSL 28	Musical Structure & Songwriting	3	any
MUSA 20A -or- MUSA21A -or- MUSA 22A	Guitar I -or- Piano 1 -or-  Jazz Piano 1	1	any

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.