Students entering with a master’s degree will receive advanced standing following a careful review of their transcripts and may be able to complete their doctoral studies for as few as 36 credits by taking fewer research and specialization electives.

Foundations school-wide requirement (6 credits)

Students with Advanced Standing may take more advanced courses by advisement.

MPATE-GE 2599 Fundamentals of Digital Signal Theory (3 credits)

Theoretical and practical foundations for digital signal processing. Topics covered include signal representation in time and frequency domains. Fourier transform, spectrum analysis, transfer functions, convolution, filter theory and implementation. Lectures are reinforced with a co-requisite weekly lab using Matlab.

MPATE-GE 2598 Fundamentals of Digital Signal Theory Lab (1 credit)

Hands-on lab accompanying Fundamentals of Digital Signal Theory Lab E85.2599. Lab sessions will contain exercises and implementation in Matlab to reinforce topics including signal representation, Fourier transform, spectrum analysis, transfer functions, convolution, and filtering

MPATC-GE 2930 Review of Tonal Theory I (1 credit)

This is the first course in a two-semester sequence that will review and extend the material covered in a standard undergraduate music theory sequence, from the phrase model through elements of tonal counterpoint & chromaticism to a study of large-scale forms. The focus will be on the Western European tonal traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries, with excursions into 20th-century repertory as appropriate. Lectures will focus on analysis, dictation, and written theory skills. Homework assignments and dictations will reinforce the class content.

MPATC-GE 2931 Review of Tonal Theory II (1 credit)

This is the second course in a two-semester sequence that will review and extend the material covered in a standard undergraduate music theory sequence, from the phrase model through elements of tonal counterpoint & chromaticism to a study of large-scale forms. The focus will be on the Western European tonal traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries, with excursions into 20th-century repertory as appropriate. Lectures will focus on analysis, dictation, and written theory skills. Weekly homework assignments will reinforce the class content.

Specialized Research Methodology (3 credits)

Course may be substituted with a more relevant methods course depending on student's research focus.

MPAME-GE 2130 Research in Music and Music Education

Research in Music and Music Education provides students with a comprehensive investigation of research in music, the various research paradigms and methods. In this course, doctoral students develop Topic Proposals.

Content and Dissertation Proposal Seminars (6 credits)

MPATE-GE 3060 Doctoral Symposium in Music Technology

The Doctoral Symposium in Music Technology focuses on current issues in the field and brings to bear various research methodologies in reviewing current literature and developing novel approaches to the underlying problems.

MPAET-GE 3005 Dissertation Proposal Seminar

In the Dissertation Proposal Seminar students receive dissertation advisement coupled with seminars in which students present their works in progress and discuss research problems. Current researchers in the performing arts are invited to share research and writing.

In addition to the core seminar courses, students will be encouraged to meet informally on a regular basis with program faculty in order to exchange ideas on research topics and methods, developments in the field, career goals, and the like.

Research Electives (12-18 credits)

All students are required to take core courses in relevant disciplines (e.g., Mathematics and Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology, Neuroscience) to be selected from the list of available courses in Arts and Science, Tandon School of Engineering, etc. These courses may be either research or specialization electives, by advisement. Possible research courses in math and computer science, for example, include:

• MATH-GA 2901 Basic Probability
• CSCI-GA 2112 Scientific Computing
• CSCI-GA 2420 Numerical Methods
• MATH-GA 2962 Mathematical Statistics
• CSCI-GA 2110 Programming Languages
• CSCI-GA 2433 Database Systems
• CSCI-GA 1170 Fundamental Algorithms
• CSCI-GA 2280 User interfaces

Specialization Electives (9-15 credits)

Each student will select, under advisement, courses that will further their particular specialization in the field of music technology. To this end, the student must take a variety of courses that provide both breadth and depth of exposure to the specialized field. This may require additional study beyond the minimum point requirement. Once the student has chosen a specialized field in consultation with his or her adviser, he or she may select course work from among such offerings as the following:

• MPATC-GE 2039 Contemporary Music
• MPATC-GE 2200 Seminar in Theory / Special Topics
• MPATC-GE 2046 Music Criticism
• MPATC-GE 2050 Music of Nonwestern Civilizations
• MPATE-GE 2047 Advanced Computer Music Composition
• MPATE-GE 2604 Audio for Games and Immersive Environments
• MPATC-GE 2048 Scoring for Film and Multimedia
• MPATE-GE 2608 Java Music Systems

Electives in computer science, mathematics, and other related disciplines will bolster individual specializations. The more advanced and specialized courses will be chosen in consultation with an advisor on the basis of the student’s central interests in music technology. This may require additional study beyond the minimum point requirement. The following are examples of courses that would be appropriate for various specializations in music technology:

• CSCI-UA 0472 Artificial Intelligence
• CSCI-GA 2565 Machine Learning
• CSCI-GA 3033 Multimedia
• CSCI-GA 2271 Computer Vision
• MATH-GA 2490 Partial Differential Equations I
• MATH-GA 2563 Harmonic Analysis
• MATH-GA 2650 Wavelets and Time-Frequency Analysis
• MATH-GA 2840 Introduction to Information Theory and the Application to Statistical Prediction

Teaching Requirement

Doctoral Candidates are expected to complete at least one semester as a teaching assistant working with a full-time faculty member in preparing and teaching a class, as well as providing assistance to the students in that class. The student will further be expected to fulfill at least one semester of independent teaching after completing their experience as a teaching assistant. This experience is intended both to prepare students for teaching careers in higher education, as well as to further foster the mentoring relationship between the candidate and the faculty with whom they will be working on curricular development and teaching.

Doctoral Candidacy Exams

Doctoral degree candidacy in Music Technology is based on an oral examination and a written examination. The student will be required to take the doctoral candidacy exam after completing no more than 30 credits toward the degree.