MUSI3360 Sound Design 1

Credit Hours: 3 semester hours

Course Description

Sound Design 1 is an introductory level exploration of sound effects, synthesis, ambient audio, and music, a concise survey of the history and techniques as used in the film, multimedia, and video game industries with a practical component addressing project management, workflows, sound database description and organization, and specialized recording and generation techniques in a variety of software environments.

Goals and Objectives

The goals of this course are as follows:

• To encourage student experimentation with sound effects and music.

• To develop or enhance some means of personal creative expression using open source software. 


• To develop confidence in sharing original ideas with a group. 


• To demonstrate the ability to design convincing audio environments with commonly available technology. 


• To identify, analyze, and exercise techniques found in the works of other sound designers, composers 
and programmers.

Students who complete this course will be able to:

• Create original sonic art and sound effects in the abstract and organize them for future projects. 


• Build upon the programming of others and adapt programs for their own sound generation needs. 


• Capture or generate audio effects to meet the descriptive needs of specific media. 


• Identify and discuss sonic art strategies employed in the work of other designers.

Books Suggested

• Designing Sound by Andy Farnell (MIT Press

• Creating Music and Sound for Games by G. W. Childs IV

Materials Needed

• Active email account.

• A computer with Internet access that can properly display web pages, PDF documents, and is capable of streaming audio and video (could be accomplished in the library or a computer lab)

• A quality (full spectrum, 20-20,000 Hz) pair of headphones. For sanitary reasons and the health of the ear I strongly recommend using the type of headphones that cover the outer ears, rather than the earbud type that go inside the ear opening. (See article on the course site: Helpful hints for headphone selection.)