Music, Science, and Technology

Stanford's CCRMA (Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics) has remained a thriving center and community since the 1970s. CCRMA conducts research in computer music, composition and performance, music perception and cognition, audio signal processing, instrument and music-software design, virtual reality, intermedia, and more. And as one of the largest computer music centers in North America, CCRMA offers courses encompassing more than 40 areas—as well as a Ph.D. program in Computer-based Music Theory and Acoustics, a Master’s program in Music Science and Technology (MST), and an undergraduate MST Concentration as part of the Music Major.

Faculty

Adjunct Professor
Assistant Professor
Leland and Edith Smith Professor of Composition, Professor
Lecturer (CCRMA)
Denning Family Provostial Professor, Professor
Adjunct Professor
Adjunct Professor
Duca Family Professor, Director of CCRMA, Professor
Adjunct Professor
Adjunct Professor
Professor
Adjunct Professor
Lecturer (CCRMA)
Associate Professor of Music
Professor
Adjunct Professor
Associate Professor
Composer, Lecturer (CCRMA)
Adjunct Professor
Adjunct Professor
Gretchen B. Kimball Director of Orchestral Studies, Associate Professor
Adjunct Professor
Director of CCARH, Adjunct Professor
Adjunct Professor
Professor
Associate Professor
Lecturer (CCRMA)

Courses

All Music, Science, and Technology Courses

Music 1A: Music, Mind, and Human Behavior
Music 11N: Harmonic Convergence: Music's Intersections with Science, Mathematics, History, and Literature
Music 15N: The Aesthetics of Data
Music 32N: Sculpting with Sounds, Images, and Words
Music 101: Introduction to Creating Electronic Sounds
Music 128: Stanford Laptop Orchestra: Composition, Coding, and Performance
Music 153: Online Jamming and Concert Technology
Music 153B: Internet Ensemble Tech Force
Music 154A: Sound Art I
Music 155/255: Intermedia Workshop
Music 192A: Foundations of Sound-Recording Technology
Music 192B: Advanced Sound Recording Technology
Music 192C: Session Recording
Music 192F: Sound Installation
Music 201: CCRMA Colloquium
Music 203: Audiovisual Performance
Music 220A: Fundamentals of Computer-Generated Sound
Music 220B: Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
Music 220C: Research Seminar in Computer-Generated Music
Music 220D: Research in Computer-Generated Music
Music 222: Sound in Space
Music 223: Composition for Electronic Musicians
Music 223B: Sonic Experiments in Composition
Music 223D: Sound Practice: Embodiment and the Social
Music 236: Future Media, Media Archaeologies
Music 250A: Physical Interaction Design for Music
Music 250C: Interaction - Intermedia - Immersion
Music 251: Psychophysics and Music Cognition
Music 253: Symbolic Musical Information
Music 254: Music Query, Analysis, and Style Simulation
Music 256A: Music, Computing, Design I: The Art of Design
Music 256B: Music, Computing, Design II: Virtual and Augmented Reality for Music
Music 257: Neuroplasticity and Musical Gaming
Music 258A: Computational Music Theory & Analysis
Music 319: Research Seminar on Computational Models of Sound Perception
Music 320A: Introduction to Audio Signal Processing: Spectra
Music 320B: Introduction to Audio Signal Processing: Filters
Music 320C: Software Projects in Music/Audio Signal Processing
Music 351A: Seminar in Music Perception and Cognition I
Music 364: Data-Driven Research in Music Cognition
Music 422: Perceptual Audio Coding
Music 423: Graduate Research in Music Technology
Music 424: Signal Processing Techniques for Digital Audio Effects
Music 451A: Basics in Auditory and Music Neuroscience
Music 451B: Neuroscience of Auditory Perception and Music Cognition II: Neural Oscillations
Music 451C: Auditory EEG Research III: Coordinated Actions and Hyperscanning

Computer Music, Art, and Design Courses

 

Music 11: Harmonic Convergence: Music's Intersections with Science, Mathematics, History, and Literature
Music 32N: Sculpting with Sounds, Images, and Words
Music 101: Introduction to Creating Electronic Sounds
Music 128: Stanford Laptop Orchestra: Composition, Coding, and Performance
Music 153: Online Jamming and Concert Technology
Music 154A: Sound Art I
Music 155/255: Intermedia Workshop
Music 192A: Foundations of Sound-Recording Technology
Music 192B: Advanced Sound Recording Technology
Music 192C: Session Recording
Music 192F: Sound Installation
Music 203: Audiovisual Performance
Music 220A: Fundamentals of Computer-Generated Sound
Music 220B: Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
Music 220C: Research Seminar in Computer-Generated Music
Music 220D: Research in Computer-Generated Music
Music 222: Sound in Space
Music 223B: Sonic Experiments in Composition
Music 223D: Sound Practice: Embodiment and the Social
Music 236: Future Media, Media Archaeologies
Music 250A: Physical Interaction Design for Music
Music 250C: Interaction - Intermedia - Immersion
Music 256A: Music, Computing, Design I: The Art of Design
Music 256B: Music, Computing, Design II: Virtual and Augmented Reality for Music

Music/Audio Technology Courses

 

Music 320A: Introduction to Audio Signal Processing: Spectra
Music 320B: Introduction to Audio Signal Processing: Filters
Music 320C: Software Projects in Music/Audio Signal Processing
Music 422: Perceptual Audio Coding
Music 423: Graduate Research in Music Technology
Music 424: Signal Processing Techniques for Digital Audio Effects

Music and the Brain Courses

Music 1A: Music, Mind, and Human Behavior
Music 251: Psychophysics and Music Cognition
Music 253: Symbolic Musical Information
Music 254: Music Query, Analysis, and Style Simulation
Music 257: Neuroplasticity and Musical Gaming
Music 258A: Computational Music Theory & Analysis
Music 319: Research Seminar on Computational Models of Sound Perception
Music 351A: Seminar in Music Perception and Cognition I
Music 364: Data-Driven Research in Music Cognition
Music 451A: Basics in Auditory and Music Neuroscience
Music 451B: Neuroscience of Auditory Perception and Music Cognition II: Neural Oscillations
Music 451C: Auditory EEG Research III: Coordinated Actions and Hyperscanning

Academic Programs

Explore the Major & Concentrations

The undergraduate major in Music is based on a course of study that combines breadth of musical experiences across multiple dimensions with depth in a chosen area, allowing students to develop an array of tools as part of their aesthetic and musical formation. Theory, performance, history, cultural contextualization, technology, and science all contribute to a curricular foundation for all majors. 

 


Explore the 24-Unit Minor

The music minor allows students to explore music through a flexible program of study. The minor can focus on Composition, History, Performance, Conducting, Theory, or Music, Science & Technology (MST), or on areas not currently served by the major, such as Ethnomusicology, Jazz, or Musical Theater. The minor can also focus on musical aspects of a non-music major such as American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, Computer Science, CSRE, TAPS, etc.

 


Learn about the Performance Certificate

The Performance Certificate program is open by audition to undergraduates who demonstrate a high degree of accomplishment in their area of music performance, study privately with one of the Department of Music's faculty, and wish to inform their performance studies with coursework from the Department of Music's other areas of academic focus: history, theory, computer music, and composition.

 

Explore more of What We Do