School of Audio and MusicAudio Arts Bachelor's Degree
- BA
Audio is an art and a science. We’ll train you in both. In our lab-based courses you’ll create, record, and manipulate sound and learn the general theories and practices of audio. From soundboards to software, you’ll learn your craft with professional equipment in state-of-the art spaces.
Examples of Audio Careers
The Student Experience
Your classroom experience will mirror professional practices, and you’ll work on real projects that you can show to prospective employers. After initial coursework across audio disciplines, you’ll focus your studies in one concentration: Music Recording, Live Sound Reinforcement, Audiovisual Systems Integration, Audio and Sound Design, or General Audio Arts.
Courses like Introduction to Audio and Fundamentals of Audio Production will introduce you to how we perceive sound and to the essential principles of audio systems.
You’ll learn the essential principles of audio systems in theory- and lab-based courses where you’ll practice the basic techniques of recording, editing, and mixing.
Depending on your concentration, you might sharpen your skills in advanced classes on digital consoles, monitor mixing, or design an audiovisual system.
Our faculty members are invaluable resources as you being your career in this field and have worked in recording studios, live sound, and sound design, using and applying cutting-edge software and hardware design.
At Columbia, you’ll always have opportunities to work on student films, design sound for video games, or produce audio for television or radio. And for their senior year capstone projects, some students record and produce songs for musicians, design sound for visual media or other applications, or create portfolio works in the areas of sound art, software/hardware design, or data sonification.
Student organizations host events—like the Chicago chapter of the Audio and Engineering Society (AES), Women in Audio, and the Engineering and Recording Society of Chicago (EARS). You’ll also have opportunities to present at national conferences and even squeeze in a little fun.
Chicago is home to companies across the professional audio spectrum, including recording studios, live venues, post-production houses, and acoustics and audio visual, or AV, integration firms.
Career Readiness
From connecting you to internships to helping you develop door-opening bodies of work to making an important professional connection, Columbia helps students launch their careers.
Our Career Center provides advice and guidance in finding internships that match your interests and professional goals. Students have had internship and job opportunities at companies such as Audio Recording Unlimited (ARU), AVI-SPL, Classick Studios, Earhole Studios, Electrical Audio, Gravity Studios, House of Blues, Lincoln Hall, Mystery Street Recording, Rax Trax Recording, Schubas, Sweetwater Sound, Threshold Acoustics, and VSOP Studios.
From recording engineers and recording studio owners to sound designers and live sound engineers, our alums work for major artists, music venues, and sound companies throughout the country. Connect with these established creative professionals through workshops, events, and internships facilitated by Columbia's alumni network.
Alumni Spotlight
Jayme Mattler ’05
GRAMMY-nominated and Audies Award-winning recording engineer, director, and narrator, known for producing audio books for authors such as Michelle Obama, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Margaret Atwood.
of 2023 grads are employed, enrolled in continued education, or pursuing their creative practice.