Program Overview

Overview

The Master in Sound and Music Computing is organized by the Department of Engineering of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and linked to its Music Technology Group. This interdisciplinary field combines scientific, technological, and artistic methodologies and computational approaches to understand, model, and generate sound and music.

Introduction

Sound and Music Computing (SMC) deals with the whole sound communication chain, from the creation and generation of sounds to their transmission and perception. The basic academic disciplines related to music, physics, engineering, and psychology are combined to provide a comprehensive understanding of sound and music. Current areas of application include musical instruments, music production, music information retrieval, digital music libraries, interactive multimedia systems, and auditory interfaces.

Objectives

The UPF Master's Degree in Sound and Music Computing aims to train professionals who will shape sound and music computing in the new information society. The program provides students with a grounding in the most advanced technologies for the analysis, synthesis, transformation, and production of sound and music, as well as the technologies and processes that support sound and musical creation.

Academic Structure

Students are required to take 40 credits in compulsory and optional subjects and complete a master's thesis worth 20 credits. The thesis project introduces students to the field of research and must make an original contribution to the field. Depending on the previous education and specific interests, students may be required to take extra credits and extend the duration of the Master to two years, taking up to 15 complementary credits from advanced undergraduate courses.

Language

The program is taught in English.

Program Coordinator

Xavier Serra (MTG-UPF)

Location

The program is located at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Department of Engineering, Tànger building (Poblenou Campus), Tànger 122-140, 08018 Barcelona, Spain.

Competences

The program provides students with the following competences:

• Capacities of planning and execution of research/development plans.
• Acquisition, management, and transmission of methodological, technical, and aesthetic knowledge.
• Capacities to carry out teamwork in academic and industrial contexts.
• Development of a critical view for taking technical, methodological, economic, aesthetic, and deontological professional decisions.
• Communicative and creative abilities.