Audio Engineering is an immersive, experienced-based, fully hands-on major giving students a broad base of skills from studio recording, live audio, and lighting design through state-of-the-art recording studios and performance venues.
Hands-on, practical experience from the day you begin your degree!
Be a studio recording engineer, run live sound or lighting for concerts. Stream live performances. Produce audio for TV, movies, or video games. GU has the resources you need to perfect your skills!
The Audio Engineering degree encompasses studio recording, live audio production, lighting design, understanding of the Music Industry, and how each area comes together for a common goal. You can also learn more about advanced Audio Post Production, and Game Audio Design to further expand your engineering skills. Earn a wide range of certifications within the classes too!
Projects Courses let you engage in any area of interest, at any level, in any semester. Projects classes create small production companies and create a team of Producer, Main Studio Engineer, multiple assistant studio engineers and multiple performers. Or, work in a live audio team (GUAudio) for all live audio and lighting design needs. Either way (or both!) you function just like a small independent production company and gain real-world experience.
AND THERE'S MORE! Study the music industry for a semester in the heart of it - Nashville, Tennessee with GU’s Contemporary Music Center - Nashville and get immersive industry experiences. Get personalized attention from caring professors and industry pros committed to making you the best you can be.
Graduates from GU have work at major companies like Universal Music Group, innovative companies like CTS, and in-house teams at large companies like the production team at Ramsey Solutions. We have GU grads living in all of the major music hubs in the US.
You get hands-on experience day 1! Practice your craft with 24/7 access to recording studios complete with Pro Tools and Logic. Produce high-quality music in state-of-the-art recording studios where you engineer, produce, write, and perform. Don’t just learn about audio engineering, do it! Multiple performance spaces to practice your skills in live audio and lighting design. GU has all the tools you need to succeed.
Double Majoring - Ultimate Flexibility
Double major in either B.S. Commercial Music Performance or B.S. Worship Arts and craft your degree to your areas of passion! You can double major, complete all your Gen Ed requirements, and even add a minor and STILL have a few elective credits available to take before reaching the minimum required credits to graduate!
This very flexible program makes it easy to fine-tune your degree to your areas of interest.
Indie Artist Institute
Studio and live audio engineer students learn from amazing outside artists! Our students record independent artists in the studios, help them perform live, get videos and recordings of their work, and provide assistance with promotion and bookings for shows in the St. Louis area.
GU students help launch independent artists and gain major experience helping real musicians make it in the industry.
Why GU
Produce recordings and live performances while getting experience a wide array of recording equipment
Expand your audio engineering skills into Game Audio Design and Audio Post Production
Christ-centered. Integrate Christian values as you pursue your craft.
Take a deep dive into studio recording, live audio production, lighting design, and gain understanding of the Music Industry.
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Success Stories
GU grads can be found running live audio or working with Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Blue Man Group, Georgia Florida Line, Sam Hunt, KJ52, Building 429 and many others. GU alums have received numerous Dove Award nominations and alumnus Andre Anjos is a Grammy Award winner for his remixing work.
GU grads work in companies like Universal Music Group, Capital Christian Music, Sony, CTS Audio (Nashville), Sweetwater Sound, Ironman Sound (St. Louis) and in high-level positions in churches all across the nation.
Provides the skill set for reading and playing piano in commercial styles. Emphasis will be placed on reading chord charts, using the Nashville Number system, improvisation, chord voicing and inversions. A main emphasis will be to have the students be able to accompany themselves on piano/keyboard. The course is taken concurrently with MUTH 110 Commercial Music Theory. (Offered spring semester.)
Course Fee: $385
Course Fee: $385
Course Fee: $385
This course will provide students with the functional skills on the piano including the ability to develop basic technique, ability to play chord progressions, read, harmonize, transpose, improvise, and compose.
Prerequisite: MUAP 110. (Offered spring semester.)
Recital Class is designated as a requirement for all music majors, who must attend 12 concerts per semester. Music minors need to attend 9 concerts per semester and must be registred for Recital Class during the semesters they are taking applied lessons. Music majors are required to take this course every semester they are attending classes on campus.
In this course, students build foundational understanding of how to practice together, play together, learn the selected music for the course, and how to put it all together for preparing successful performances. Offered: Fall semester.
This course will serve as a basis for creating a foundation in keeping a connection between a students faith, how it can be used through the gift of music, and how to use those gifts to affect culture in a positive manner. Various types of music and their connection to culture as well as how todays culture affects students, music, and faith will be explored. (Offered fall semester.)
This course provides a thorough understanding of the theory and practice of studio recording and sound reinforcement.
(Offered fall semester.)
Course Fee $50
This course focuses on the signal flow, microphone techniques, foundational and in-depth information of Pro Tools and studio recording techniques. It is based primarily on a "hands-on" approach offering substantial studio time for group and individual projects.
Prerequisite: MUSG226. (Offered every semester.)
Course Fee: $50
(Offered every semester)
This course provides the student with a broad foundation to the various aspects and practices in the Music Industry. A main point of this course will be establish the working process for Playground Productions, the department production company. Also integral is the connection to Industry Partners in a collaborative opportunity to learn from current professional practices as well as creating integral networking opportunities and relationships.
Prerequisite: MUSG 226. (Offered every spring.)
This course will provide the students a foundational basis in how they listen to music in a more critical manner. The student will learn to create more professional sounding mixes and train their ear to identify stereo breadth, depth, balancing, and artful mixing techniques. (Offered spring semester.)
This course is designed to give students a broad base of background and introduction to the various areas of music technology. The student will be introduced to and will have the ability to explore and practice specific techniques required in creating computer-aided scores of their original compositions. Students will create multiple recordings of their own original scores as well as directed assignments in the areas of locking sound to video and scoring for a short film. Prerequisite: MUAP110 and MUTH110.
Course Fee: $50
Course is a study of intermediate techniques in recording, mixing, mastering, and production, and a continuation of MUSG 227.
Prerequisite: MUSG 227. (Offered spring semester.)
Course Fee: $50
Course continues the study of MUSG 326 culminating an opportunity to sit for the Digidesign® certification test. Students who pass the test will receive a Digidesign® certification certificate and will be given a webpage on the ProTools main website.
Prerequisite: MUSG 326. (Offered fall semester.)
Course Fee: $50
In todays Music Industry market, it is quite important for each artist to be self-sufficient and look professional. Independent Artist Practices provides the foundations for the student to learn the skill set required to be a successful independent artist in todays Music Industry and to create a working plan to be implemented by the end of the semester. This course will focus on promotion, online presence, branding, budgeting, and creating and implementing a personal plan to be self sufficient in the Music Industry.
Prerequisite: DMDA 120 and MUSG 227. Offered: Fall semester
Course Fee: $50
This course will survey various styles of American popular music from the early 20th century through the present. Students will have an active role in class meetings, providing examples from personal experiences as sources for class discussion. Genres covered include jazz, country, rock, reggae, funk, hip-hop, urban fold, and more. Students are encouraged to have some experience in the fundamentals of music before enrolling. Meets the general education creative and performing arts requirement.
This seminar is designed as a capstone course in the CCM degree and is the bookend course to MUSG 150 Faith, Music, Culture. The goal of the course is to empower students to go out into their world after they graduate and reaffirm their ability to make a positive difference through their interactions with their culture. How students can be a Christian witness to a post-modern world will be explored. Meets the general education upper division writing intensive requirement. (Offered spring semester.)
This course will be taken for pass/fail credit.
Students complete a large recording project and research paper. This course is available only to Music Industry Study students.
Prerequisite: Students must pass the upper-division jury at least one semester prior to the semester in which they enroll in MUSG 419 (see Music Department Policies and Procedures Handbook for jury requirements).
This course is specifically designed for Music Industry Studies majors. It will enable students to learn basic music theory concepts and some aural skills which will relate to the contemporary music industry. (Offered spring semester.)
This course will prepare the student to thrive in real world situations s/he may encounter as an artist and/or composer in the music field. Skills to be learned in this course include: chord construction and nomenclature, scales, basic pop music arranging, ear training, and keyboard/guitar accompaniment.
Prerequisite: MUTH 104 or MUTH 110. (Offered fall semester.)
This course provides a foundation and awareness of the processes of commercial arranging for live performances and producing music in a recording studio setting. Many of the popular styles will be explored.
Prerequisite: MUSG 227, MUSG 260, and MUTH 305. (Offered fall semester.)
Course Fee: $50
This course is a continuation from, and further practice in live audio, from MUSG 229 Sound Reinforcement I course. We will work in a hands-on experienced based manner in providing the student with further practical experience in larger systems. A focus will be to work as a live audio production team in running various events throughout the semester. Special focus will be working on individual mixing as well as group interaction, speed, efficiency, and quality.
Prerequisite: MUSG 229. (Offered spring semester.)
Concert Production is a course designed to expand the skill set of the live audio engineer - to provide a set of related skills to provide the students with a wider foundation for better marketability in looking for future employment. The skills to be focused on are Lighting Design, Live Multi-Track Concert Recording and Concert Management. We will be doing a number of hands-on practical projects to provide further experience in these areas.
Prerequisites: MUSG 227 and MUSG 229. (Offered fall semester.)
Projects in Music Industry serves as the entry level hands-on running of the Music Industry program for students focusing on the area of live audio and lighting. Students in this course will assist in various of music projects collaboration, including performance, live audio, studio recording, management, promotions, lighting, songwriting, creation and distribution of product while gaining a working understanding of the processes involved as they continue through the degree. Music Industry Study majors need a total of six credits of Projects in Music Industry. Course Fee $50. (Offered every semester.)
Projects in Music Industry serves as a developmental level hands-on running of the Music Industry program for students focusing on the area of live audio and lighting. Students in this course will assist in various of music projects collaboration, including performance, live audio, studio recording, management, promotions, lighting, songwriting, creation and distribution of product while gaining a working understanding of the processes involved as they continue through the degree. Music Industry Study majors need a total of six credits of Projects in Music Industry. Course Fee $50.
Pre-requisite: MUSG124. (Offered every semester.)
Projects in Music Industry serves as a mastery level hands-on running of the Music Industry program for students focusing on the area of live audio and lighting. Students in this course will assist in various of music projects collaboration, including performance, live audio, studio recording, management, promotions, lighting, songwriting, creation and distribution of product while gaining a working understanding of the processes involved as they continue through the degree. Music Industry Study majors need a total of six credits of Projects in Music Industry. Course Fee $50.
Pre-requisite, MUSG224. (Offered every semester.)
With the ever increasing availability and usage of Virtual Instruments, it is not only important to know how to use them from a technical standpoint, it is important to know how to use them musically. This course pushes the student to use a wide array of Virtual Instruments in both Pro Tools and Logic in a very musical manner, to get the highest level of realism and incorporate this into any studio, live, game, Audio Post Production projects. It is a skill that will set you apart from the average engineer.
Prerequisite: MUSG 260. Course Fee: $50
This course will acquaint the student with the techniques and procedures for creating audio for film, video, radio and for the web. There will be specific projects in spotting effects, creating voice-overs, Foley effects, and music leads. This class will have many hands-on projects to implement new techniques.
Prerequisite: MUSG 227 (Offered fall semester.)
Course Fee: $50
Projects in Music Industry serves as the entry level hands-on running of the Music Industry program for students focusing on the area of studio engineer. Students in this course will assist in various of music projects collaboration, including performance, live audio, studio recording, management, promotions, lighting, songwriting, creation and distribution of product while gaining a working understanding of the processes involved as they continue through the degree. Music Industry Study majors need a total of six credits of Projects in Music Industry. Course Fee $50. (Offered every semester.)
Projects in Music Industry serves as a developmental level hands-on running of the Music Industry program for students focusing on the area of studio engineer. Students in this course will assist in various of music projects collaboration, including performance, live audio, studio recording, management, promotions, lighting, songwriting, creation and distribution of product while gaining a working understanding of the processes involved as they continue through the degree. Music Industry Study majors need a total of six credits of Projects in Music Industry. Course Fee $50.
Pre-requisite: MUSG122. (Offered every semester.)
Projects in Music Industry serves as a mastery level hands-on running of the Music Industry program for students focusing on the area of studio engineer. Students in this course will assist in various of music projects collaboration, including performance, live audio, studio recording, management, promotions, lighting, songwriting, creation and distribution of product while gaining a working understanding of the processes involved as they continue through the degree. Music Industry Study majors need a total of six credits of Projects in Music Industry. Course Fee $50
Pre-requisite: MUSG222. (Offered every semester.)
