Department: Recording Arts
Modality: In-Person
Concentrations: n/a
Semester Hours: 47-49
The Recording Arts program prepares students for creative careers in the art, craft, and technology of sound. Whether your passion is shaping the sonic world of a film, capturing a powerful musical performance, or designing immersive audio for streaming content and animation, this program provides the foundation to do meaningful, professional-level work in any medium that depends on sound.
Our curriculum combines rigorous technical training with creative exploration. Students develop fluency in industry-standard tools and workflows while cultivating the critical listening, storytelling instincts, and collaborative skills that distinguish exceptional sound professionals. The SFTV sound stages, studios, and audio workstations serve as laboratories where students put their knowledge and creativity to work, building portfolios that reflect both technical excellence and artistic vision.
Given the cultural influence of the media we work in, it is vital that these studies are enriched by the broader perspectives provided through LMU’s liberal arts core curriculum. Recording Arts students also complete coursework in music fundamentals. In upper-division courses, students study the science of sound behavior, reproduction, and modification, and learn audio techniques that apply across film, television, streaming, animation, and music recording.
The Recording Arts B.A. offers two equally robust tracks, each leading to a distinct professional portfolio:
All Recording Arts students progress through the first two and a half years as a single cohort, sharing the same foundational and intermediate coursework. This common path builds a strong creative community, ensures every graduate has broad competence across both disciplines, and gives students time to discover where their strengths and interests lie before committing to a specialization.
The track decision is made in the spring of the junior year. At that point, students choose between RECA 461 (Multi-track Studio Recording) for the Music Production & Recording track, or a directed elective and applied project work for the Sound Design for Film/Media Audio Post-Production track. By the senior year, coursework and portfolio building are fully aligned with the chosen specialization.
Students on this track develop expertise in the post-production audio pipeline: dialogue editing and restoration, Foley recording, sound effects editing and design, and re-recording mixing for film, television, animation, and streaming content. Senior-year portfolio work centers on collaborative projects with student filmmakers and animators, with students building a professional reel that demonstrates their ability to shape the sonic narrative of visual media. Sound Design students are not required to take the advanced studio recording course (RECA 461); instead, they use that time to deepen their specialization through elective study and hands-on work on thesis films, animation projects, and upper-division productions.
Students on this track focus on studio recording techniques, multi-track session management, live music capture, mixing, and music production. Senior-year portfolio work includes a series of original recordings and productions, plus a minimum of two visual media projects (which may include animation, live-action film, or a combination) to ensure Music Production graduates are also conversant in sound for picture.
Music Production & Recording: The senior portfolio includes a series of original studio recordings and music productions, plus a minimum of two visual media projects. Visual projects may include one animation and one live-action film, or any combination that demonstrates competence in sound for picture.
Sound Design for Film/Media Audio Post-Production: The senior portfolio is built entirely around sound for visual media. Students assemble a professional reel showcasing sound design, dialogue editing, Foley, and re-recording mixing work across film, animation, and/or streaming projects. Portfolio pieces are drawn from thesis films, animation collaborations, and upper-division productions completed during the junior and senior years.
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