In this cutting-edge new program, you will study the fundamentals of music’s function within conventional visual media such as film and television, analyzing how and why music is used to enhance the dramatic and emotional effect. Transitioning from linear to non-linear media such as games, you and your fellow students will learn to work in industry-standard programming environments such as the Unity™ engine and Wwise audio middleware. In addition to standard game consoles and head-mounted displays, we will investigate output devices ranging from holophonic headphones to multi-speaker arrays.

New Media majors will take core courses in composition, theory, ear training, sight-reading and arrangement, with a special emphasis on film scoring and composing for video games, VR, and other media platforms. Compositions scored for traditional instruments will be realized through software emulation, and you will have ample opportunities to record and mix music in the Recording Arts department’s state-of-the-art studios.

In the third and fourth years of the program, you will work one-on-one with a mentor to advance your technique and refine your understanding and execution of needed skills for a career in media composition. Capstone projects undertaken in the final year of the degree will take advantage of the wide spectrum of unique collaborations possible at Johns Hopkins: you might choose to work with the JH medical campus to utilize EEG brainwave data to manipulate music, or to develop therapeutic applications for stroke victims; to program audio software from the ground up at the Whiting School of Engineering; or to collaborate with writers and directors at the JHU/MICA Film Centre to create real-time soundtracks for immersive 360º video storytelling.

If you wish to continue your performance studies, qualified students may audition to double-major (check the audition requirements for your instrument), or elect to take minor lessons. And as with other Peabody majors, it is possible to combine the Bachelor of Music with a bachelor’s degree from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences or the Whiting School of Engineering by way of our double-degree program.

New Media Seminars invite music industry professionals to present their work and lessons from their experience to students in the department. Each semester will include presentations on topics such as music technology and music production, composition software and hardware tools and creative techniques, as well as real world insight into the business of composing for new media.