A brand new, multidisciplinary MIT graduate program in music technology and computation will function school, labs, and curricula from throughout the Institute.
This system is a collaboration between the Music and Theater Arts Section within the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS); Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) within the School of Engineering; and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.
“The launch of a brand new graduate program in music know-how strikes me as each a mandatory and a provocative gesture — an essential leap in an period being quickly redefined by exponential progress in computation, synthetic intelligence, and human-computer interactions of each conceivable sort,” says Jay Scheib, head of the MIT Music and Theater Arts Part and the Class of 1949 Professor.
“Music performs a sublime position on the fore of a outstanding convergence of artwork and know-how,” provides Scheib. “It’s the suitable time to launch this program and if not at MIT, then the place?”
MIT’s practitioners outline music know-how as the sphere of scientific inquiry the place they research, uncover, and develop new computational approaches to music that embody music info retrieval; synthetic intelligence; machine studying; generative algorithms; interplay and efficiency techniques; digital instrument design; conceptual and perceptual modeling of music; acoustics; audio sign processing; and software program growth for inventive expression and music functions.
Eran Egozy, professor of the observe in music know-how and one of many program leads, says MIT’s focus is technical analysis in music know-how that all the time facilities the humanistic and creative points of constructing music.
“There are such a lot of MIT college students who’re fabulous musicians,” says Egozy. “We’ll method music know-how as pc scientists, mathematicians, and musicians.”
With the launch of this new program — an providing alongside these obtainable in MIT’s Media Lab and elsewhere — Egozy sees MIT changing into the apparent vacation spot for college kids all for music and computation research, making ready high-impact graduates for roles in academia and business, whereas additionally serving to mould inventive, big-picture thinkers who can deal with giant challenges.
Investigating large concepts
This system will embody two grasp’s levels and a PhD:
- The Grasp of Science (MS) is a two-semester, thesis-based program obtainable solely to MIT undergraduates. One semester of fellowship is mechanically awarded to all admitted college students. The primary class will enroll in fall 2025.
- The Grasp of Utilized Science (MAS) is a two-semester, coursework-based program obtainable to all college students. One semester of fellowship funding is mechanically awarded to all admitted college students. Functions for this program will open in fall 2025.
- The PhD program is on the market to all college students, who would apply to MIT’s College of Engineering.
Anna Huang, a brand new MIT assistant professor who holds a shared school place between the MIT Music and Theater Arts Part and the MIT Schwarzman School of Computing, is collaborating with Egozy to develop and launch this system. Huang arrived at MIT this fall after spending eight years with Magenta at Google Mind and DeepMind, spearheading efforts in generative modeling, reinforcement studying, and human-computer interplay to help human-AI partnerships in music-making.
“As a composer turned AI researcher who focuses on generative music know-how, my long-term objective is to develop AI techniques that may shed new gentle on how we perceive, study, and create music, and to study from interactions between musicians in an effort to remodel how we method human-AI collaboration,” says Huang. “This new program will allow us to additional examine how musical functions can illuminate issues in understanding neural networks, for instance.”
MIT’s new Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building, that includes enhanced music know-how areas, can even assist remodel music training with versatile efficiency venues and optimized rehearsal amenities.
A pure residence for music know-how
MIT’s world-class, top-ranked engineering program, mixed with its concentrate on computation and its conservatory-level music training choices, makes the Institute a pure residence for the continued growth of music know-how training.
The collaborative nature of the brand new program is the most recent instance of interdisciplinary work taking place throughout the Institute.
“I’m thrilled that the College of Engineering is partnering with the MIT Music and Theater Arts Part on this essential initiative, which represents the convergence of varied engineering areas — comparable to AI and design — with music,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the College of Engineering, chief innovation and technique officer, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of EECS. “I can’t wait to see the progressive tasks the scholars will create and the way they may drive this new area ahead.”
“Everybody on campus is aware of that MIT is a good place to do music. However I would like individuals to come back to MIT due to what we do in music,” says Agustin Rayo, the Kenan Sahin Dean of SHASS. “This excellent collaboration with the Schwarzman School of Computing and the College of Engineering will make that dream a actuality, by bringing collectively the world’s finest engineers with our extraordinary musicians to create the following technology of music applied sciences.”
“The brand new grasp’s program affords college students an unparalleled alternative to discover the intersection of music and know-how,” says Daniel Huttenlocher, dean of the MIT Schwarzman School of Computing and the Henry Ellis Warren Professor of EECS. “It equips them with a deep understanding of this confluence, making ready them to advance new approaches to computational fashions of music and be on the forefront of an evolving space.”
