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Media Music Tech Lab | MFA in Music Composition for the Screen | Columbia College Chicago
The Media Music Tech Lab is taken in all four semesters of the MFA in Music Composition for the Screen. It exists so that the composers have the technical means to realize the projects they start in their composition and orchestration classes: a very broad range of the hardware and software tools used across media music production, taught hands-on, alongside direct help with whatever their current project needs. It meets once a week for a four-hour block in the Digital Music Lab with regular breakout sessions into the Music building’s Production Studios.
I teach the second year of the sequence. By then the composers have their DAW and orchestral-mockup fundamentals; Year 2 takes them into the two areas where a media composer most often has to build their own tools: synthesis and custom sampling and instrument building in the fall, and interactive audio for games in the spring, while also guiding the students through the technical preparation for several recording sessions, both in-person and remote.
The Year 2 Sequence
| Fall — Semester 3 | Spring — Semester 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Theme | Synthesis & custom instrument building | Spatial & Interactive Audio |
| Tools | Modular and software synthesis, Kontakt and KSP scripting, sample recording and mapping, audio effects | Unity, FMOD Studio, C#, Pro Tools |
| Core build | An original sampled instrument with a scripted UI, distributed as a finished .nki | All SFX and adaptive music for a Unity game, implemented in FMOD and wired to game state |
| Also | Recording-session prep and template building for the spring | A live session at Area 44 Music; spatial audio, music systems, ambiences, optimization |
| Course page | Fall 2026 syllabus & calendar | Spring 2026 syllabus & calendar and weekly pages |
Fall — Synthesis & Custom Instrument Building
| Wk | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | Foundations of Synthesis |
| 3 | Synth Sound Quiz — identify synthesis methods by ear |
| 4–5 | Modular Synthesis |
| 6 | Audio Effects |
| 7–11 | Building Custom Sample Instruments (five weeks: recording and editing samples, mapping, velocity layers and round robins, KSP scripting, a custom performance view, packaging for distribution) |
| 13–14 | Recording Session Prep |
| 15 | Template Building |
Spring — Interactive Audio
| Wk | Unit | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Unity Fundamentals | Unity Essentials |
| 3–4 | FMOD Fundamentals | Introduction to FMOD; events and parameters — the Survival Game begins |
| 5–6 | FMOD + Unity Integration | Integrating FMOD & Unity; scripting audio in C# |
| 7–8 | Recording Session | Pro Tools session prep; live session; debrief |
| 9–12 | Advanced FMOD + Unity | 3D and spatial audio; music systems; ambiences and environmental audio; optimization and profiling |
| 13–15 | Wrap-up | Advanced topics; student projects; final review and portfolio |
How a Session Runs
- First hour: Q&A and help with current projects — the composers’ own studio work, whatever it needs that week
- Second hour: the new topic, demonstrated
- Third hour (and fourth): in-class hands-on assignment, finished in the room
Assessment is classroom participation and extra effort (100%): the lab exists to support the creative work assigned in the other courses in the program, so the grade reflects the engagement and the work each composer brings to the room. Assignments are delivered the night before class, named FirstInitialLastName_Week#_AssignmentName_Version#. The use of AI tools in class work requires prior approval and full disclosure.
Example Assignments, Guides, & Resources
The pages below collect the strongest examples of what the lab produces — written for these composers, used in the room, and kept in the public knowledge base.
- Synthesis, Sampling, and Custom Instrument Building — the fall’s guides and challenges
- Unity + FMOD — the Survival Game — the spring’s core build and the guides behind it
Related
- Kontakt: Building the CCC-C Piano — the fall’s flagship build guide
- Unity+FMOD — Survival Game — the spring project brief
- The Free Composer/Producer Toolkit & Beyond