Interest in Music Technology with Applied Math background. What are my chances?

[incgnit_0]

Hello all,

I'm a student now pursuing my master's degree in Applied Mathematics. I want to continue my studies to PhD program in other field. After researching, I'm really interested to be in a music technology phd program (It's also because my interest in music since I am also a violinist/trumpeter). The programs that I'm interested in are in NYU Steinhardt and McGill. 
 

To be honest I don't know what my chances are to be accepted in these programs with my background in Applied Math. What are my chances to be accepted (assuming I can complete all the necessary requirement)? I would love to hear any insights/comments/thought on it.

I would also love to hear any recommendation of other schools that have great phd programs in Music technology.

Thanks in advance guys!

[theory411]

I think that you have very high chances of being accepted. Professors love to see diversity in applicants and an applied mathematics background is helpful for making contributions to understanding sound and using technology. Good luck! I think you are fine!

[hurf_durf]

I don't know much about potential Ph.D programs in music technology, but I do believe that the field s ripe. There are many Music Education graduates that need to prove they are 1.) teaching across the curriculum (meaning that their music students aren't little Beethoven's in that their grammar is insufficiently developed), and 2.) using technology in the classroom. Using technology to explain the science of sound and perception will go a long way in fostering some of the fuzzier aspects of good performance, or can aid in developing necessary skills. As a quick example, many Jazz Band directors buy their music with fully notated solos, and maybe there's a better way to use technology that would encourage students to develop this ability--without the traditional feedback of "I like it" or "What were you thinking?". Creating that system or software for pedagogy would foster that kind of growth.

Also, I think there's a budding field of psychoacoustics which will require an advance in music technology in order to be applicable to the average music teacher at all levels (primary, secondary, tertiary). For example, where there's the "music makes you smarter" trope, that leaves a host of unanswered questions: 1.) Which music makes you "smarter?" 2.) How does music make you smarter? 3.) As far as aural skills training, which system is best for students? Is there a better way? 4.) What kind of music makes you smarter? (if it's western art music, then why does is it not heard in modern society/culture at all? (maybe this is the provenance of a Musicologist, but it's a question worth asking). 5.) For whom does it make smarter? (nature vs. nurture--are there people with auditory processing disorders that could be helped more than the newish field of Music Therapy can currently provide? Can technology improve results in that field?)

In the classroom, music technology is at the level of "Dr. Beat". In today's world of sophisticated software (we all have supercomputers in our pockets--for the first time in history), there should be notation software/a band director or conductor's tool that is pedagogically sound that, for the students: follows along with players, corrects their errors, indicates the degree to which a tone is off, in which section, and for the conductor: zeroes in on weak spots in error dictation in harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and timbral dimensions that is not a series of many compact discs/workbooks of dubious usefulness or simple audio files, but something much more interactive.

Also, the bane of the performance major in many Universities (especially those like my undergraduate institution--which accepted all students without an audition (God bless 'em!) is the Theory Lab or Aural Skills course. If there is there a better way to do aural skills than the traditional sight singing/ear training course with technology that can improve results, why not develop and incorporate that into the coursework? If everyone hates MacGamut and EarMaster Pro isn't rigorous enough, what kind of teaching tools can use advances in education (the "zone of proximal development" etc.) to bring musicianship back to what history tends to suggest was a higher level in the 19th century (without bringing back serfdom, patronage, and a societal caste system)?

I'd be curious to know what your ideas for synthesizing these disciplines and the areas in which your research will take you. It may be groundbreaking (where there's not a lot of primary sources outside of your endeavor), in which case I think many universities will be eager to have a strong math person helping out a discipline that is branching out into more scientific work (Musicology via Statistical Analysis; Music Theory seems to be using increasingly sophisticated jargon in an attempt to explain post-tonal theory; Music Education is looking for tools that will elevate musicianship in conductors and students; etc). A good purpose statement rife with ideas, and maybe a portfolio of projects that move in this direction will indicate that you know what you want to do and you've already done some of it.

Good luck!