The Viennese composer Arnold Schoenberg's call for audio engineers to be musically trained professionals rather than mere technicians goes back to the first half of the Twentieth Century. His demand is more valid today than ever. The digital revolution has caused software companies to flood the market with inexpensive audio software run on common desktop computers. MIDI and Sampling have largely replaced the need for studio musicians. Sophisticated audio hardware is now produced in the Far East - cheaply. Former "Secrets Of The Trade," from hardware design and modifications to mixing techniques are now widely available to an international audience via the Internet. With the audio industry losing its ability to protect and control its product and Know-how it seems sensible to predict that the focus of the industry may shift from promoting a product (i.e.. the recorded media) towards promoting a process (i.e. the recording session). People once again will become the recording industry's greatest asset.

    At Fredonia, we are committed to educating upcoming audio professionals how to successfully interact with people in a creative environment. We offer guidance in musical and technical knowledge and promote mental flexibility. Enrolling in our four-year Bachelor of Science in Music with an Emphasis on Sound Recording Technology degree program means having time to discover your own creative abilities and ambitions and learning how to help others realize theirs. We are a team of professionals offering the student insights into all aspects of music and audio engineering. Each one of us has a particular area at which we excel: David Fridmann is a Grammy - Award winning Rock 'n Roll producer and engineer; Greg Snow is our expert in electronics; John Caruso, our studio supervisor, is an accomplished Sports Television Broadcast Engineer; and I myself, with perhaps too many interests to list, am partial to Classical Music production. We are proud that in the last twenty-five years many successful audio professionals have come out of our program, yet we are constantly striving to improve our facilities and curriculum. The sound recording courses are thematic, with the same themes returning each year. Once they do, they attain a new complexity by taking into account the newest research and approaching the topics from a new perspective. Ideally, this method builds upon knowledge previously obtained, adding the new insights that the student has gained from having taken a year's worth of courses in other departments at the College.

    Our SRT program emphasizes the acquisition of creativity, knowledge and experience. We are committed to keeping our program relatively small to maximize the attention that can be given to each incoming student, and our standards high to guarantee that each graduate will have the tools to succeed in their later careers. We hope we will be able to welcome you soon to Fredonia's new and improved Sound Recording Technology program.