Sound Design

An actor sings into a standing microphone on stage, with lights shining down.

Ideas That Resonate

Carnegie Mellon’s sound design program invites students to imagine the future of sound in entertainment, and prepares them for careers as sound designers, system engineers, mixers, dialog and effects editors, music supervisors, coders, and audio technicians. With two dedicated sound design faculty and our strong alumni community that works extensively in the field, students are well-positioned to enter the industry upon graduation.

Students sit at a table in a darkened theater with computer screens and light and sound boards, working during a technical rehearsal at CMU.

Sound Design Curriculum

The sound design curriculum focuses equally on conceptual design, composition, and system design. Students have access to facilities outfitted with a wide range of analog and digital equipment, from tape recorders to networked audio systems. The school’s ambitious production season gives students a wide range of opportunities to put their design and technical skills into practice.

MFA DESIGN CURRICULUM

Student Work

Actors dressed in army fatigues with crab claws on their hands stand at a microphone on the set of a play called “Adult Things.”

Designing New Work

Daniel Ocanto (Class of 2023) was sound designer for the School of Drama’s production of “Adult Things” by DJ Hills, directed by B Kleymeyer (MFA Directing, Class of 2024).

A student in a black box theater blows into a recorder-like instrument.

Special Projects

Tate Abdullah (Class of 2024) creating a live sound scape during a workshop of a new play by Rivka Rivera (Acting, Class of 2010) as part of CMU’s ColLABo.

An actor is in a spotlight on stage, holding a ventriloquist doll, surrounded by other actors as reporters in a scene from “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

Designing Musicals

Yiran Zhang (Class of 2018) was sound designer for the School of Drama’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

Yiran not only designed the sound system to allow every audience member to clearly hear the actors and enjoy the music, but also provided sound support to help to build the connections between the two different worlds.

alumni stories

Hidenori Navajo wears a black shirt and has his hands behind his head, looking off to the side and smiling.

Hidenori Nakajo

 Photo of Yiran Zhang, an Asian woman with dark hair pulled back, smiling at the camera.

Yiran Zhang

 Photo of Chris Rummel, a man with short curly dark brown hair wearing a suit and tie.

Chris Rummel

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Featured Faculty

Photo of Joe Pino, a white man with short gray hair and beard, wearing glasses and a blue button down shirt.

Joe Pino

Professor of Sound Design

Joe Pino teaches conceptual sound design, modular synthesis, Kyma, film sound design, ear training and audio technology for Carnegie Mellon School of Drama’s sound design program.

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Photo of Stewart Blackwood, a white man with dark brown hair, wearing a blue checkered button-down shirt and smiling.

Stewart Blackwood

Assistant Professor of Composition and Sound Design

Stewart Blackwood is Assistant Professor of Composition and Sound Design for the School of Drama, and a composer, sound designer, and creative coder.

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Hidenori Navajo wears a black shirt and has his hands behind his head, looking off to the side and smiling.

I was attracted to the quality of production and unique curriculum of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama. I had a great interdisciplinary experience through my communication with excellent professors in different but related fields.

Hidenori Nakajo, Class of 2010

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