DESMA 116
Sonic Media
Grades
Grade records describe outcomes. For what a course is like to take, read student reviews written on dibs below or follow the separate external review link.
Workload and assignments
Work types reported in BruinWalk reviews of this course, across recorded instructors and terms. They may differ from this term's syllabus.
dibs has not read this course’s reviews, so it cannot say what kind of work it sets. That is dibs not having looked. It is not a course without papers or exams, and the reviews linked below are the answer until dibs catches up.
What comes first
The chain dibs can see is 2 courses long before DESMA 116. Read from Fall 2026, because dibs has not read a class page for DESMA 116 in Winter 2026 and a department can change what it requires. This is a floor, not a deadline: dibs has not read a class page for DESMA 101, DESMA 104, and DESMA 25, so the real chain can only be longer than this, never shorter.
Counted in courses rather than quarters: dibs does not know which of them a department lets you take together.
From the registrar's catalog
Studio, six hours. Requisites: courses 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, and 101 or 104. Examination of realm of sound as an artistic medium. Exploration of its conceptual, theoretical, and practical dimensions. From exploring sound perception, memory, and human orientation to embracing everyday auditory encounters, study delves into various approaches for crafting and showcasing sound-based media projects. Overview of sound art and sound design practices. Topics span from fundamental sound theory and acoustics to psychoacoustics, sound compositions, and spatial audio. Covers techniques such as editing and mixing to employ effects and automation. Includes areas such as field recordings, voice, and sound synthesis. Students gain honed listening skills and a robust theoretical framework, empowering them to articulate interests and creative visions through sound. Letter grading.
Sections in Winter 2026
From the people who took it
Student reviews
What taking DESMA 116 was like: the work, the teaching, and what students wish they’d known.
Your experience could be the first.
No student reviews are available to read on dibs for this course yet. Took it? Tell the next person what helped, what was hard, and how you spent your time.
Looking for more perspectives?
External reviews are separate and do not count toward the dibs rating.