Let Us Hear Your Work!

Digital Audio Technology 

University of Silicon Valley prides itself on cultivating students who can do things.

This is the beginning of that adventure, and your first assignment. If you already have existing work to show us, you should simply gather and organize it. If you don’t have any work samples, do not worry. In these guidelines, we provide directions on how to create work samples.

What to do

As someone who is interested in audio, you have probably already created some audio work samples. They might include, but are not limited to, audio tracks (studio or live recording) of any musical genre (demos are welcome), sound FX for a video game or a video clip, or even just some beats. Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

How to Submit Your Work

It's easy: Submit three samples of your best work, which show off what you have done so far. Give us as much variety as possible.

Preferred Formats

Submit your work samples as .wav or .aiff files. In other words, avoid mp3s and music streaming platforms (SoundCloud, Bandcamp) if possible. If you have created soundtrack content and want to show it with an animation or some video game action, please send it as a Quicktime movie.

Grading Criteria

Original Creative Work:

If you are sending original work (or remixes), we will evaluate it based upon four criteria:

  1. Originality/creativity
  2. Performance
  3. Technical quality
  4. Description

We need to know how much of what you’re submitting is original. Did you use loops or samples? Who engineered the tracks? If you recorded with friends, what was your part?

Grading Criteria

Engineering Work:

If your work is live sound or studio engineering, we will evaluate it according to these four criteria:

  1. Capture
  2. Editing and mixing
  3. Overall audio quality
  4. Description

Help and Tips

It would be great to know a little about what inspires you as a musician or audio person. Tell us a little about your experience to date. Have you been doing this for long? Have you taken classes to learn how to produce audio or play music? Do you have anything on YouTube, SoundCloud or similar media streaming platforms?

We'll listen carefully to what you have sent, evaluate it for its strong points and provide some feedback as recognition of the good work that you have done; we may even include some ideas about how to improve the tracks or expand your versatility in audio.

Questions and Support

Do you have a question? Do you need help with what to submit, or how to create original work? Feel free to reach out. Contact Department Director Xo Xinh Nguyen or your admissions advisor. We are here to help you.