UCLA Samueli Master’s Student Strikes a Chord Between Music and Engineering

When Thomas Freedman ’25 first arrived at UCLA as a freshman majoring in music history and industry, he imagined a future career in music production or mixing. But just a few months into the program, he realized something was missing: STEM. 

That realization of his interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics marked a turning point for Freedman. Inspired in part by his father — a math teacher who had once considered studying electrical engineering, Freedman began taking the required coursework to transfer into the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. By the spring of his freshman year, he had committed to electrical engineering while still carrying forward his love for music.

“To this day I think that was one of my best life decisions,” said the now electrical engineering master’s student at UCLA Samueli. “I didn’t have to give up my love for music but instead have worked hard to find its intersection with engineering.”

Freedman’s academic path has been defined by blending art and technology, and his professional trajectory reflects that journey as well. Early on, he pursued internships and assistantships in music through networking, and contributed to projects for major labels and learned how software could eliminate repetitive tasks and free artists to focus on creativity. While he enjoyed working in those more creative roles, Freedman ultimately discovered that once music became work, the stress obstructed his ability to enjoy it. So, he landed on pursuing a middle ground to bridge the gap between audio engineers and music industry professionals.

However, as graduation neared, Freedman realized he lacked experience in larger corporate environments, a gap that loomed larger as his peers secured jobs at well-known firms.

“To this day I think that was one of my best life decisions,” Thomas Freedman said of his choice to switch his major from music to engineering. “I didn’t have to give up my love for music but instead have worked hard to find its intersection with engineering.”

Determined to test himself, Freedman searched for roles that could connect his music background with engineering. The result was an internship this summer at Yamaha in Hamamatsu, Japan. Immersing himself in a new country and culture, Freedman discovered as much about resilience as he did about technology. Navigating an unfamiliar language and environment, he learned to adapt quickly. At the same time, the corporate culture energized him. 

Freedman’s time at Yamaha complements his experience at SoundFlow, a workflow platform for creative professionals, where he applies machine learning to audio technology — a role he will return to in the fall. Originally conceived as a student research project, his work there evolved into professional research, combining digital signal processing with machine learning to improve audio quality. Freedman says he appreciates the company’s approach to making tools that support rather than replace creatives.

“AI is best employed in this way,” he said. “I’m eager to continue working on tools to cut out the boring, repetitive parts of making music and art to let the most exciting parts of the process shine.”

Freedman’s interdisciplinary interests reflect his broader upbringing. His father instilled both technical curiosity and musicality as a math teacher, electrician, woodworker and guitarist. His mother, an English teacher, brought balance through the humanities, while his piano teacher fostered an early love of music with lessons that emphasized both discipline and interpretation.

That discipline and interdisciplinary curiosity guided Freedman’s academic and professional path. After completing his bachelor’s degree in June, he decided to continue studying electrical engineering this fall through UCLA Samueli’s Exceptional Student Admission Program (ESAP), which offers outstanding engineering undergraduates a guaranteed recommendation for admission to the school’s master’s program.

Staying at UCLA was both a practical and personal decision for Freedman. The ESAP program offered a cost-effective and efficient way to deepen his technical skills while keeping him embedded in a community he values.

Courtesy of Thomas Freedman

Freedman working in a music studio as a mixing engineer assistant in his early career

“Someday I’d really like to pursue a Ph.D., but I’m also eager to get into the workforce soon, so ESAP is the perfect middle ground for me right now,” he said.

Music and engineering remained intertwined throughout Freedman’s undergraduate years. He credits mentors like electrical and computer engineering professor Abeer Alwan, who became a central figure in his academic development. Her classes in digital signal processing and speech processing closely aligned with his interests, and she invited him to give a guest lecture on music engineering to high school students. Eventually, he joined her Speech Processing and Auditory Perception Lab, where he said he learned extensively from both her and her graduate student lab assistants.

Beyond academics and internships, Freedman also sought to foster community at UCLA. With then-classmate Dhruv Krishan, he co-founded Art.Ificial at UCLA, a student group that explores the overlap between art and technology. The club grew from a shared sense that students at UCLA lacked a space for such interdisciplinary conversations.

“Because art and tech are often viewed as opposites, I think people get the impression that very few people are interested in these niche interdisciplinary fields,” Freedman said. “But after meeting so many such people at UCLA, I can say for a fact that that’s not the case at all.”

Looking forward, Freedman envisions a life at the crossroads of engineering and music technology. Today, his sights are set on continuing to deepen his technical skills within established companies so he will have the tools to secure a more people-centric role in the future.

“In an ideal world, I see myself working in a role at a music tech company that allows me to act as an ambassador between the creative community and engineering teams,” Freedman said. “Music people can benefit greatly from awareness of technological advancements and tech people need to be reminded of who the products they’re making are for.”

For Freedman, that balance between music and engineering has defined his path so far and will continue to be the driving force of his career in the decades ahead.