Outline

Overview

In this unit of study, students will acquire research-based performance, songwriting and recording skills based around a combination of repertoire areas relating to diverse genres of contemporary music. Students will work collaboratively in order to gain a greater level of understanding of performance and songwriting skills relating to diverse content areas, and will commence exploration of creative and technical facilities.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Paul McDermott, p.mcdermott@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Paul McDermott, p.mcdermott@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Rainbow Chan, chun.chan@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Jerome Blaze, jerome.blaze@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Participation	Tutorial participation Participation	20%	Ongoing	Ongoing
Outcomes assessed:
Creative assessment / demonstration	Work in progress demo presentation and chart Oral presentation and chart	20%	Week 05	10 minutes
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Critical listening log Critical appraisal	20%	Week 08	1000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Creative assessment / demonstration	Refined demo Recording	40%	Week 11	3-5 minutes
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Tutorial participation: You are required to participate in tutorial activities from weeks 2-11. You will be marked not only on attendance, but on your participation to the tasks each week, and contribution to the group. These are easy marks – turn up, be engaged, and apply yourself to the tasks each week.
Work in progress demo presentation and chart: In your tutorial, you will present your demo to the class for feedback in week 5. You will present your song (either recorded or played live) and talk briefly about - performance / engineering credits, intention, influences, and process.
Critical listening log: Referring to relevant academic texts and music, complete an analysis of two songs of your own choosing using the Critical Listening Log form located on Canvas. You can choose any songs you wish as long as they are within the canon of popular music – this means no jazz or blues tracks. These genres have their own traditions that we haven’t yet covered in this unit. You can of course choose songs influenced by those musics.
Refined demo: Based on feedback from the Work In Progress presentation in week 5, re-record, develop and submit a refined demo recording, submitting an mp3 file, accompanying credits/listening notes* and creative process log. This assessment has two parts to submission, make sure they are both included: demo as .mp3 file, listening notes document as a word or PDF file and creative process log.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

For specific assessment criteria please refer to Canvas

The following assessment criteria are used for performance work in this unit of study:

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Comprehensive and outstanding technical control and musical integrity in relation to developmental expectations. Musical individuality consistently projected to create a persuasive personal representation of the work. Performance flair indicative of soloist standard. A mark of 95 or above indicates extraordinary technical virtuosity and musical artistry.
Distinction	75 - 84	Excellent technical, musical and stylistic achievement. Consistently coherent and expressive performance. Some personal interpretation of the work suggesting soloist potential.
Credit	65 - 74	Confident technique with evidence of solid musicality and some stylistic achievement. Occasional lapses indicative of unresolved technical, artistic and/or stylistic issues. Projects potential for further development.
Pass	50 - 64	Satisfactory level of preparation and musical engagement. Some inconsistencies in musicianship, style and/or technique. Musical imagination and overall performance sense developing though some insecurity in this area.
Fail	0 - 49	Unsatisfactory technical achievement and/or unsatisfactory level of musical and artistic engagement. Limitations may be of such a scale and consistency as to call into question the student’s future direction in the programme.

The following assessment criteria are used for written work in this unit of study:

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Demonstrates high level of initiative in research and reading; sophisticated critical analysis of evidence; high level engagement with theoretical issues, innovative use of reading/research material and impressive command of underlying debates and assumptions; properly documented and written with style, originality and precision.
Distinction	75 - 84	Demonstrates initiative in research and wide, appropriate reading; complex understanding of question and ability to critically review material in relation to underlying assumptions and values; analyses material in relation to empirical and theoretical contexts; properly documented; clear, well-developed structure and argument with some signs of literary style.
Credit	65 - 74	Evidence of broader understanding than pass level; offers synthesis with some critical evaluation of material; coherent argument using a range of relevant evidence; some evidence of independent thought, good referencing. A high credit (70-74) shows some evidence of ability to problematise and think conceptually.
Pass	50 - 64	Written work meets basic requirements in terms of reading/research; relevant material; tendency to descriptive summary rather than critical argument; makes a reasonable attempt to avoid paraphrasing; reasonably coherent structure; often has weaknesses in particular areas, especially in terms of narrow or underdeveloped treatment of question; acceptable documentation.
Fail	0 - 49	Work may fail for any or all of the following reasons: Unacceptable paraphrasing; irrelevance of content; poor spelling; poor presentation; grammar or structure so sloppy it cannot be understood; failure to demonstrate understanding of content; insufficient or overlong word length.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Welcome to Unit: Collecting Your Creative Ideas.	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 02	Hello to Your DAW!	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 02	Introduction to the Con Studios, Signal Flow and Microphones.	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 03	Communicating Musical Ideas	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 03	Writing Good Charts and Fixing Bad Charts	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 04	Song Forms	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 04	Critical Listening Practices	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 05	Melody and Voice Leading	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 05	WIP In-Class Presentations	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 06	How Hooks Work	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 06	Working with Hooks	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 07	Types of Lyrics	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 07	Lyric Writing Exercises	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 08	Deconstruction and Repetition	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 08	Collecting Samples	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 09	Sounds into Songs	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 09	Working with Collected Samples	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 10	APRA/AMCOS: Making Money from Your Songs	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 11	Writing for Visuals: Television Themes	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 12	Unit Review and My Music Practice	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 12	Listening Party	Tutorial (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: Students are expected to attend a minimum of 90% of timetabled activities for a unit of study, unless granted exemption by the Dean, Head of School or professor most concerned. The Dean, Head of School or professor most concerned may determine that a student fails a unit of study because of inadequate attendance. Alternatively, at their discretion, they may set additional assessment items where attendance is lower than 90%.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Audio Production Principles by Stephane Elmosnino This is an excellent overview of how to do all aspects of studio recording. Bring it along to your sessions. You can access this as an ebook in the library, or purchase the book yourselves. I recommend ordering through Booktopia – great prices and cheap shipping.
Songwriting Strategies: A 360 Approach by Mark Simos
Songwriting in Practice by Mark Simos

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. demonstrate understandings of diverse forms of contemporary music and how to recreate such music in individual and group-based contexts from a technical perspective
LO2. document and maintain records of collaborative and individual music practice activities
LO3. reflect critically on your music and music produced by your peers
LO4. apply composition, rehearsal, performance, recording and production techniques necessary to present diverse forms of contemporary music.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered.

Additional information

More information can be found on Canvas.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

MUSC1401: Contemporary Music Practice 1

Semester 1, 2022 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links