Outline

Overview

Digital Composition units of study support the sustained development of compositional craft and creativity through the practical integration of music technology and digital music techniques in the preparation of sound based compositions to be submitted throughout the semester. The unit will focus on the approaches taken over the last century to create sounds using modular synthesis techniques and computers to generate and synthesise sounds based on acoustic properties of instruments and other sound sources.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Composition and Music Technology
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	CMPN1221
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Ivan Zavada, ivan.zavada@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Skills-based evaluation	Portfolio of short digital music compositions Composition	60%	Multiple weeks	3-5 minutes per composition
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Sound Synthesis Presentation Presentation	40%	Week 13	5-8 minutes
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Sound Synthesis Presentation: Present and describe the outcome of the patches created during group tutorials with the appropriate terminology and presentation style.
Portfolio of short digital music compositions: Three composition tasks created as part of a class workshop.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

Digital music portfolios are assessed to four criteria with the following weightings:
鈥� Creativity: 40%
鈥� Craft: 30%
鈥� Application: 20%
鈥� Presentation: 10%
The following guide provides a reference with regards marking expectations. However, it should听be noted that staff may interpret the criteria as deemed appropriate to the creative form and media
of the portfolio:

Creativity (40%)
Exceptional (34-40): An original contribution to musical thinking. Convincing, confident,听imaginative, personal, bold, risk-taking, engaging.
Superior (30-33): Convincing musical logic and direction. Engagement with repertory听goes beyond imitation.
Competent (26-29): Influences of other composers are evident, and display steps听towards taking such influences into a new, personal direction.
Acceptable (20-25): Engaged with contemporary music culture and ideas but may听parrot rather than seek to extend the ideas of other composers.
Unacceptable (19 or less): Generic, hackneyed, pastiche.

Craft (30%)
Exceptional (26-30): Obvious and unequivocal command of resources. Technique is听matched to creative intentions.
Superior (23-25): Musical structure is fluent and lucid throughout. Displays听sophisticated ability to develop and manipulate material. Advanced use of colour.
Competent (20-22): Displays coherent structure and convincing clarity in orchestration听and standard of production.
Acceptable (15-19): Capacity to express musical ideas with appropriate instrumental听and/or digital media.
Unacceptable (14 or less): Fundamental technical errors evident in notation, digital听production, understanding of instruments, musical form, etc.

Application (20%)
Exceptional (17-20): Is consumed by his or her artform and actively contributes to the听music community at large.
Superior (15-16): Is highly committed to composition as evidenced via engagement听with the repertory, attendance at concerts, etc. Generally seizes opportunities to extend听learning as they arise.
Competent (13-14): Demonstrates independent motivation and works consistently听throughout the semester. Engaged in generating opportunities for public dissemination听of work.
Acceptable (10-12): Attends lessons, seminars, workshop opportunities and听demonstrates some openness to learn from tutors although somewhat inconsistently.听Only somewhat engaged with the composition community / cohort.
Unacceptable (9 or less): Unmotivated, fails to work in a consistent fashion.

Presentation (10%)
Exceptional (9-10): The standard of a professional commercial publication or recording听with coherent visual identity.
Superior (8): Presentation of work demonstrates awareness of user-friendliness and听attention to consistent and individual visual style.
Competent (7): Attractive scores presented with clarity and supported with recordings.听Non score-based work informed by concise and compelling supporting documentation.
Acceptable (5-6): Notation legible but may still include unnecessary ambiguity.听Electroacoustic and non score-based work supported with appropriate documentation.
Unacceptable (4 or less): Illegible scores. Audio format errors.

Oral presentations will be assessed against the following criteria:

Content
Shows evidence of broad research, taking into account a variety of sources
Clear argument, supported by relevant reasons and evidence
Shows evidence of critical thinking about the topic, including:
搂 Considers alternative views
搂 Where appropriate, questions assumptions implicit in the literature
搂 Draws meaningful connections between facts and / or concepts
Uses terminology accurately and appropriately
听

Presentation
Is clearly expressed
Is interesting and engages other students
Makes appropriate use of examples and presentation methods relevant to the听material presented (e.g. presentation software, handouts, recordings where听relevant)
Covers the topic effectively in the available time

听

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.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Standard University penalties apply to all assignments.

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 .

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 .

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The 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听simple extension.鈥� 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鈥檛 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听special consideration or special arrangements.

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

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students,听听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	Introduction 鈥� What is sound synthesis?; Concurrent global trends in digital music and media	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 02	Synthesising sound with computers 鈥� a survey of digital synthesis techniques; Early examples from Max Mathews, Chowning, DX7, UPIC through to contemporary techniques	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 03	Sound synthesis software	Tutorial (3 hr)
Week 04	Sound synthesis software	Tutorial (3 hr)
Week 05	The modern sound studio 鈥� development of studio technologies for sound production, the analogue studio	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 06	Sound synthesis hardware	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 07	Analogue audio	Tutorial (3 hr)
Week 08	Sound synthesis hardware	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 09	Sound synthesis patching	Tutorial (3 hr)
Week 11	Creating your own sound synthesis patch for performance	Tutorial (3 hr)
Week 12	Tutorial 6	Tutorial (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance:听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.

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. recognise and utilise various tones and noise generators
LO2. build modular synthesis patches using standard production software
LO3. create compositional systems based on synthesis parameters
LO4. compose short studies based on modulation techniques explored in class
LO5. better understand the role of sound synthesis in various media contexts.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all 爆料王 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鈥檚 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 INFORMATION ENTERED HERE YET

Disclaimer

Important: the 爆料王 regularly reviews units of study and reserves the right to change the units of study available annually. To stay up to date on available study options, including unit of study details and availability, refer to the relevant handbook.

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

爆料王

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

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

爆料王

CMPN2222: Digital Composition 2

Semester 1, 2020 [Normal day] - 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

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links