Through performance and ensemble interaction, this unit helps students develop vital aural and improvisational skills that will significantly enhance their creative and compositional process. Students experience the wonders of ‘real-time’ creation of music without the aid of notation on their respective instruments and are encouraged to develop their intuition while learning to rely on their musical ideas. Class feedback and discussion of each in-class improvisation provides weekly opportunities for formulating individual compositional ideas regarding melody, harmony, rhythm, form and structure.

This unit continues to develop through performance and investigation into experimental modes of presentation, to help students develop vital aural and improvisational skills which will significantly enhance their compositional process. As the student gains experience improvising, skills are developed for making informed 'split-second' decisions based on intuition and musical responsiveness. The ‘Sounds of Surprise’ performance provides a thrilling close to this essentially two semester experience of spontaneous music creation.

Musicians from diverse backgrounds work together towards the creation of new work manifested in compositions, arrangements and performances for vocal ensembles (e.g. choirs or smaller consorts of voices). Lecture focus on the analysis of compositional techniques found in early music through to the contemporary era, encompassing an eclectic range of styles. Students experience the performance of these styles in a workshop situation by forming a ‘resident ensemble’ where ideas based upon the analysed techniques are tried out in a workshop situation. Online multitrack recording is offered as an alternative delivery method to live workshop situation. Composition-focused students benefit from feedback of their new works in the workshops, while performer-focused students may experience the process of creating new compositions or arrangements for the first time. A selection of student work will be presented in an end of semester concert by the Creative Vocal Ensemble. Students will be able to take these skills developed in this course into future professional situations as composers, performers, conductors and arrangers.

In this unit of study students will be introduced to a range of audio technologies and gain a basic proficiency in sound recording, editing and mixing. Students will experience working in the Conservatorium sound studios, and learn how to make good quality recordings with portable recording devices. This unit of study also examines microphone design, stereo microphone techniques and digital audio recording. Students will experience prac-based recording sessions to gain a comprehensive understanding of the recording technology on offer at the Sydney Conservatorium.

Percussion Composer Workshop is designed to develop compositional practice via hands-on performance-oriented curricula. This Unit of Study is will provide composition students with insights into playing and composing for percussion instruments. A basic and tactile understanding of percussion sounds and playing techniques, together with ensemble experience is an essential foundation for successful composition in this creative medium. After successfully completing this unit of study, students will be able to: demonstrate rudimentary percussion playing techniques; increase their understanding and ability to accurately conceptualise and perform complex rhythms; have performed in a percussion ensemble on a variety of percussion instruments; have composed works exploring the colour and rhythmic potential of the percussion medium.

Instrumentation and Orchestration, enhances students' knowledge of the modern orchestra while reinforcing core musicianship skills. Instrumentation study investigates the technical limitations and expressive potential of individual instruments. Orchestration examines a range of instrumental combinations in diverse styles and ensemble contexts, and requires that students learn best typographic practice and current conventions of notation and score layout. In examining instrumental characteristics the unit will also cover the fundamentals of acoustics and timbre perception, and will demand a thorough grasp of the harmonic series and its broader musical implications. Throughout the course students will be required to present their own arrangements and transcriptions.

New Music, New Thinking is designed to challenge the way in which students understand the music of our time. Through analyses of recent music and artistic themes, discussion and creative tasks, students will be exposed to a variety of compositional techniques, concepts and aesthetics. The content and assessment of this subject will enable students to further develop critical thinking concerning their future contribution to the world of new music be it in composition, performance, musicology or education.

Music Notation and Publishing builds student capacity to notate music at a professional industry standard. Through study of published scores and text books on music notation, students learn what the standards of music notation are, and how to approach complex or difficult notation problems. The unit introduces the professional notation software. A series of short challenges develops skills in key areas of music publishing, such as the preparation of scores and parts, piano reductions, film score standards, and much more. The final assessment project is engraving a first edition of an important Australian work.

An application of various musical skills and disciplines pertinent to today's music industry, this unit of study explores fundamental aspects of composing, arranging and orchestrating for the screen. Theoretical principles are drawn from dramaturgy and cinematography, and applied to concerns of form, aesthetics, orchestration and technology to inform the various practical processes of preparing a music score from its inception to the delivery of parts for a recording session. Scoring and Arranging for the Screen offers a pragmatic approach to negotiating the pressing demands faced by screen composers in today's film and television industry.

Number and Process emphasises the study of important and innovative composition techniques that apply various mathematical processes emerging predominantly from the mid 20th century onwards. The focus is on key works of composers such as Webern, Stockhausen, Boulez, Xenakis and other influential composers of the late 20th century. The studied techniques will enable students to strengthen and expand their compositional repertoire and provide an understanding of how their work appears in a clear historical context.

Tonality and Process emphasises the study of important and innovative composition techniques that apply to various alternative processes using tonality emerging throughout the 20th century. The focus is on key works of various Russian composers, American minimalist composers, Louis Andriessen and other influential composers of the 20th century. The studied techniques will enable students to strengthen and expand their compositional repertoire and provide an understanding of how their work appears in a clear historical context.

The study of advanced orchestration and instrumentation techniques of the 20th and 21stcenturies and application of these to orchestration Task and a major orchestration assignment.

This unit will focus on electronic music composition involving new paradigms brought about by real-time performance, installations, network technology, human computer interaction, gestural control and integration with visual arts and video animations. This unit of study will also investigate the available literature on topics such as multimedia, interactive and installation work in the context of contemporary sound art practice.

The unit provides a practical introduction into the creation of, and aesthetics for music and
moving image. Topics for discussion will include, but are not be limited to: relationships
between image and sound, diegetic and non-diegetic sound, thematic development,
partnerships between composers, directors and other such collaborations within the creative
sector, sound design, music for games and animation, and non-commercial applications of
music for image (audiovisual art, cymatics etc). The unit seeks to enable
students the ability to develop a skillset within their own studio spaces for the creation and
dissemination of their projects; both at a sector ready, as well as a technically proficient level.
Importantly, students will be presented with a variety of possible projects and collaborations
with industry partners across differing creative sectors.

Live Electronic Music Performance is an innovative and diverse area of contemporary performance practice. Posing significant and exciting challenges for the rendering of music using digital technology, Live Electronic Music Performance requires genuine interdisciplinary skills such as technical development and problem solving, improvisation, musical composition, live sound reinforcement and ensemble communication. This area of performance employs a wide range of technologies, musical styles and performance methodologies. This unit aims to give students the skills necessary to navigate the various tools and techniques available in order to create innovative live performances using electronic and digital technologies.

The Composer Performer Workshop provides both composers and performers with the opportunity to work together in the performance of new and experimental works.

The Composer Performer Workshop provides both composers and performers with the opportunity to work together in the performance of new and experimental works.

The Composer Performer Workshop provides both composers and performers with the opportunity to work together in the performance of new and experimental works.

The Composer Performer Workshop provides both composers and performers with the opportunity to work together in the performance of new and experimental works.

Composition Workshop is designed as an opportunity for students from all musical backgrounds to play, write and perform music together. Each student will write a new piece for an ensemble of classmates that will be performed in an end of semester concert. Set topics studied in this course include: Creative and Resourceful Instrumentation (body percussion, mobile phones as instruments, the human voice and found percussion instruments), Soundscape, Indeterminacy and Loops. The first four weeks of the course are spent exploring these topics through lectures and creative group composition exercises. Students will also look notating their music using one-page scores, graphic notation, time-space notation and text scores. From Week 5 onwards, students will workshop and rehearse their own concert piece for an ensemble of musicians from their class.