Commercial Composition

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• understand the technological requirements to realise a given musical idea as sound
• manipulate musical materials to produce compositions which satisfy a given brief

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• demonstrate self-awareness, research and written communication skills
• work independently and/or part of a team to produce an original composition (or stylistically accurate pastiche)
• Understand and work closely to a brief
• devise appropriate production schedules and documentation to manage creativity, production and delivery requirements

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• plan the construction of a portfolio as a coherent whole rather than a collection of unrelated pieces. This might be, as examples, all or part of an album or EP, work for large-scale theatre project, musical, film, video game, or a showreel of smaller projects for use as a marketing tool.
• understand the requirements of producing original musical ideas to a professional-quality finished outcome
• develop and transform source material using appropriate techniques for chosen musical style(s)

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• how to create a coherent portfolio of commercial musical pieces of significant and appropriate complexity in duration, scope and realisation.
• realise musical ideas as appropriate in traditional score and/or audio and/or multimedia formats.

In the first semester, a range of commercial composition topics are explored in discreet exercise units, which are designed to expose you to core concepts for further independent research and creative exploration through ‘real world’ assignments. You will be given a brief and will need to engage in a process of pitching, developing and realising your responses to that brief as sound; and you will participant in a group evaluation process of your work against the brief and assessment criteria.

Towards the end of first semester, you will be required to formulate your own brief for your Final Portfolio in consultation with teaching staff such that it meets the learning outcomes of the module, with individual tutorials available for supervision throughout the semester; teaching may also include supplementary lectures on practical issues such as musical & non-musical aspects of presentation and production.

Teaching methods include:

• lecture
• group discussion & feedback
• practical workshop
• individual tutorials

Learning activities include

• critical listening to music & analysis
• preparation of demo recordings &/or scores
• reading texts/watching online tutorials on usage of technology (instruments, audio equipment, computer hardware & software, etc).

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Assignment

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.