Sonic Pi Composition Brief and Rubric

Download a PDF version of this brief and rubric

Brief for group and individual project:

The purpose of your project is to write music suitable to the mood of a supplied short video of about 1 - 2 minutes in length both in a group and individually. These videos have specific themes on current issues facing the world today like: climate change, plastic in the oceans, and the refugee crisis. Your aim is to create what you think might be an appropriate musical background for your chosen film for both projects. Consider what would be an appropriate mood for the topic of your chosen film. There are no wrong answers and you are encouraged to creatively explore and experiment with different combinations of sounds. Please see the assessment rubric below for specific requirements for the final outcomes.

SOLO taxonomy for assessing composition projects

Prestructural [P]

E Grade equivalent

Clear Not Achieved (NCEA) equivalent

Unistructural [U]

D Grade equivalent

Almost/just barely achieved (NCEA) equivalent

Multistructural [M]

C Grade equivalent

Achieved (NCEA) equivalent

Relational [R]

B Grade equivalent

Merit (NCEA) equivalent

Extended abstract [A]

A grade equivalent

Excellence (NCEA) equivalent

Individual contribution to group project (group project only)

Little or no obvious contribution

 

Disengaged

Some contribution but in a superficial and small way

 

Little demonstration of collaboration in pair programming activities

 

Little engagement

 

Obvious contribution to some development of the outcome

 

Pair programming activities demonstrated some collaboration

 

Engaged for most of the time

Clear contribution to core elements within the final project

 

High degree of collaboration demonstrated  

 

Considered and (perhaps) compromised on some of their own ideas where disagreement between group members occurred

 

High level of engagement

 

As per Relational with:

 

Skilful use for communication to promote ideas and thoughts with clarity

 

Programming

Substantially lacks knowledge of programming constructs presented in lessons

Code has bugs that prevent it from running

 

Minor floors in basic brief requirements

Minimal and basic use of programming concepts

Program runs but could have bugs that prevent some parts from running

A functioning synthesiser has been created but with little refinement and exploration

A valid solution according to the brief given

Some code redundancy

Program runs bug free or has bugs that only very minimally affect the output

Uses sequences and loops

Uses samples and effects

A synthesiser has been created which changes a fundamental waveform in some way

Removed most code redundancy and has a clear logical structure

Advanced use of sequences, loops, a random number generator, and a variety of Sonic Pi’s functionality including samples and effects

 

Program is bug free and runs as expected according to brief requirements

 

A synthesiser has been created which demonstrates creative sculpting of waveforms with attack, release, sustain and decay

As per Relational with:

Skilfully uses constructs and concepts beyond those required in the exercise to provide an improved solution.

Efficient use of algorithms

Obvious demonstration of creative exploration, refinement, and optimisation in final outcome

 

 

 

Music (DI and CI strand only)

Incomplete or no audio

No engagement with the topic of the chosen film

Sounds and instrumentation used do not blend well

Obvious unintentional tonal clashing/unrelated sounds

Rhythms used lack variety, clarity, and clash between sounds

Timbres demonstrate little creative exploration and experimentation

Tonality demonstrate little creative exploration and experimentation

Demonstration of some engagement with the subject of the video chosen

Sounds and instrumentation are used simply with little manipulation

The sounds chosen blend

Some rhythmic variety and demonstration of creative exploration

Personalised tonality used (created a scale as per lesson #2)

A range of compositional techniques used such as repetition, layering, and silence

Thoughtful use of frequencies

No sound is too overbearing to the overall mix

Effective and a highly creative response to the film chosen

Sound/instrumentation chosen blend well

A range of rhythms, frequencies, timbres and tonal colours demonstrate effective exploration and refinement

Effective use of composition techniques used

Sounds are mixed to a high standard

 

As per Relational with:

Convincing, imaginative, and refined response to the video chosen

The sounds chosen all complement each other

Stylistically assured

Imaginative variety in use of rhythms, frequencies, timbres, and tonal colours

 

Administrative Details

Contact info

petriechris@gmail.com 

Credits

Developed by Chris Petrie.

Last updated on

27/06/2018

Copyright info

The content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.