Unit Synopsis
In this unit, you will study the art of audio mixing and mastering, with a focus on the historical, technical and aesthetic aspects of the production process. You will apply concepts of mixing and mastering in the preparation of two production portfolios for digital distribution. You will explore and analyse current and historical industry trends in the distribution of popular music and how these have impacted the listening behaviour of consumers. You will also explore the mechanics of current distribution platforms and examine the copyright, licensing and financial implications of each including sync licensing, publishing and sample libraries.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisite: Completion of 72 credit points in CG51. Students outside of CG51 may seek approval from the CG51 Head of Course to undertake this unit. Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Portfolio | 40% |
| 2. Portfolio | 40% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 20% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 57.14% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Student Feedback
Review Moodle resources to include more links to relevant articles and supplementary materials.
Update the Moodle site to include additional links to relevant articles and supplementary materials. Ensure that these resources are highlighted during lectures and tutorials to help students effectively integrate them into their studies.
Additional articles, readings, and multimedia resources were uploaded to the Moodle site, with clear signposting in weekly modules. These resources were also discussed and highlighted during lectures and tutorials to support students in integrating them into their learning and assessment tasks.
Source: Staff reflection
Review and update Moodle resources
Review and update Moodle resources to ensure all materials are current, accessible, and aligned with unit learning outcomes. This includes updating software tutorials, refreshing multimedia content, checking external links, and enhancing interactive and practical learning activities to reflect current industry practice.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Apply audio mixing techniques in the production of a portfolio of audio works in contemporary popular music styles
- Apply audio mastering techniques in the production of a portfolio of audio works in contemporary popular music styles
- Analyse current and historical technological trends in the music industry and their impact upon music distribution.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | ||
| 2 - Portfolio | • | ||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | |
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |