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If you're trying to understand the Contemporary Music Maker component of the IB Music syllabus, you've come to the right place. In this post, we’ll break down the assessment and share practical tips to help you succeed.
IB Music The Contemporary Music Maker
- This is an HL-only component, worth 30% of the final grade.
- Students will devote around 90 hours for this component.
- The Contemporary Music Maker component requires students to submit a continuous multimedia presentation documenting their real-life project in which they create a collaborative music project that explores contemporary music-making techniques.
- The specifics of the Experimenting with Music component are largely determined by the teacher, as explained in our IB Music syllabus post.
The Contemporary Music Maker
Students create and submit a continuous multimedia presentation documenting their real-life project. Students must demonstrate: a) the project proposal b) the process and evaluation c) the realized project, or curated selections of it.
This component is designed to mirror real-world music-making and collaboration, giving students a hands-on experience of creating, producing, and presenting original music projects. You’ll work collaboratively with at least one other student to develop a music-making project that reflects contemporary musical practices.
Possible project ideas include collaborating with dancers, filmmakers, or other artists, creating music for virtual spaces like social media or streaming platforms, and experimenting with new technologies or innovative performance settings.
It is crucial that students document the entire project. Hence, a detailed project proposal is essential. This should outline: the artistic vision and musical goals, why your project is relevant to real-world music-making, the roles and responsibilities in the collaboration, a timeline for preparation, rehearsals, production, and presentation, all the resources needed, including equipment, software, space, and budget considerations.
You’ll document your creative process using various media such as audio recordings, video footage, journals, and photos. This documentation should include all your creative choices and innovations, the challenges encountered and the solutions you applied.
At the conclusion of your project, you’ll present your final project or curated selections of it to an audience. This could be through a live performance, or even through a digital premiere - the choice is yours.
Tips on succeeding
Find your artistic purpose. Start by thinking about what kind of music maker you want to be. Consider your musical passions, strengths, and the message you want to share through your work.
- Plan thoroughly. Developing a strong project proposal is essential. Outline your goals, timeline, resources, and roles clearly. A well-thought-out plan will keep your project organized and on track, helping you manage rehearsals, recording sessions, and collaboration smoothly.
- Embrace collaboration. Contemporary music-making thrives on teamwork. Actively communicate and coordinate with your collaborators, respecting each person’s ideas and contributions. Share leadership by taking responsibility for your part of the project while supporting others. Open dialogue and flexibility will help you overcome creative challenges and make the best music possible.
- Document everything. Your process is as important as your final product. Keep detailed records - audio or video clips, photos, journals, and notes - showing how your ideas evolved. Track challenges you faced and how you solved them. This documentation ensures that you demonstrate your growth and learning, which is a key part of your assessment.
- Reflect deeply. Don’t just list what you did - analyse it. Consider why you made specific creative choices, how you developed your ideas, and what obstacles you encountered. Think about how you adapted and what new skills or insights you gained.
We hope you found this post helpful. For more useful materials associated with the IB check out the wide variety of IA, EE and TOK exemplars available at Clastify and other guides available on our blog.
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