Some Hunter senior students are among those who will have original song recordings to their name by Wednesday afternoon, thanks to a combined schools production workshop.
Year 11 and 12 Music Industry and Music 1 students from Callaghan College Jesmond have joined with Kariong Mountains High School, Gosford High School and Henry Kendall High School are being mentored by producers from Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) across a two-day course.
The 32 students spent Tuesday May 8 writing songs with new friends before performing to their cohort and receiving feedback from APRA.
In groups with at least one instrumentalist and one vocalist, students devised a breadth of music from pithy base guitar progressions, to melodies about growing up, in just three hours.
"We actually came together to make a song - writing lyrics, beats, riffs," Callaghan College vocalist male Ashton Dott said. "I'm improving my skills."
On Wednesday May 9, they will record each song in a new studio at Callaghan College's Jesmond Campus.
"Learning how to grow the seed of a lyric or a melody into a whole song and then work out how best to perform it, and then produce that performance, is a complex creative and technical process," Jamie Mitchell, head of performing arts at Callaghan College's Jesmond Campus said.
But for organising teachers, the most rewarding part of the course has been a growth in students' confidence.
Mr Mitchell said the event, which is a collaboration with Kariong Mountains High School, has helped students realise their talents.
"It is a new experience [for the students] and builds relationships between schools," Mr Mitchell said.
"We've noticed growth throughout the day. This morning students who were very closed off ... are now working in groups and playing in front of 40 people they don't know," he said.
Amongst them is drummer Chloe Mann who is in Year 12 at Callaghan College. She has some experience in song writing in her band, Eclipse, but said the intensity of the workshop pulled her out of her comfort zone.
"I am a very introverted person so having to work with people who I haven't worked with before is a very new experience," she said. "I'm happy with what we produced."
As female drummer, Miss Mann hopes she can represent other girls who may want to pursue the instrument.
"This is a great opportunity to hone in on songwriting which I want to do more, Year 12 student Rebecca Hardy said.
She has been singing six eight-years-old after inheriting a music gene from her mother and said the course helped converge a love for English and Music.
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