The Kimberley region of Western Australia is one of the largest and most diverse rock art provenances in the world, with a complex stylistic sequence spanning at least 16 ka, culminating in the modern art-making of the Wunumbal people. The Gunu Site Complex, in the remote Mitchell River region of the northwest Kimberley, is one of many local expressions of the Kimberley rock art sequence. Here we report excavations at two sites in this complex: Gunu Rock, a sand sheet adjacent to rock art panels; and Gunu Cave, a floor deposit within an extensive rockshelter. Excavations at Gunu Rock provide evidence for two phases of occupation, the first from 7-8 to 2.7 ka, and the second from 1064 cal BP. Excavations at Gunu Rock provide evidence for occupation from the end of the second phase to the recent past. Stone for tools in the early phase were procured from a variety of sources, but quartz crystal reduction dominated the second occupation phase. Small quartz crystals were reduced by freehand percussion to provide small flake tools and blanks for manufacturing small points called nguni by the Wunambal people today. Quartz crystals were prominent in historic ritual practices associated with the Wanjina belief system. Complex methods of making bifacially-thinned and pressure flaked quartzite projectile points emerged after 2.7 ka. Ochre pigments were common in both occupation phases, but evidence for occupation contemporaneous with the putative age of the oldest rock art styles was not discovered in the excavations. Our results show that developing a complete understanding of rock art production and local occupation patterns requires paired excavations inside and outside of the rockshelters that dominate the Kimberley.

Associated Rock Art Traditions are surface modifications usually found in association with rock art. They are the product of repeated mechanical actions and usually lack the figurative elements of stylistic rock art traditions. While pecked cupules, fingerfluting, abraded areas, and abaded grooves are well documented both in the archaeological and ethnographic record, flaked edges have received limited recognition as an Associated Rock Art Tradition. This thesis will examine bedrock flaking as another example of an Associated Rock Art Tradition. Research was conducted in the northwest Kimberley where linear panels of bedrock flaking are abundant in association with rock art. Seventy eight sites were recorded across six (6) research areas, containing 1719 bedrock flaking panels from which 10,178 flake scars were recorded. Sites were classified as Quarry sites - abundant flaking debris; Ritual sites - limited flaking debris and rock art; and Other - limited flaking debris and no rock art. The analysis of variables from panels and flake scar measurements showed that Quarry sites were significantly different to Ritual and Other sites, containing a high quantity of larger flake scars. Ritual and Other sites were much harder to differentiate, containing flakes of similar dimensions but of varying stone quality and scar quantity. Other sites contained limited bedrock flaking panels and were interpreted as prospecting sites, where stone was assayed. Ritual sites had high numbers of bedrock flaking panels, but with much smaller flake scars than found at Quarry sites and very limited flaking debris. It is proposed here that bedrock flaking at Ritual sites represent an Associated Rock Art Tradition rather than an economic activity. The mechanical similarities between pounding and bedrock flaking may have led to these being viewed as closely related ritualised behaviours along with rubbing, hammering and incising which have been recorded ethnographically and archaeologically as Associated Rock Art Traditions.

One of the pedagogical challenges for online teaching is preparing tertiary music students for collaborative work, particularly in performance, composition and production. This article surveys the use of online performance collaboration within a higher education music course. Using a framework of constructive alignment, synchronous and asynchronous learning tools are investigated and discussed. In order to achieve crucial lifelong learning needs, we determine how collaborative online performance tools can not only develop musical skills, but also breakdown the perceived limitations in an online course by enhancing creativity and building meta-capabilities such as networking, communication, independent thinking and problem solving that professional portfolio musicians require today.

We live in a rapidly changing world; however, no one expected an event like the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it would have on every person, in every industry, including the arts. This performance has taken a cultural historical method to investigate the importance of music and storytelling to maintain good health and happiness during times of pestilence. This research also explores language and communication through improvisatory musical accompaniment, combining musical works implied in Boccaccio’s Decameron, and 21st century repertoire drawing on nature and birdsong.

The “gig economy” has been the life for musicians for many years. Despite financial instability and the prospect of unemployment, why do musicians choose this type of work? And what can we learn from their motivations?

As AusMusic month closes, it’s a good opportunity to consider an instrument that has made quite a contribution to the musical life of Australia. The notorious recorder has been feared by parents and called an “instrument of torture”. But what has this instrument given us that we might not realise?

This thesis investigates and answers questions surrounding the professional identity of small ensemble musicians, the interpersonal relationships of the members that work within chamber music groups, and the organisational approaches to maintaining an ensemble in today's cultural environment. Specifically, this research addresses the following questions: in the current cultural environment, how is a sustainable ensemble created and how do the qualities and characteristics of musicians support the development of an ensemble? How do the interpersonal relationships between ensemble members affect the working and sustainability of the group? And, what organisational aspects must be taken into consideration as far as communication, commitment, shared values and goals? By taking the individual musician's perspective on ensemble performance and organisation within non-traditional or unconventional ensembles, this thesis aims to answer these questions through discussion provided by professional musicians working in the field. Through this process, the research highlights the opportunities and approaches available to training or practising musicians, and the skills needed for a successful career. As different genres of classical chamber music ensembles have emerged during the 21st century, the aims and output of these ensembles have developed in new and unconventional directions. This has inevitably had consequences for the professional identities of ensemble members and the musical and non-musical processes applied to their musical groups. The literature surrounding chamber music ensemble performance and processes has focused mainly on traditional ensembles, primarily the string quartet, piano trio, woodwind quintet, and vocal ensembles. These have served as examples towards investigating the cognitive, psychological and communication methods of small, high-performing teams. By focussing on non-traditional ensembles; those that have mixed instrumentation, varied members, and perform early, contemporary or new music, this research investigation explores commonalities and differences in interpersonal dynamics of non-traditional or new genres of ensembles. This contributes further understanding of ensemble processes, adding to the information provided by more traditional ensembles discussed in existing scholarly research.

Reflections explores the sonic properties of a range of recorders against electronic fixed media (processed and unprocessed sounds, or soundscape). This program investigates and demonstrates the variety of sound possibilities the instruments can produce through traditional and contemporary performance practice. Featuring mostly female Australian composers, each piece presents a particular reflection of the instrument’s past through integration with fixed media. Reflections has two meanings in this program: the improvisation and interaction between the live performer and the pre-recorded material, and the concepts of the pieces themselves. In the first instance, reflections refers to the improvisatory mimicking of pre-recorded material by the live performer; expanding and weaving musical and gestural motifs to contrast and assimilate live and recorded performance. With an early music heritage and a rebirth within the contemporary environment, the second references the recorder and its music, how these eras can be reflected by crossing sound, playing techniques and representation. Program: Loops (1983) - Ros Bandt, Permafrost (2019) world premiere - Donna Hewitt, Sweet Flute (2007) - Thomas Reiner/Katrina Dowling, Kage (2000) - Roderik de Man