I detta självständiga arbete undersöks en lärandeprocess i musikalisk komposition under tidspress. Sex kompositioner skrivs utifrån tre olika tidsbegränsningar: fyra dagar, två dagar och tre timmar. Till varje deadline skrivs två kompositioner. Studien utgår ifrån ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv med stöd i forskning och litteratur kring musikalisk komposition och att jobba under tidspress. Loggbok och videoobservation används som dokumentationsmetoder och för att analysera materialet används metoden tematisk analys. Resultatet besvarar de två frågeställningarna: Hur upplever jag att arbeta med tidspress? Vilka metoder använder jag för att klara tidsfristen? Resultatet delas in till fyra teman utefter valda tidsbegränsningen: Komposition på fyra dagar, komposition på två dagar och komposition på tre timmar. Dessa fyra teman innehar underrubrikerna: kompositionens metoder och hur tidspress upplevs i kompositionen. I diskussionen sätts dessa resultat i relation till vald litteratur, forskning och fenomenologiskt perspektiv i ett diskussionskapitel. / In this self-study, I explore my own learning process in musical composition during time pressure. Six compositions are written with three different deadlines: four days, two days and three hours. There are two compositions for each deadline. The study is based on a phenomenological perspective with supporting literature and scientific research on musical composition and the correlation between work and time pressure. This study uses log records and video observations as methods of documentation while thematic analysis is used to analyze the collected data. The result answers two questions: How I experience working with limited time? and What methods are used to finish in time? The result is split into four categories each after its own deadline: four day composition, two day composition and three hour composition. These four categories have two subcategories: The compositions method and the experience in composing with time pressure. In the discussion, these results are set in relation to the selected literature, research and the phenomenological perspective.

“Doing gives birth to ideas”. From ideas to composition: a study of composition processes in higher music education. Recent technological developments have challenged the historical methods of composing music for acoustical instruments using traditional scores. However, composers in the Western art music traditionstill continue to use them when they explore the realm of sounds intraditional instruments and possible ways to communicate their intentions. The aim of the present study is to describe the development process in the composition of score-based music intended to be performed by a mixed ensemble of wind, string and percussion instruments. Three composer students from an undergraduate program in Western art music composition each participated during two semesters in the data collection. The data consists of a series of composition sketches, qualitative interviews, voice logs, music recordings and observations of rehearsals and concerts. The analysis focused on shedding light on the participants’ ways of developing the content as the processes of composition unfold. The main methods of analysis were to compare different versions of the same composition and, on the basis of this comparison, to ask analytical questions of the participants. A result common to the three participants, is the conclusion that they start with rudimentary structures and gradually elaborate them so that they become more detailed and sophisticated, for example, more varied in instrumentation. This elaboration is supported by the use of written notes – scaffolds – that guide the development of the structure in different directions. Seven types of scaffolds, that represent different strategies to formulate and solve compositional problems, were found in the empirical data. The study contributes to wider understanding of the importance of making handwritten sketches throughout the process of developing musical ideas. Despite recent technological developments, there is evidence that hand-sketching still serves as an intuitive tool for meaningmaking, in combination with other tools such as acoustical instruments and new music technology.