Diploma of Music Production
Begin your career in popular music production, sound design and electronic music production.
Indicative Total Course Fees*
$28,040 AUD
* The Indicative Total Course Fee reflects the students are charged fees on a per unit basis and the fee for a unit may increase.
Complete your course faster by studying the course units over approximately 7 months (2 trimesters).
Complete your course faster by studying the course units over approximately 7 months (2 trimesters).
Whilst still classified as a full-time study load, you will complete the course units over one year. (3 trimesters)
If you want to take a little longer, that’s ok too. We’ll help you work out the best study load to suit your needs.
Note: Part-time is not available for international students.
February 2023
May 2023
September 2023
February 2023
May 2023
September 2023
February 2023
May 2023
September 2023
February 2023
May 2023
September 2023
February 2023
May 2023
September 2023
February 2023
May 2023
September 2023
DIPLOMA OF MUSIC PRODUCTION
Begin your career in popular music production, sound design, and electronic music production using industry-standard hardware and software.
Get hands-on from day one in this exciting, highly practical course that develops your individual music production style. Whether you’re an electronic music producer or interested in producing bands, the Diploma of Music Production will sharpen your music production skills.
Through hands-on training, we’ll help you amplify your talents, refine your skills and be industry ready in a matter of months. You’ll be guided by master lecturers who will mentor you in music production and sound design techniques, while also giving you great insight into the music industry.
As part of your course, you’ll work collaboratively with your peers to record a local music group of your choosing. You’ll have the skills to prepare a production brief and be able to apply your music production skills to satisfy a commercial client brief.
Upon completion, you will be eligible for up to 80 credit points either toward the Bachelor of Audio or Bachelor of Songwriting & Music Production.
YOUR CAREER IN MUSIC PRODUCTION BEGINS NOW

Tools & Software




What you'll learn
Course Structure
The Diploma of Music Production is stage 1 of the 3 stages of a Bachelor.
An essential foundation for your studies and your future career, You'll develop skills to become an independent learner, critical thinker and reflective practitioner
Examine influencers and trends in Audio, to develop an understanding of the learning process, research and nature of creativity and scholarship.
Potential projects:
Research the characteristics of a music or audio ‘genre’ and create a piece of work that demonstrates that knowledge.
Make an experimental mashup, to see if you can reconcile diverse sources (different genres, cultures or time periods) within one creative work.
This unit will help you develop the foundational skills to analyse a range of contemporary music styles, compose music effectively, and communicate musical concepts in different forms.
You will learn to identify music theory concepts including rhythm, harmony, melody, notation, structure, form, texture, and genre, and apply these concepts in your own analyses and creative work.
This unit introduces you to the core skills and concepts of music production. Across a range of projects, you will develop skills around recording, sampling, sequencing, and synthesis. You will develop your abilities across contemporary tools and technologies to produce original music in a DAW using a combination of MIDI and audio manipulation. You will also learn how to produce a variety of sounds to satisfy a brief and add effects to enhance the sonic qualities of your productions.
This unit will introduce you to the mindset and skillset of the creative entrepreneur, and transform your approach to problem-solving. You will analyse historical and contemporary models of leadership and best practice in entrepreneurship, and use tools for project design that include ideation, problem framing, and pitching. The skills in this unit will assist you in developing your creative thinking, exploration, and experimentation methods, allowing you to experiment with project design and content for creative media.
Understanding the diversity of musical genres is a core skill for the effective songwriter and music producer. This unit builds on your knowledge of music through a focus on musical genres and styles, their structure, texture, melody, harmony, and rhythm, as well as aspects of their history and social connections.
Knowledge of musical genres is developed through a broad range of activities and projects incorporating analytical listening, transcription, group performance, and composition within the specific genres.
Music Studio 1 involves learning through the professional application of a range of songwriting and music production techniques. This includes working with external musicians to produce a recording, contributing to a sample library, remixing an existing track and working to a commercial client brief.
These activities will require you to be adaptive, respond to challenges you would expect while working on commercial productions, solve problems, be self-directed and successfully communicate with others.
Through working in these applied contexts you will deepen your knowledge of (re-)mixing, songwriting, and music production professional practice, and responding creatively to a fast-turnaround brief.

Career Outcomes
What jobs will this course lead me into?
- Assistant Sound Engineer
- Electronic Music Producer
- Independent Music Producer
- Junior Sound Editor
- Voice over Recordist/Engineer
- Staging Crew
- DJ
- Electronic Musician
- Radio/Broadcast Personnel
- Junior Studio Administrator or Sound Designer
Course FAQs
All SAE courses have a focus on practical, hands-on delivery. The amount of practical time you experience during your studies does vary, depending on your course. You will also have opportunities to access campus resources and facilities outside of class time, during campus opening hours.
FEE‑HELP* is an Australian Government loan scheme that assists eligible fee paying students pay all or part of their tuition fees. It cannot be used for additional study costs such as accommodation or text books. The total amount of FEE‑HELP a person can use is known as the ‘FEE‑HELP limit’.
Once a person begins using FEE‑HELP, the amount of FEE‑HELP they have left to use is known as their ‘FEE‑HELP balance’.
* Terms and conditions apply. For the latest updates regarding FEE-HELP please refer to sae.edu.au/fees
SAE may recognise your prior learning and may grant credit towards satisfying the requirements for a VET or a higher-level program. This is applied where previous learning is considered equivalent to the content and learning outcomes prescribed for units within the program.
For full details, please refer to SAE's policy on recognition of prior learning and credit transfers.

Easy transition into the Bachelor Course
This means that when you complete an SAE Diploma you will be awarded the maximum credit points available, providing you with the opportunity to seamlessly transition into the higher-level Associate and Bachelor degree qualifications if you choose to do so.