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Music Technology
A-Level Music Technology is the study of capturing, creating, manipulating and analysing recorded sound. Where A-Level Music studies the notes, Music Technology studies the record: how a microphone turns air pressure into a voltage, how that voltage is amplified, converted to numbers, edited, processed and mixed, and how synthesis, sampling and MIDI build sound from the ground up. It is the most technical of the arts subjects, sitting as much in physics and audio engineering as in music, and it demands accurate numeracy - decibels, hertz, milliseconds and beats per minute - alongside a trained analytical ear. These notes are delivered against the Pearson Edexcel A Level Music Technology specification (9MT0), the sole provider of the qualification, and its four components carry the whole subject. Component 1 (Recording) is a non-exam assessment: a multitrack recording of a song chosen from a Pearson-set list. Component 2 (Technology-based composition) is a non-exam assessment: an original composition to a brief, built from synthesis, sampling and audio manipulation. Component 3 (Listening and analysing) is a written examination in which recorded extracts of unfamiliar commercial music are analysed for their production and use of technology. Component 4 (Producing and analysing) is a written and practical examination of corrective and creative production tasks worked on supplied audio and MIDI materials, plus extended written questions. Because these notes cannot play audio, they teach the principles, the numeric relationships and the production method: how sound and the studio signal chain work, how every processor and effect shapes a signal and why, how synthesis and sampling generate and transform sound, how to record and mix a multitrack, and how to hear and describe production choices in an unfamiliar recording - the ear-training and technical vocabulary the written papers reward.
0/83 Texts16 Chapters~317 min total
Pearson 9MT0 - principles of sound and acousticsPearson 9MT0 - audio technology, signals and numeracyPearson 9MT0 - DAW software and studio hardwarePearson 9MT0 - microphones and capture of soundPearson 9MT0 - microphone placement techniquesPearson 9MT0 - audio editing+10 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced
Table of contents · 16 ChaptersT·16
- Principles of sound and acoustics
- Audio technology, signals and numeracy
- DAW software and studio hardware
- Microphones and capture of sound
- Microphone placement techniques
- Audio editing
- Pitch and rhythm correction and manipulation
- Synthesis
- Sampling
- MIDI and sequencing
- Dynamic processing
- EQ and frequency shaping
- Effects and processors
- Mixing, stereo, balance and mastering
- Recording and technology-based composition
- The development of recording technology
- Component 1 - Recording (non-exam assessment)
- A multitrack recording of one song chosen from a list of songs set and released by Pearson, worth approximately 20% of the A-level and internally recorded but externally marked. The candidate captures, edits, processes and mixes the chosen song to a stereo mixdown, demonstrating microphone technique, the management of the signal chain and gain structure, editing, balance and the use of processing and effects. Because the set song list is rotated across specification cycles, these notes teach the general method of planning and executing a multitrack recording rather than any particular song.
- Component 2 - Technology-based composition (non-exam assessment)
- An original technology-based composition responding to one of a set of released briefs, worth approximately 20% of the A-level, internally produced and externally marked. The composition is built using the tools of music technology - synthesis, sampling, audio manipulation, MIDI sequencing and effects - so that the production and sound design are themselves the compositional material. Candidates submit an audio mixdown demonstrating creative and technical control of the techniques taught across the subject.
- Component 3 - Listening and analysing (written examination)
- A written examination of approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, worth approximately 25% of the A-level, based on recorded extracts of unfamiliar commercial music played in the exam. Candidates analyse and evaluate the use of recording and production technology - microphone use, editing, processing, effects, synthesis, sampling and mixing - and relate features to the era and technology that produced them. It tests aural perception and the ability to describe production in accurate technical language, drawing on the whole subject including the development of recording technology.
- Component 4 - Producing and analysing (written and practical examination)
- A written and practical examination of approximately 2 hours 15 minutes, worth approximately 35% of the A-level and the largest single component. Candidates carry out corrective and creative production tasks on supplied audio and MIDI materials - for example correcting tuning, timing, level and tonal problems and adding creative processing and effects - and answer extended written questions on production techniques and principles. It rewards secure practical control of editing, dynamics, EQ, effects and mixing together with the numeracy and theory that underpin them.
- Nature of assessment and grading
- The A-level combines two non-exam assessments (Recording and Technology-based composition, together about 40% of the marks) with two written and practical examinations (Listening and analysing and Producing and analysing, together about 60%), so practical production skill and analytical listening are weighted roughly equally across the qualification. The A-level is graded A*-E (U below E). Music Technology is unusual in the arts block for its heavy quantitative content: decibels, frequencies, sample rates, bit depths, delay times in milliseconds and tempo in beats per minute recur throughout, and secure numeracy is assessed alongside musical and production judgement.