A workbook to introduce the task, skills and content for Unit 2 - Professional Practice. This is used as a starting point before students move onto completing past papers. It broadly covers the content listed in the specification for this unit. Students will research and fill in gaps in the booklet, and see examples of some of the industry standards and financial considerations listed in the specification. The booklet briefly outlines the exam tasks but these will need further study beyond the scope of this booklet in light of past papers and examiners’ reports. I created this because there was nothing else out there - I hope it is useful.

Annotated score for Area of Study E ‘Nuages’ by Debussy. Printable version with detailed analysis for the Component 3 A Level Exam. Video score available on YouTube - search for ‘StudyMusic’ or for the piece itself. Please support the free videos by purchasing a copy for your own use or with your students.

A quick test for each topic to build student understanding of the following topics for the Unit 4 examination in A2 Music Technology. The download includes the question sheets for the following topics: Microphones Synthesisers MIDI Samplers Drum Machines Electric Guitar Distortion EQ and Filtering Tape Delay Dynamics Processing Reverb Modulation FX Recording Media Magnetic Tape Analogue and Digital Monitoring Live Sound The Computer Home Studio

Checklist for the A Level course featuring a ‘covered’ and ‘revised’ column. Itemised list by heading and topic adapted from the specification grids to cover all aspects of technical theory. Useful as a starting point resource at the start of the course or one to revisit at the end. Provided as a Word document so you can edit and incorporate in your own documents.

Simple revision cards to explain the concepts of: Modulation Leslie Speaker / Tape-based Flanging Synthesiser Envelopes Synthesiser Modules & Waveforms Distortion - Hard / Soft Clipping Reverb Decay Plate and Spring Reverb Phase Labelling a Synthesiser Dynamic and Condenser Microphones Acknowledgements: Mixing Desk Cover Graphic adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixing_console#mediaviewer/File:SSL_SL9000J_(72ch)_@_The_Cutting_Room_Recording_Studios,_NYC.jpg from an image by Rebecca Wilson under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license Distortion diagram adapted from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clipping_waveform.svg under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Graphics produced of various pieces of music technology equipment; deliberately unfamiliar so students have to apply the knowledge gained during their work on Unit 4 for Edexcel Music Technology A Level. The pieces of equipment included are: Tape Delay Unit Analogue Synth LFO Distortion Pedal Plate Reverb Spring Reverb Digital Reverb Graphic EQ Parametric EQ Compressor Limiter Gate

An overview of the different types of reverb production methods and notes on the impact of reverb on music. Useful for students revising for their AOS 3 work in Music Technology A Level.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS WAS WRITTEN FOR THE LEGACY (2008) SPECIFICATION, BUT IS STILL OF MUCH VALUE FOR THE NEW SPECIFICATION. IT WILL BE UPDATED SOON PRIOR TO THE 2022-23 ACADEMIC YEAR. Written by an experienced teacher and sixth form head of department, this workbook and set of board resources is designed to help students in their Edexcel AS studies and in their transition to A2. It contains a simple introduction across all technical aspects of Music Technology, along with key word exercises to reinforce terminology and where appropriate, pieces of equipment to label and discuss. Examples of appropriate listening are included with necessary topics. The ‘board-friendly’ resources organised as full screen PDFs to retain fonts and formatting which introduce and reinforce the workbook content. Introduction to Sound What is sound? What is the impact of frequency and amplitude? How does this relate to phase, harmonics and wave cycles? Microphones What are the different types of microphones? What properties are important when choosing a mic, and how do they pick up sound? Synthesisers What do the different parts of synthesiser do? What types of synthesiser exist and what are they used for? What are envelopes and LFOs? Dynamics Range Processing How do compressors and noise gates control the volume of sounds? What are limiters, and what creative things can we do with dynamics? EQ and Filtering What is an EQ? How is EQ applied and how do we use filters correctively and for creative effects? What do filter graphs look like? Reverb How was reverb created? What is it? How do we generate reverb now, and what parameters can we change? Samplers What is sampling and what is a sampler? How can they be used? How can samples be manipulated and what must we bear in mind? Delay Effects What does a delay do? How was delay created historically? What parameters might we see on a delay? What different types are they? Modulation Effects What is modulation and how are LFOs used to create it? What effects are created with modulation and what do they sound like? Distortion Effects What are the different types of distortion? How is it created? What functions / parameters might you see on a distortion effect? Creative Effects What other effects can be used creatively in Music Technology? What do they sound like? How are the parameters changed? MIDI What is MIDI? What impact did it have on Music Technology? What are MIDI controllers and how can we use them to create musical work?

Simple outline of the following: Introduction to Binary Counting in Binary Decimal to Binary Conversion

These sheets and lesson resources prepare students for their Music Technology recording projects. Included resources are: A session log which enables students to keep track of any issues they encounter and recall microphone technical information and placement details. Ambient recording worksheet and presentation; to recall microphone configurations that can be used to record larger ensembles and improve clarity of capture. Recording capture guidance worksheet; a recap of commonly used close microphone configurations. Recording problems worksheet to allow students to work to identify potential issues with recording and discuss how they would use DAW technology to solve them.

Course checklist including content / topics and terminology A useful guide to what to focus on in your revision and a tracker as you complete the course. This is tailored to students studying: AOS B Rock and Pop AOS E 20th Century Music WCT AOS A

Annotated score for Area of Study E ‘Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon’ by Poulenc. Printable version with detailed analysis for the Component 3 A Level Exam. Video score available on YouTube - search for ‘StudyMusic’ or for the piece itself Please support the free videos by purchasing a copy of the score for use by yourself and your students.

Assessment grid from specification along with mark sheet to record comments; print onto folded A3 paper.

Class performance activity for Pachelbel's Canon in D with modern pop song lyrics that fit over the chord progression. Used as a recap for Ground Bass but would also fit with introducing circles of fifths and harmonic progressions.

I created these mind maps to help students structure their notes during group discussions in Unit 4 'Developments in Music Technology' lessons. They also form the basis for later revision lessons, or a 'starter' discussion for more able groups. They are not intended to provide a complete course outline but do briefly summarise the content for the whole unit. Topics are: Synthesisers Samplers Drum Machines and Sequencers Electric Guitars and Amplifiers Electric Pianos and Organs EQ and Filtering Compression Gating Delay Reverb Modulation Distortion Mixing and Mastering Live Sound and Studio Design Analogue and Digital Audio Recording Media Recording Skills MIDI Multitracking Computer Home Studio Quantisation distortion image taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantization_(signal_processing)#/media/File:Quantization_error.png under the CC BY 3.0 license. All other images in the public domain or created by the author.

A simple guide to microphones for AS/A2 Music Technology, discussing dynamic/condenser, pickup patterns and mic characteristics. Suitable for A2 exam revision or as preparation for AS/A2 recording sessions.

Useful revision aid for students to use when listening to a musical extract to build their use of terminology. I have also used this to success when studying set works for the Edexcel 'Developing Musical Understanding' module.

Sheet on Britten's 'Young Persons' Guide' to explain the layout of the modern orchestra and to work on identifying instruments in each variation.

This sheet is designed to be used as a directed listening log after each week's lesson that the student can use to list influences in preparation for the logbook activity and to help inform composing work.