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.

Introductory assignment for AS Music Tech students to prepare them for using Logic Pro for their coursework, in the style of a driving test.

Originally designed for Edexcel A Level but suitable for all boards and all composition work. Suggested prompts to help with teacher feedback for composition, or could conceivably be used for peer feedback too.

Some prompts for describing capture details when students are completing their logbook work.

Full breakdown of content as a PDF and editable Word document for each Area of Study on the 2017 specification. Useful to plan out schemes of work and identify appropriate resources / curriculum planning. This covers practical and theoretical content across all four A Level components - Component 1; Recording, Component 2; Composition, Component 3; Listening and Analysing, Component 4; Analysing and Producing.

This checklist considers strategies students and teachers can use to improve their composition work. It uses simple musical terminology to encourage students to extend their writing, and thus enables teachers to use this as a partial assessment framework. Whilst it would not be advisable to use this as a sole resource as to assess student compositions, it does enable a framework to be put in place where students' work is extended and they can build independent learning skills by going through this process using self or peer assessment by which to consolidate their understanding of the principles and processes. A brief explanatory PowerPoint and reflection sheet is included to help students reflect on the processes discussed and how they could be applied and put in place.

Ideas sheet to give students a starting point for creating lyrics. Uses 'A Day In The Life' as an example and includes brief information on the 'cut up' and 'fold in' methods used by Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Poster to encourage students to rehearse quieter! Useful for display in practice rooms in Music departments.

Lesson on identifying intervals using a chart of semitones and advice on counting scale steps. Written for AS Music students originally.

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.

A simple guide to help students follow the process to create a WAV or MP3 mixdown from their Logic Pro projects, ensuring that they don't make the common errors that often occur.

A one page guide to synthesis covering modular synthesis / analogue & digital / polyphony / LFOs / envelopes. Intended as a revision summary or starting point for A2 study but also applicable for AS students.

Preparation for A2 Music Technology Unit 4 - key facts to do with tape delay, a diagram to label, an example of a tape delay unit along with key terminology to reinforce student understanding.

Single page guide to exam terminology for AS Music Technology. Includes pickup patterns, exam terminology, synth modules, compression, distortion, filtering and phase. I use this as the front page for workbooks for sixth form Music Technology.

Useful recap of GCSE Science content for students progressing onto Music Technology. Discussion of frequency/amplitude/phase/harmonics in simple terms as preparation for AS or as revision for the A2 examination.

PowerPoint and associated resources designed to introduce the idea of using processors to control dynamics of tracks. Discussion of noise gating, compression and limiting, along with key terminology and graphs. Note: An issue was identified with some graph labels in this resource. This has now been resolved and apologies for any inconvenience.

Simple grid to help analyse set works in terms of exam elements.

The picture shows a 1970s analogue synthesiser and encourages students to structure their essay responses to describe the functions shown along with considering the context and technical explanations associated with the synthesiser.

A revision aid to explain the tonal and formal structure of Sonatas