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ScotlandMusic TechnologyQuick questions
Developing Understanding of 20th and 21st Century Music
Quick questions on Technological developments in 20th and 21st century music - SQA Higher Music Technology
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are electronic instruments?Show answer
The synthesiser generates sound electronically rather than capturing it, producing timbres no acoustic instrument can. From the 1960s and especially the 1970s and 1980s, synths gave music new pads, leads and basses, and synth pop, disco and electronic styles were built on them. The synthesiser shows technology creating a sound, and a style, from nothing acoustic.
What is multitrack recording?Show answer
Multitrack recording lets each part be recorded on its own track at a different time and combined (mixed) afterwards. This enabled overdubbing (adding parts one at a time), dense layered arrangements, and editing and balancing after performance. It turned the studio into a creative instrument, heard in the increasingly elaborate productions from the 1960s onward, and is the basis of all modern multitrack mixing.
What is q1?Show answer
How did multitrack recording change the way music was made? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What is the difference between sampling and synthesis? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Name one effect of digital distribution and streaming on how music is heard. [2 marks]
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