Music TechnologyQ&A by dot point

Intellectual property and health and safety: copyright and the use of samples and others' work, royalties and licensing, and the main health and safety issues in audio work such as hearing protection, electrical safety and safe handling of equipment.

Music technology contexts and roles: live sound and the studio, broadcast and media, theatre and live events, and the roles such as sound engineer, producer and live sound technician that apply music technology.

Music technology skills (assignment overview): capturing audio (microphone selection and placement, setting input gain and monitoring, signal path, overdubbing) and manipulating audio (editing, equalisation, time-domain and other effects, mixing techniques, mixing down to an audio master).

Audio equipment and signal path: the mixing desk, audio interface, PA system, monitors, amplifier and DI box, and how the signal flows from source through to recording and playback.

Audio effects and processors: reverb, delay (echo), chorus, flanger, distortion, equalisation (EQ) and compression, what each does to the sound and their key controls.

Microphones: dynamic and condenser types, polar patterns (cardioid, omnidirectional, figure-of-eight) and how microphone choice and placement affect the captured sound.

Technological terms and audio concepts: gain, clipping, sampling rate, bit depth, latency, mono and stereo, panning, sibilance, plosives and dynamic range.

Melody and harmony concepts: recognising aurally features such as riff, ostinato, scat, improvisation, sequence, major and minor tonality, drone, pedal, and dischord.

Rhythm, tempo and dynamics concepts: recognising aurally syncopation, swing, backbeat, on the beat, accelerando, rallentando, crescendo, diminuendo and accent.

Texture, structure and timbre concepts: recognising aurally unison, harmony, solo, verse and chorus, middle 8, intro and outro, a cappella, distortion and reverb as heard qualities of sound.

Styles and genres: recognising aurally the characteristic features of blues, jazz, rock and roll, pop, rock, hip hop, country, musical theatre and Scottish or Celtic styles.

Technological developments and music: how recording, amplification, electric and electronic instruments, multitrack recording, synthesisers, sampling and digital and computer-based production changed how 20th and 21st century music was made and heard.