Year 11 - Music
The sounds of technology
Timbre and texture in music around the world
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
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Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe and identify the most common uses of music technology, including electronic sound production, sound effects and others.
Key Notes
- Technology has hugely influenced the way that music is produced, edited and manipulated.
- Synth pads, leads, basses and drum machines are common tools for producing sounds electronically.
- Effects can be applied either live or after recording.
- Some common effects are delay, reverb, chorus, auto-tune, distortion, panning and equalisation.
- Overdubbing and DJing are two other important ways that technology has shaped modern music.
Vocabulary To Learn
- drum machine: an instrument that synthesises drum sounds; the TR-808 is an example
- reverb: an effect that creates the impression of a sound being played in a more 'echoey' space
- delay: an effect that 'echoes' sounds back after a specific time
- overdubbing: adding new recorded sound to a pre-existing recording to create a combined effect
- scratching: a DJing technique where the DJ creates a 'wika wika' sound by touching the record
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Music technology consists solely of DAWs and computer-based technology.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Technology has hugely influenced the way that music is produced, edited and manipulated. Synth pads, leads, basses and drum machines are common tools for producing sounds electronically.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'drum machine'
an instrument that synthesises drum sounds; the TR-808 is an example.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Music technology consists solely of DAWs and computer-based technology. Correction: For modern musicians, computer-based tools such as DAWs are a brilliant way of using technology. However, music technology is much broader than this - synthesisers, amplification, turntables and drum machines are just a few examples.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 11 Music guide library.