Music Study

Aural Awareness

Understanding and recognition of important time signatures, their association with dance, their notation

• tempo and tempo change - its relation to performance
• relative pitch exercises - including those based on scales and triads
• the sound of orchestral; modern and ethnic instruments, Preconition of these in isolation and in complex arrangements
• basic musical forms-   binary, ternary etc
• the distinction between major and minor and their emotional language
• percussion sounds - with particular reference to the drum kit and its importance in musical theatre and popular styles
• methods employed by composers to create moods in the listener with reference to pitch, tempo, range, instrumentation, dynamics, phrasing, articulation and texture

The Physics of Sound

• sound as a compression wave travelling through a medium
• pitch as a frequency and mathematical relationship with the scale
• the range and limitation of the human ear
• the fundamental and harmonies with reference to vocal clarity
• resonance - its essential qualities in acoustic instruments and the human voice
• the range of musical instruments with reference to the mixing of sounds and equalisation during recording

Technological Awareness

• the working of a recording studio and recording practices including practical experience with equipment
• the mixing desk with reference to EQ, auxiliaries, panning and digital effects
• its connection to microphones, keyboards and outboard equipment
• the popular multi-track recording formats of analogue tape, digital tape and hard disk recording
• differences between dynamic and condensor microphones and their applications
• the understanding and practical uses of electronic reverberation, compression, delay and chorus
• stereo and sound in the stereo field
• the P.A system
• listening on cans and balancing sound
• microphone technique in live and recording work
• samples, synthesisers and sequences in modern recording with special reference to MIDI
• graphic equalisers, parametric equalisers