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Music Technology A Level

music technology a level
Getting Ahead

Music Technology A Level at Alton Campus

Welcome to A Level Music Technology! To help you get ready and hit the ground running, here are some fun and useful activities to build your skills and confidence before the course starts.

students working with music tech equipment

Understanding how synthesizers work is key to modern music production. Ableton has an excellent interactive guide:

Learn the Fundamentals of Synthesis

Spend some time exploring the different sections – experiment with oscillators, filters, envelopes and LFOs.

If you’re new to creating tracks, this interactive Ableton site is brilliant for learning how music is structured and put together:

Learn the Fundamentals of Music Making

Try making a simple drum pattern, bassline and melody.

This dedicated website covers the A Level Music Technology course and includes listening activities, tutorials and guides to help you build your knowledge:

A Level Music Technology

Work through some of the listening tasks and explore any topics that interest you.

Bring your ideas, questions and your composition to your first lesson!
Enjoy exploring – see you soon! 🚀

Brief:

Create a short piece of music, 2–3:30 minutes long, using:

  • Samples and loops

  • Drum breaks

  • Synthesizers

  • Creative effects (like reverb, delay, filters, etc.)

You can use any DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) you have at home (e.g. Ableton, FL Studio, Logic, GarageBand). If you don’t have one, use BandLab, a free, browser-based DAW:

BandLab Online DAW

Tips:

  • Focus on developing a strong beat and atmosphere.

  • Think about arrangement – intro, build-up, main section, ending.

  • Experiment and have fun!

Save your final piece as an audio file (MP3/WAV) and be ready to share it at the start of the course.

Pick two tracks in any genre you like. For each one:

  • Identify 3 production techniques you can hear (e.g. reverb on vocals, sidechain compression, layered synths).

  • Make a note of how these techniques affect the sound.

Your Learning Space

Learning Space *This is a representation of your learning space and may not be the exact room you will be using

I overcame a couple of barriers by working really hard to get the top grades. My experience was really good, with the course and the lecturers, the residentials and activities, together it was all really good. I had really great teaching support, I could always go to the lecturers and speak to them if I needed to.

David Stenning, Public Services student

I’m really happy and pleased with my grades. I really loved my time at the college, I have also made lots of friends, it’s a really nice place to be, I don’t want to leave.

Lauren Piper, A Level student

The teaching and support was really great, the quality was really great, all the teachers really care about your education as well as your wellbeing, they take everything into consideration and they’re great.

Katie Whittingham, A Level student