Woodmill High School S3 S4 course choice booklet subject info | Page 51
Course Structure and Conditions of Award
All courses are made up from four units including the added value unit. Each of the component units is
designed to provide progression to the corresponding unit at the next level.
Units are statements of standards for assessment and not programmes of learning and teaching. As a result
they may be delivered in a variety of ways.
Assessment
All units are internally assessed at a pass/fail within centres. SQA will provide rigorous external quality
assurance and verification to ensure assessments meet national standards.
Music technology skills: Pupils will use hardware & software to capture audio by selecting appropriate input
devices and sources, apply appropriate microphone placement, construct signal paths and set appropriate
input gain and monitoring levels. They will go on to use hardware and software to manipulate audio by
applying equalisation, time domain and a range of mixing techniques, including volume and panning, finally
editing these tracks
Understanding music of the 20th & 21st century: Pupils will be able to describe, in broad terms the
technological developments related to the 20th and 21st century. They should be able to describe the main
features of a variety of genres and describe the technologies related. They should also be able to identify a
range of relevant musical concepts
Music technology in context: Pupils will use a variety of recording equipment including portable digital
hardware and Apple Mac computers with specialist software to produce audio masters. Learn basic skills
which will allow them to manipulate audio and sequence data, before mixing down an audio master in an
appropriate file format.
Added Value Unit: They will complete a folio of work which may contain examples of radio edits, adding
sound effects to video/game scenes and creating remixes/mashups of pre-recorded music
To gain a Course award: Pupils must pass all units, plus:
From National 4 to Advanced Higher, there will also be a question paper, this will require pupils to
demonstrate a depth of knowledge and understanding of music, musical concepts and musical literacy drawn
from the units within the course.
Progression
These courses or their components may provide progression to:
Other SQA qualifications in music or related areas at the next level
Further study, employment or training
All courses provide opportunities for learners to develop breadth, challenge and application, but the balance
of the assessment will be appropriate for the subject area.
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