Hello and welcome to Reigate College’s Music Department.
My name is Nick Nekanda-Trepka and I’m course leader for the Music Technology course.
I’m pleased you’ve chosen to study Music Technology A Level at Reigate College. I’m looking forward to welcoming you in person to our friendly team at the beginning of the academic year and introducing you to our amazing studios.
Our Music Department is a vibrant creative community of talented students, alumni who have gone on to work in the industry, and fantastically supportive staff who are highly skilled musicians in their own right. You can meet us in these collaborations made during lockdown: Times Like These; Don’t Go Out.
This subject will be new for many of you, so I’m setting some activities for you to complete independently from home over the coming months to give you an introduction to the skills and approach required at advanced level. I hope you enjoy the activities and I look forward to seeing and hearing your work.
The tasks will be released here, in three phases (see table below) and should be completed by Choices Day on 1 September 2021. Please throw yourself into them and above all enjoy them!
Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.
New Starters Course Tasks and Activities
| Release date | To be completed by | |
| Explore your Subject | 1 June | 1 July |
| Get Going | 1 July | 1 Aug |
| Aim High | 1 Aug | 1 Sep |
Due to the high demand for places on the Music Technology course, your first task will be released to you early and will form part of the audition process for the course.
Explore your Subject
As you won’t be able to come into College for your Music Technology audition this year, we would like you to work on your audition materials at home and then send them to us as your ‘Explore your Subject’ tasks for Music Technology A Level.
Please make sure you label any files you submit with your full name in the file title via the folder link below.
Please email the course leader for Music Technology A Level nick.nekanda-trepka@reigate.ac.uk if you have any queries.
Task 1: Audition Performance Video
An essential skill in this subject is the ability to perform accurately, musically and with confidence.
Please video yourself performing a short piece or excerpt that best demonstrates your performance skills on your first instrument. This should be no more than 1 minute in length.
You should include a spoken introduction where you introduce yourself by name and give the name of the piece you will play.
It is recommended that your video is no higher than 720p (resolution).
Task 2: Biography
Please complete the following biography by copying the following headings into a Word document and adding your responses below each heading, being concise wherever possible.
Please submit your response as a Word document, along with your video audition via the folder link above.
If you don’t have access to Word, please send an email to nick.nekanda-trepka@reigate.ac.uk
- Full Name
- Name the notated tune shown above and describe any problems you see in the notation.
Listen to the Music Tech Audition Audio MP3. - Audio question 1: Describe the relationship between these two chords.
- Audio question 2: Listen carefully and describe any differences you hear between these two sounds.
- What instrument(s) do you play, for how long, and what grades have you achieved?
- What music experience do you have, e.g. performing in a band, writing/recording your own music?
- What excites you about studying the technology of music?
- What skills do you hope to learn or develop during the Music Technology course?
- What would be your dream job, musical or otherwise?
Task 3: Optional Recording
Finally, if you have already had experience of recording and producing your own music, you are invited to submit one MP3 or WAV file of your work via the folder link above. Note that this is not a requirement for successful application, but may help to substantiate any experience you mention in your bio.
Get Going
Starting the Music Technology A Level course with some basic tech-based composition and recording skills will give you a great start.
Some of you may already have music software on your devices and computers (GarageBand for example is included for free with Apple devices) but there is other free software you can access too – see the suggested list below.
For your Get Going task I would like you to compose a short piece of music or song in any style, using software you have already, or using one of the recommended apps below.
This unexpected, exam-free time you have, gives you the perfect opportunity to find out what’s available and start experimenting with it.
Your composition should be:
• In A minor
• At 100bpm
• Include synthesised elements / drum sounds programmed within the software
• Include an audio recording of your instrument using the built-in mic on your laptop or phone
Please submit an MP3 or WAV file of your work using this link.
You should name your file, as before, with your full name.
Recommended free software:
• FOR iOS/ANDROID: BandLab is a fantastic music production app with onboard synths, recording and mixing capabilities. Download from your usual app store.
• FOR MAC/PC: Studio One 4 Prime is intuitive, powerful, and has similarities to Logic Pro X which we use on the course.
- Download here: https://shop.presonus.com/Studio-One-4-Prime
- Tutorial video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEjolf59TDA
Aim High
Synthesisers
For this final task, we’d like you to spend some time learning how synthesisers work. As you’ll discover, this is a vital part of the Music Tech course.
You can introduce yourself to many of the important concepts by using the below brilliant and highly entertaining interactive online resource which uses synthesisers that run inside your browser. You can even access it on your mobile device!
TASK 1: Go to the following link and work your way through the pages:
Course Leader –
Music Technology
