L3 Extended Diploma in Music Technology Course Handbook

1. L3 Extended Diploma in Music Technology Course Handbook

2. Welcome I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Coleg Cambria and the Music Technology department. As you might be aware, Yale College and Deeside have merged over the summer 2013 to become the leading provider of FE education in the North Wales. We are very excited about being a part of the new Coleg Cambria. We have been working very hard over the last 6 months to further re-focus the L3 Music Technology and increase our involvement with media and multimedia. The industry has been steadily shifting into this direction and our students seek employment and HE opportunities within a broad sector within creative industries rather than being narrowly focussed just on music. All lecturers on Music Technology course and our management are delighted to have you as a part of our extensive and successful learning community and are determined to see you flourish in taking this very important step in building your future. Best Aleks Pesic PC Music Technology

3. Contacts: In case you cannot make it to college, you must call Enid Street before 09:15, our faculty officer and register your absence.

4. This e-booklet has been designed to assist you in completing the course of your choice, BTEC L3 Extended Diploma in Music technology. Please have a good read through and feel free to ask members of staff any question you might have with regards to your course, facilities, finances, or any other questions you might find relevant to your course or your wellbeing here at Coleg Cambria. It is important that you make a good use of all the teaching and support staff available to you. Being proactive can only mean advantage to you. Your course consists of 17 specialist units, 1 of them being a double unit, then Welsh Baccalaureate and six Essential Skills (Key Skills) delivered at level 2 and 3. Over the two academic years you will be covering the total course in two halves. First half will be a 90 Credit Diploma and the second half is your top up for the full qualification. You will be assessed continuously: therefore you should be prepared to join us, your teachers, in our continual endeavour towards excellence. You will have full access to our VLE systems, primarily Music Tech Moodle site that is available 24/7. It contains essential course material; learning outcomes for all units, deadlines for all assessments, assignment briefs, recommended web links and electronic handouts. In addition, you will have full access to our electronic library with essential and complementary reading material required by the course.

5. Term Dates

6. What is BTEC Level 3 Qualification? The Edexcel BTEC qualifications aim to provide a broad educational base for further training, further education and employment within the creative industries sector. The qualifications will develop your abilities through the knowledge and skills gained in different parts of the programme. The BTEC qualifications have been designed in consideration of the Sector Qualifications Strategy (SQS) for creative and cultural industries. Skills gaps identified in the SQS include professional development and employability skills. All units have been carefully chosen to increase your employability and/or give you relevant academic foundation for Higher Education. The vocational context of the qualification is key to effective learning and will be provided through assignment briefs that give you realistic, work-based scenarios and projects. You will be encouraged to take responsibility for your own learning and achievement, taking into account industry standards for behaviour and performance. The assessment approach for BTEC qualifications in this specification allows you to receive feedback on your progress throughout your course as you provide evidence towards the grading criteria. Having completed a Edexcel BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Music Technology, you will be ideally placed to progress to Level 4 or 5 BTEC Higher Nationals in Performing Arts or Music, or to other higher education provision, as you will have received a thorough grounding in the knowledge and skills needed.

7. Context:

8. Your Qualification: A two year, full time programme. During your first year of study you will be enrolled into L3 90 Credit Diploma in Music Technology. The qualification will comprise of 9 core and auxiliary units: Listening Skills for Music Technologists Music Production Techniques Sequencing Systems and Techniques The Sound and the Music Industry Composing Music Music Project Live Sound Techniques Sound Creation and Manipulation, and Working and Developing as a Musical Ensemble In the year 2, you will top up the above qualification in order to gain full Extended Diploma in Music Technology. Year 2 will comprise of 8 core and auxiliary units: Planning and Delivering a Music Product (double module) Music Events Management Marketing and Promotion in the Music Industry Music and Sound for the Moving Image Sound for Computer Games Sound for Interactive Media Music Based Programming Audio Engineering Principles

9. Assessment As already mentioned, you will be continuously assessed throughout your study here at Coleg Cambria. There are two types of assessment that you should be aware of; formative and summative. Formative assessments can be conducted by your tutors or your peers. These can be implemented through Q&As, practical work, involvement in seminar activities, tutor observations and draft submissions. Formative assessments will indicate the grade relative to your understanding of the topic, and can influence your grade in some cases. Summative assessments are formal. These will be implemented by your tutors only. Every time when you have been commissioned through the assignment brief to complete a task, you will also be given a formal deadline by which your work should be submitted for grading. Tutor will grade your work and give you appropriate feedback with actions or advice on how to improve and gain a better grade or keep the one given to you provisionally. Below diagram shows how your learning and assessment link in 4 steps. It is important to remember that this type of vocational course will have inherently quiet and busy periods. Quiet periods are described in steps 1 and 2 below. During these periods all the necessary learning will take place and will enable you to actively engage with specific topics leading to assessment. It would be wise to use these periods to read, research, take notes and revise in order to prepare for steps 3 and 4, which will be your busy periods when you will prepare your assignments for submission and finally submit them before the deadline.

10. Learning progression and Assessment

11. Timetable

14. Examples of some of the modules of study for L3 ED in Music Technology

15. U14. Listening Skills for Music Technologist

18. U9. Delivering a Music Product

21. U25. Music Production Techniques

24. U35. Sound Creation and Manipulation

27. U39. The Sound and the Music Industry

30. U32. Sequencing Systems and Techniques

33. Other Course Info

34. Recording your Achievement - Tracking The above tracking can be found in your PT section of Moodle. Please use it to keep record of all grades you gain in your assessment.

35. ESW – Essential Skills Wales (Key Skills) You will cover the total of 6 Key Skills over the period of your 2-year study. These will contribute towards your qualification in Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate as well as provide stand alone qualifications. All Key Skills will be delivered as a part of your course and will share common ground with topics you’re already covering on the course. Current ESW portfolio consists of: Communication at Level 3 Information Computer Technology Level 2 Application of Numbers Level 2 Problem Solving Level 3 Working with Others Level 3 Improving own Learning Level 3

37. Reading and Video Resources – Yale Music Library @ Moodle

40. Your Personal Tutor will be: • giving you guidance and support, monitor your academic progress and attendance and encouraging good discipline and work ethics. 2. Supporting your progression through College 3. effectively delivering the Personal Tutor Programme to you. Confidentiality: Please consult your college handbook or refer to your induction session when discussion of confidentiality policy of Coleg Cambria took place. Course change policy: You will be fully inducted into the course and the college life. Part of it is the mechanism for course change. This allows you or your tutor to facilitate a course change should your course is not suitable. Deadline for this is first week of October. A form is available that will be completed and signed by your tutor in order to authorise the move from one course to another.

41. Study Skills and practical work: Please keep in mind that your full course is equivalent to 3 A-Levels. Therefore the quality of submitted work must reflect this fact. Academic modules require substantial revision due to the nature of topics, which can be highly technical. You must be able to put aside additional 6 hours per week for study and assessment work if you were to do well on this course. Your spelling, punctuation, sentence-construction and referencing text & media files will be covered during first 4-5 Key Skills sessions, so that you’re familiar with the standards required by this course. Induction: Your induction will last for approximately 5-6 weeks and will be delivered as a part of your tutorial programme.