This document provides an overview of a BTEC Level 3 Music Technology unit on listening skills for music technologists. The unit will teach students to recognize faults in musical performances and recordings, such as keeping time, intonation, tempo/pitch variations, and incorrect notes in performances. For recordings, common faults include reverb issues, pops/clicks, editing mistakes, microphone/headphone bleed, rumble, excessive low frequencies, and track matching. The document analyzes examples of well-known songs to identify specific faults, such as a squeaky bass drum pedal in Led Zeppelin's "Since I've Been Loving You" and headphone bleed in a Christina Aguilera song. Students

1. BTEC Level 3 Music Technology
Unit 14:
Listening Skills for Music Technologists.

2. By the end of this session you
will



Recognise negatives and faults within
recordings and live performances.
Identify errors in production or performance
Clearly define 3 negatives/faults.

3. Performance

When listening to a performance, what possible
faults/negatives do we look for?

4. Typical Performance faults

Keeping time

Intonation (Sharp/Flat)

Variations in Tempo/Pitch

Incorrect notes.

5. Performance Example
Coldplay – The Paralympics Closing Ceremony
2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlek13UE72w

6. Coldplay
What faults did you notice?

7. Example 2
Emeli Sande – The Olympics Closing Ceremony
2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsVIzK1VLdo

8. Emeli Sande
What faults did you notice?

9. Production Faults

What faults are we looking for in recordings?

10. Production Faults

Reverb issues

Pops and clicks

Editing Mistakes

Microphone and Headphone Spill

Rumble and Excessive Low Frequencies

Matching Tracks

11. Examples
Led Zeppelin – Since I’ve Been
Loving You
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-thatmade-the-album/

12. Led Zep Answer
John Bonham’s notoriously squeaky bass
drum pedal.
Jimmy Page discussed the squeak in a 1993 Guitar World interview:
''The only real problem I can remember encountering was when we were
putting the first boxed set together. There was an awfully squeaky
bass drum pedal on “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. It sounds louder
and louder every time I hear it! [laughs]. That was something that was
obviously sadly overlooked at the time.''
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-that-made-thealbum/

13. Example 2
John Lennon – 'Working Class Hero'
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-thatmade-the-album/

14. John Lennon Answer
Here, the tonality changes completely at 0:10, and
again at 0:30.
Lennon supposedly recorded a demo on his
home tape recorder, and at mix time, he and
Phil Spector (who produced the track) preferred
the emotion in the home recording for one verse
only
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-thatmade-the-album/

15. Example 3

Christina Aguilera – 'Beautiful'
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-thatmade-the-album/

16. Christina Aguilera Answer


As Aguilera sings, you’ll hear a faint rhythm
track in the background.
This is headphone bleed – sound leaking from
her headphone monitor into the microphone.

17. Example 4
The Dixie Chicks – 'The Long Way Around'
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-thatmade-the-album/

18. The Dixie Chicks Answers

On the word 'parents' the use of Autotune on
the vocals is clearly present.
'Autotune is a powerful tool, to be sure, and used
on the right material, it can enhance a
recording. But here, it’s noticeable and
distasteful.'
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-thatmade-the-album/

19. Example 5
The Police – 'Roxanne'
http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-thatmade-the-album/

20. The Police Answers


This clip plays two phrases from the 2nd verse
of Roxanne.
Compare the reverb tail at the end of “night”
and “right.” The first decays naturally and
cleanly, the second ends abruptly.
Most likely, this is the result of a vocal punch-in or comp, where
the reverb was recorded directly to the track, rather than added
during mix-down.

21. Task



Open up your listening log.
Use the internet to research songs and look for
faults in either performance or recording
List these tracks in your listening log, and
annotate the track with your negative
observations