Music Technology and Notation
Music Technology and Notation
This domain covers the practical technology of music: MIDI versus audio, DAW signal flow, microphones, mixing fundamentals and notation-software engraving. Questions range from definitions to a calculation, and the calculation is where candidates most often drop marks.
MIDI and audio
- MIDI is control data, not sound: note number, velocity (1–127), channel (1–16), program change, control change (CC7 volume, CC10 pan, CC64 sustain). A MIDI file is a few kilobytes; the audio of the same piece is tens of megabytes.
- Audio: sample rate (44.1, 48, 96 kHz) sets the highest reproducible frequency by the Nyquist rule (half the sample rate); bit depth (16, 24) sets dynamic range - roughly 96 dB at 16-bit, about 144 dB at 24-bit.
- Latency is the delay between input and monitoring; a smaller buffer lowers latency but raises CPU load and the risk of dropouts.
Recording and mixing
- Condenser microphones need +48 V phantom power and suit quiet, detailed sources; dynamic microphones are rugged and handle loud sources. Never send phantom power to a passive ribbon microphone.
- Balanced XLR/TRS connections reject interference; unbalanced TS instrument leads do not.
- Mixing tools: EQ (subtractive first), compression (threshold, ratio, attack, release), reverb on a send/return, panning.
Notation software
- Engraving rules: beam within the beat, stem direction, collision avoidance, consistent dynamic placement, cue-sized cue notes, and transposition handled by the staff style rather than by hand.
- Exchange formats: MusicXML for notation, MIDI for performance data, SMuFL for notation fonts; audio delivery as WAV/AIFF (lossless) or MP3/AAC (lossy).
Worked example
Stereo, 44.1 kHz, 16-bit, 3 minutes. Bytes per second = 44,100 samples × 2 bytes × 2 channels = 176,400. Duration = 180 s. Size = 176,400 × 180 = 31,752,000 bytes, about 31.8 MB. Moving to 24-bit multiplies the size by 1.5 (about 47.6 MB) but leaves the sample rate and the highest captured frequency unchanged.
Traps that cost marks
- Saying MIDI 'contains the sound' or that a MIDI file plays without a sound source.
- Confusing bit depth with sample rate: bit depth affects noise floor, sample rate affects bandwidth.
- Assuming 24-bit improves the highest frequency captured.
- Plugins: VST, AU and AAX are formats, not brands, and a plugin differs from a virtual instrument library.