Radio 1 DJ Dev introduces the basics of music technology. He meets some young people in the industry and finds out how simple it can be to make music.
Video summary
You don’t need a professional recording studio any more, smartphones and computers can run cheap software and apps which allow you to write songs wherever you are.
Dev speaks to Bastille’s singer Dan Smith, Ellie Goulding’s producer Starsmith, Radio 1 DJ Monki and 15-year old electronic producer Happa, about getting started in music technology. He demonstrates the possibilities on offer with digital audio workstations (DAW), MIDI technology and making music on mobiles.
Teacher Notes
Use music software or hardware to create a piece of music. Students could be provided with optional starting points such as a bass line, chord progression or note pattern. Compositions could use MIDI instruments and possibly have vocals recorded on top, if the resources are available.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Music and appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC, KS3, KS4 and GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland, and 3rd and 4th level, as well as SQA National 4, 5 and Higher in Scotland.
Live performances. video
Dev and musician Tim Exile demonstrate some equipment that can be used live.
Setting up a home studio. video
Dev from Radio 1 meets electro and dance music producer Kito to talk about home studios.
Sharing and remixing music. video
Dev from Radio 1 meets DJ Monki to get advice on how to remix a track.
