Teach KS3 music technology and music production through six practical mixing lessons, with original audio, editable slides and a student workbook. Designed for Year 9 and adaptable across KS3, this unit helps pupils hear a problem, test a change and explain the musical result.

What pupils learn

Pupils work with the same original eight-bar exercise throughout the unit, using four aligned stems for drums, bass, chords and lead. They develop a clear lead with a supportive groove, rather than following a fixed set of fader values or copying a preset.

The six lessons cover:

• Bad mix clinic: identify a buried part and fix it with equalisation.
• Levels and headroom: balance musical roles and avoid clipping the output.
• Panning and depth: compare left-right placement and reverb with a clear purpose.
• EQ and masking: test a modest frequency cut and judge it in context.
• Build the whole mix: make and justify five production decisions.
• Before and after: present improvements using audible evidence and identify a next step.

What is included

• A 38-slide teaching presentation, supplied as editable PowerPoint and PDF.
• A separate pupil presentation with teacher speaker notes removed.
• An 18-page student workbook in editable Word and PDF formats.
• A 15-page teacher guide with modelling scripts, retrieval answers, an audio map, troubleshooting and assessment guidance.
• Seven pages of lesson plans, including the unit overview and one plan per lesson.
• Twenty original synthetic WAV files: four aligned stems, comparison examples, a reference mix and four diagnostic clips.
• Separate printable mix log, listening check and frequency guide.

Teaching and assessment

Each practical lesson moves from a worked example to a guided comparison and independent decision-making. Retrieval questions, exit checks, sentence frames and extension prompts support teaching and discussion. The teacher guide provides explanations for non-specialists, alongside written and no-device alternatives where equipment access is limited.

Pupils finish with a saved project, before-and-after audio, a five-entry decision log and an evaluation explaining three decisions. The portfolio rubric is scored separately from the listening diagnostic, which revisits examples taught during the unit. These are classroom assessments, not an official exam-board mark scheme.

Software and preparation

Allow approximately six 60-minute lessons. Use BandLab web or another approved DAW offering track level, pan, EQ, reverb and audio export. Practical tasks require access to suitable software; panning comparisons require stereo playback. Preview the examples and prepare the four-stem project before teaching.

Audio is supplied separately and is not embedded in the slides. Software and accounts are not included. Written alternatives support conceptual learning but do not demonstrate practical DAW operation. Editable files let you adapt the wording, pacing and tasks for your classes.