Nat 4Nat 5HigherAdvanced Higher
Microphone level
Microphone level is the low signal level produced by a microphone before preamp gain is added.
Level relevance: introduced at Nat 4; tagged for every later level where the same concept remains useful.
Explanation
Mic-level signals normally need a preamp or audio interface input to raise them to a usable recording level. This is why input gain or trim is important when recording microphones.
Topics
RecordingSignal pathLevels
Curriculum statusofficial concept
Review statusdraft
Sources
- National 5 Music Technology course specification, May 2023, version 3.0 · accessed 2026-07-08
Used for the National 3, National 4, and National 5 technology and music concept tables.