Nat 4Nat 5HigherAdvanced Higher
Popping and blasting
Popping and blasting are unwanted bursts of air hitting a microphone, often on plosive consonants.
Also called: Plosives
Level relevance: introduced at Nat 4; tagged for every later level where the same concept remains useful.
Explanation
These noises commonly happen on sounds such as 'p' and 'b'. They can be reduced with pop shields, better microphone angle, suitable distance, and controlled vocal technique.
Topics
RecordingVocalsMicrophone technique
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.