Why does a clarinet play at lower pitches than a flute? What does it mean for sounds to be in or out of tune? How are emotions carried by music? Do other animals perceive sound like we do? How might a musician use math to come up with new ideas?
This book offers a lively exploration of the mathematics, physics, and neuroscience that underlie music in a way t ... Show More
Mar 22
Martha Feldman, "Castrato Phantoms: Moreschi, Fellini, and the Sacred Vernacular in Rome" (Zone Books, 2026)
Around 1830, opera houses stopped using castrati, and Rome and the Vatican became home to their glorious singing, engineered by surgery and intensive vocal training. Castrati were long mired in secrecy, obfuscations, and lies about their origin and conditions, not least the last ... Show More
42m 40s
Mar 21
Mike Huguenor, "Elvis Is Dead, I'm Still Alive: The Story of Asian Man Records" (Clash, 2026)
Sourced from over a hundred hours of interviews with musicians, producers, booking agents, label owners, writers, fans, employees, volunteers, friends and family, Elvis is Dead, I’m Still Alive: The Story of Asian Man Records tells the singular story of Asian Man Records. In its ... Show More
52m 19s
Mar 16
Jewface: “Yiddish” Dialect Songs of Tin Pan Alley
With his fake beard, putty nose, and thick Yiddish accent, the “stage Jew” was once a common character in vaudeville, part of a genre that mocked immigrants and minorities. Essentially a variant of blackface minstrelsy, the music that accompanied these “Jewface” performances was ... Show More
1h 18m
Aug 2025
Interstellar Winds (Extended Album Version)
Microcosmos Records presents a meditative electronic journey, the album Panta Rhei by Jule Grasz. Jule Grasz (Germany) began composing music in early childhood. In the 1990s, she wrote songs while collaborating with various artists. In 2006, she discovered the world of electronic ... Show More
7m 40s
Apr 2025
The Deaf Composer: How Beethoven wrote music he couldn’t hear
What happens when one of history’s greatest composers begins to lose the very sense he relies on most? In this episode, we explore how Ludwig van Beethoven continued to create groundbreaking music even as his world fell into silence. Along the way, we uncover the myths, invention ... Show More
28m 39s
Jun 2024
111. Production Techniques In Dance Music
<p>Dance music has a unique way of electrifying the atmosphere, but what is it about those beats and pulsing rhythms that makes it so catchy? In this episode, Xylo chats with producer, singer-songwriter & educator, Kerry Leva, about dance music and the important elements and ... Show More
52m 5s
Sep 2025
The Dead Composer Whose ‘Brain’ Still Makes Music
In a hauntingly innovative exhibit, brain cells grown from the late composer Alvin Lucier’s blood generate sound. Set in a museum in Perth, Australia, the installation blurs the line between art and neuroscience. Host Rachel Feltman and associate editor Allison Parshall explore t ... Show More
25m 25s
Sep 2025
The Dead Composer Whose ‘Brain’ Still Makes Music
In a hauntingly innovative exhibit, brain cells grown from the late composer Alvin Lucier’s blood generate sound. Set in a museum in Perth, Australia, the installation blurs the line between art and neuroscience. Host Rachel Feltman and associate editor Allison Parshall explore t ... Show More
25m 25s