All Posts

The Drop

That part in dance music, where the music builds and builds and builds and BUILDS before the tension finally, FINALLY, gets relieved?  That’s “the drop.”  Mike talks about its origin, construction, and application, and tells you what P.L.U.R. means.

(Note: This is almost definitely the first mention of “foam parties” on Infinite Guest.)

Music
Intro: Rhythm Variation 02 by Aoki Takamasa RV8
Break #1: Not Butter byDillon Francis
Break #2: Boss Mode by Knife party
Break #2: Summertime Sadness by LDR, Cedric Gervais Remix

Sources
Stefan Sagmeister on Storytellers (VIDEO)
“Waiting for the Bass to Drop” by Ragnhild Torvanger Solberg
“Detecting Drops in Electronic Dance Music” by Yadati, et al
The Year in Black Erasure on Pitchfork
Metaphors We Live By on UChicago.edu

Episode Image: Lansing Iconic Speaker

 

Molly’s Misophonia

Misophonia is, literally, “the hatred of sound.”  Molly Templeton has it, and talks to Mike about the noises that trigger it.

Sources

  • “Misophonia: Diagnostic Criteria for a New Psychiatric Disorder” by Arjan Schröder, Nienke Vulink, Damiaan Denys. PLOSOne.
  • “Decreased Sound Tolerance and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy” by Margaret M. Jastreboff AND Pawel J. Jastreboff. The Australian And New Zealnd Journal Of Audiology, Vol 24 #2. Nov. 2002 pp. 74-84
  • “Misophonia: Incidence, Phenomenology, and Clinical Correlates in an Undergraduate Student Sample” by Monica S. Wu, Adam B. Lewin, Tanya K. Murphy, and Eric A. Storch. Journal Of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 70(10), 994–1007 (2014)
  • “Misophonia: An Overview” by Diane F. Duddy, Au.D. and Kristi A.M. Oeding, Au.D. Seminars In Hearing/Volume 35, # 2 2014

Music

  • Intro: Is That Revolution Sad? by Contemporary Noise Sextet from The Wire Tapper Volume 26
  • Break #1: Small Talk Stinks by Bauhaus from In The Flat Field
  • Outro: The Longest Distance by Talkboy Arcade from Chiptunes = WIN: Volume 2

 

PD Episode Image: diner fork вилка by FoodImage http://bit.ly/2E8AtgL

Play It For All It’s Worth

How much is a song worth?  How do you even calculate it?  And what do DJ Shadow, Tom Waits, and the Wu-Tang Clan have to do with it?  Mike Rugnetta answers these and other questions.

Music

Intro: Talking about Money by Wye Oak. From The Knot.
Break #1 – Building Steam… by DJ Shadow. From Endtroducing.
Break #2 – C.R.E.A.M. by The Wu-Tang Clan. From Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

Sources

The Spotify Calculator
That Chevy Ad with the DJ Shadow track
Tom Waits on musicians allowing their work to be used in commercials
Tom Waits: Not a Jingle Writer
NYT CD Cost Breakdown
Wal•Mart Wants $10 CDs
How Much Do Artists Earn Online – 2012
The New Economy of the Music Industry
Zoë Keatings 2013 Earnings
The Wu – Once Upon a Time in Shaolin

PD Episode Image: Cash Money by Andy Thrasher http://bit.ly/2E9nETl

What Does the Universe Sound Like?

Mike explains how pigeon-lovers Arno Penzius and Robert Wilson found evidence to prove the Big Bang.  Find out about hisses, #starstuff, photons, poop, and more to get a full picture of what the universe actually sounds like.

 

Episode Music

Intro Music: Cosmos, Zu & Eugene Chadbourne, The Zu Side of the Chadbourne

Break #1: Ultime Cosmos, Lucien Dubuis Trio & Marc Ribot, Ultime Cosmos

Break #2: Three Modal Pieces: A Cosmos, Laurie Spiegel , Obsolete Systems

Break #3: Another Space Song, Failure, Fantastic Planet

 

Universe Sounds

Big Bang Hiss

Dawn Chorus

Black hole

Sound of the Big Bang


Sources

You Can Still Hear the Hiss of the Big Bang

Listen to A Black Hole

Listening to the Big Bang – in high fidelity

Black Hole Sound Waves

The Nobel Prize in Physics 1978

Sounds of Space: New ‘Chorus’ Recording By RBSP’s EMFISIS Instrument

Nobel-prize winning accidents

Big Hiss Missed by Others

The Sound of the Big Bang

Interpreting the ‘Song’ Of a Distant Black Hole

The Sound of the Big Bang – Planck Version (2013)

NASA Posts a Huge Library of Space Sounds, And You’re Free To Use Them

 

PD Episode Image:  Holmdel horn antenna http://bit.ly/2EWsp3E

Active Listening, Eavesdropping, and Surveillance

Mike asks, “When I am actively listening to a conversation that I am not involved in, am I not eavesdropping and is eavesdropping not at least somehow a subclass of surveillance activities?”  You’ll hear Mike navigate the streets, subways, and pizza shops of NYC and wonder whether listening to this episode makes you an active listener, eavesdropper, surveillant, all, none, and more importantly, whether or not that is okay…you decide.  Then hear Mike ponder whether the presence of a microphone and/or a recorder can make you hear differently.

CC-BY-SA Episode Image: 1/4” magnetic tape by DRs Kulturarvsprojekt http://bit.ly/2EYdqq9

Download CC-BY-SA licensed episode image edit here

This Episode Has Subliminal Messages

On this installment of Reasonably Sound, Mike Rugnetta covers subliminal messages and their (lack of) effectiveness with help from BrainCraft’s Vanessa Hill.  Chandler Bing is referenced.

Music

  • Permanently Liminal by Menace Ruin
  • Please Be Patient With Me by Wilco
  • Nothing by Daniel Romano

Sources

  • Is there an effect of subliminal messages in music on choice behavior? by Hauke Egermann, Reinhard Kopiez, Christoph Reuter.Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis Vol. 4, No. 2
  • Subliminal Auditory Messages: An Evaluation by Philip M. Merikle. Psychology & Marketing Vol. 5(4): 355-372 (Winter 1988)
  • Subliminal speech perception and auditory streaming by Emmanuel Dupoux *, Vincent de Gardelle, Sid Kouider. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.06.012
  • The Electronic Revolution by William Burroughs
  • The Influence of Auditory Subliminals on Behavior: A Series of Investigations by Myra J. Staum Melissa Brotons. Journal of Music Therapy, XXIX (3), 1992, 130-185

Joe Hanson on Animals, Sound, and Semiotics

When an animal makes a sound, does that sound have meaning?  Mike talks to Dr. Joe Hanson, a biology expert and curator/host of It’s Okay To Be Smart, about how male Pacific humpback whales woo female Pacific humpback whales, and you’ll get a glimpse into the world of animals, sound, and semiotics.  You might even hear them make whale noises … Mike and Joe, that is, not the actual whales.  Plus special cameos by “Wonderwall” and “The Fox.”

PD episode image: Dolphin – Bottlenose, NPSPhoto, 2001 by Everglades NPS http://bit.ly/2F0ObDh

Shopworn Sound Effects

Mike takes you on a tour of the most commonly heard sound effects.  And fair warning, when you hear them on this episode, you’ll start hearing them EVERYWHERE.  Plus, Mike tells you why sides of beef and planks of wood were integral to the making of the Rocky movies.

Show Notes

Music

Wilhelms Scream – James Blake
Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz – Mr. Bungle
Colony – Mason Android Park
Tracks (Tall Bodies) – Chelsea Wolf

Sources

Audio-Vision by Michel Chion
In Search of a Concrete Music by Pierre Schaeffer
The Wilhelm Scream by Elena Passarello
10 Ridiculously Overused Movie Sound Effects

The Creaky Gate

What is this sound effect I keep hearing?
Stock Sound Effects on TV Tropes
Where Else Have I Heard That?

Police Dispatcher

Why do movies & TV use this police radio clip over and over?
Stock Sounds: Police Station from SimCity 3000

The Diddy Laugh

Diddy Kong Racing Intro
Steve Pagets Diddy Laugh YouTube Playlist
Steve Paget’s Diddy Laugh Blog

The Wilhelm Scream

Wilhelm – YouTube
Where Did the Wilhelm Scream Come From and Why Do So Many Filmmakers Use It?
Hollywood Lost and Found
Way, Way, Way Too Many Wilhelm Screams

Castle Thunder

Castle Thunder Compilation on YouTube
Hollywood Lost and Found
Castle Thunder Wikipedia
Frankenstein (1931) Wikipedia

Responses to RS’s Episode on Accents

“…did you know that the greater diversity in accents in England is a result of a principle in linguistics?” via erherr
“Fred Armisen Gives Five-Minute Improvised Master Class in NYC Accents” via @sophiebiblio
Sean Monahan’s video on the Pennsylvanian/Mid-Atlantic Accent via @sophiebiblio
“Thoughts on Accents! Class! And Self-Presentation! (AKA Fashion! Turn to the Left!)” via Two Bossy Dames

The Printing Press and the Great Vowel Shift

What explains the difference between English and American accents?  On this episode of Reasonably Sound, Mike Rugnetta explains that this spoken phenomenon starts with the written word.

Music:

Hudson Cycle – Nico Muhly

I’m Afraid of Americans (V1) – David Bowie

Americans – Oneohtrix Point Never

Paper Crumpling R – Sesame Street

Messages Received – Cabaret Voltaire

On American versus English Spelling:

Why Do Brits and Americans Spell Words Differently?

Americanize, Anglicise: Why Do Brits And Yanks Spell Words Differently?

Present Day American Spelling from The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume 6

Main Sources for this Episode:

A History of the English Language by Elly van Gelderen

Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction by Kristin Denham, Anne Lobeck

Why Do Americans and Brits Have Different Accents?

When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents?

Received Pronunciation

 

PD Episode Image: Press by takomabibelot http://bit.ly/2EaEj8Q

Auditory Illusions

Mike Rugnetta would like to talk with you about auditory illusions (not tricks), specifically the Shepard tone and binaural beats.  Use your headphones for this one.  (ALSO: art school college story time!)

Show Notes!

PD Episode Image: Penrose Stairs by Sakurambo – http://bit.ly/2EcUSBk