Twenty Thousand Hertz
Episodes
It’s Not TV: Behind HBO’s legendary sounds
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1980s, every movie that aired on HBO began with a truly epic theme song—a sweeping orchestral piece that triggers instant nostalgia for anyon...
One simple trick scientists say will stop snoring
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’re a human being, chances are, you know someone who is a big time snorer. You're falling asleep to the gentle sounds of crickets, and then BA...
Creature Speakers: The art of voicing monsters
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To give voices to the frightening monsters in movies, TV shows, and video games, sound designers often start with animal noises, then apply all kinds ...
How blind gamers are changing the world of video games
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the past, video games were largely inaccessible to people with visual impairments. But these days, game makers are adding all kinds of innovative o...
Sports Without Sight: The sound-driven world of blind athletes
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Playing a sport without sight might sound impossible. But it turns out, there are blind athletes all around the world doing exactly that. Instead of u...
Sound Cinema: Experiencing film through audio description
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When Matthew Shifrin was growing up, his blindness meant that trying to enjoy a movie or TV show was often a confusing and frustrating experience. But...
Sonic Bubbles: Escaping noise, but at what cost?
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For over a century, humans have been using technology to shape our sonic environment. White noise machines, nature recordings, noise canceling headpho...
Domestic Symphony: Why your dryer has a theme song
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Not long ago, our home appliances made nothing but abrasive beeps and harsh buzzes. In recent years though, these devices have started to chirp and si...
The mysterious “Windsor Hum” is finally solved!
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2011, residents of Windsor, Ontario started experiencing a strange rumbling hum that rattled dishes and kept people awake at night. Then, after yea...
The Buzzer: Are there secret spy messages on the radio?
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since World War I, countries around the world have been broadcasting mysterious numerical messages via shortwave radio. Though concrete evidence is ha...
Stay Tuned: The new voices of the Looney Tunes
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly a century after they first appeared, the Looney Tunes are back in an all-new series. To bring this iconic franchise into the present, the creat...
Inside the Foley Prop Room: Frozen, Jurassic Park & more
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In part 2 of our exploration of Foley, the Warner Brothers Foley team takes us into the all-important prop room. Along the way, they demonstrate how t...
The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to life
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to film sound, "Foley Artist" might be the most important job you've never heard of. These performers record custom, synchronized sound ...
Leaky Pipeline: The fight that revolutionized cinema sound
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 80s, a small French company found a way to pair analog film with pristine digital audio. But getting their system into theaters would invo...
Auditory Icons: Credit card beeps to driverless car melodies
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We live in a designed world, and alert tones are no exception. Every beep and ping that your phone or laptop makes probably went through multiple roun...
Progression Obsession: Pop music’s most used chord changes
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are a few specific chord progressions that show up again and again in popular music. Across hundreds of hit songs, the same basic musical formul...
SM7: The mic that shaped sound and culture
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since their founding almost a century ago, Shure has created some of the most iconic microphones ever made. In this episode, we worked with Shure to t...
The Sound of Minecraft: A melancholy masterpiece w/ C418
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since its official release in 2011, Minecraft has grown from a small, experimental indie game into the best-selling video game of all time. Today, the...
20th Century Fox Fanfare: A family legacy
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The melodic fanfare that introduces every 20th Century Fox movie was first composed almost a hundred years ago. Since then, it's become one of the mos...
Sonic Weapons: How “sound cannons” are used for control
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Long-Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD, was developed for the military for long-range communication at sea. But this ear-splitting device has also be...
I'm Lovin’ It: How “Ba da ba ba ba” took over the world
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Since its introduction in 2003, the McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle has become one of the most recognizable melodies in the world. This is...
The Physics of Sound w/ Bill Nye the Science Guy
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What is sound, on a fundamental level? How did animals evolve to hear? And what happens when you go faster than sound itself? In this episode, we ex...
Seeing Sounds, Tasting Names: The world of synesthesia
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Synesthesia is a neurological condition where one sensory experience gets combined with another, meaning someone might hear sounds when they eat, or s...
Sing Gently: Singing together, even when apart
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After composer Eric Whitacre finished Virtual Choir number 5 in 2018, he thought the project might be done for good. But 2020 was just around the corn...
The Song Hunter: How Alan Lomax saved the sounds of America
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Lomax believed that the culture of poor Americans was important and worthy of saving. So he spent decades traveling the American South and record...
From Klingon to Dothraki: How sci-fi languages shape worlds
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sci-fi and fantasy creators often use constructed languages (or conlangs) to help us believe that the characters come from ancient times or distant ga...
Space Audity: The challenges of space communication
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We've all heard the iconic recordings from the Apollo missions. But how exactly does NASA manage to run live audio between Earth and the moon? And how...
Sonic Utopia: Can we build a better sounding world?
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Technology has the power to transform the way our world sounds. It could even give us entirely new ways to experience our surroundings. In this episod...
The Cyborg, The Scientist, and the Death of Silence
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sound surrounds us, even in the quietest moments. But depending on how we hear, the world can be a different auditory experience for each of us. This ...
Dies Irae: The death melody haunting Hollywood
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For hundreds of years, composers have been using a specific four-note melody to evoke death. It's appeared in dozens of famous movies, and you probabl...
Perfect Pitch: Unlocking Jacob Collier’s musical brilliance
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People with perfect or "absolute" pitch hear every single sound as precise musical notes. Is this extraordinary talent a blessing or a curse? In this ...
Tyrannosaurus FX: What dinosaurs really sounded like
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When you imagine the sound of a dinosaur, you probably think of a scene from the Jurassic Park movies. How do sound designers make these extinct creat...
Napster: How free music broke the industry
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In less than two years, Napster became a global sensation... and then record labels and multi-platinum artists brought it crashing down. But in its sh...
Vocal Discords: When nodules silence singers
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Musicians like Justin Timberlake, Adele, Björk and Rod Stewart have all had surgery to treat vocal nodes. Nodes are so widely discussed, they've almo...
Deepfake Dallas: How AI learned to speak like me
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Using artificial intelligence, someone can make an algorithm that sounds just like you. And then they can say... whatever they want you to say. We're ...
The Weight of Noise: One writer’s struggle in New York City
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When writer Paige Towers moved to one of the loudest cities in the world, she found herself overcome with anxiety and depression. She came to realize ...
Tudum! The story behind the iconic Netflix sound
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Netflix "Tudum" sound has quickly become one of the most iconic sound logos of our generation. I bet you can hear it in your head right now. This ...
McElroys, Mysteries, and Me: Guess That Sound! w/ MBMBAM
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Join Dallas and the McElroy brothers (hosts of My Brother, My Brother and Me) as they compete to see which brother has the best ear. We dust off our ...
Hamilton’s Sonic Secrets: Behind the Broadway phenomenon
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Broadway’s award-winning, record-breaking, smash hit, Hamilton, is a musical unlike any other. In this special episode, we have re-voiced, remixed,...
Stop, Collaborate and Listen: Can you copyright a vibe?
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can you steal from yourself? Can you copyright a mood? We look back on some important copyright cases that could have an impact on the entire future o...
Copyrights & Wrongs: Musical Inspiration vs. Plagiarism
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Most western music is built on the same 12 notes. Sometimes the arrangement of those notes sounds similar, which raises the question: Theft or Inspira...
Makin’ Whoopee: The hilarious history & science of fart sounds
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Farts have been funny to humans for thousands of years. This basic bodily function has countless nicknames around the world, but our fascination with ...
Pew Pew! The making of Star Wars’ iconic sounds
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When you think about Star Wars, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Lightsabers? Spaceships? Alien creatures? What about all of the sounds th...
That’s All Folks! Mel Blanc’s curtain call
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mel Blanc is a legendary voice actor who voiced more than 400 distinct characters. But in 1961, Mel was involved in a potentially fatal car accident. ...
What’s Up, Doc? Mel Blanc and the magic of Looney Tunes
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bugs Bunny, Barney Rubble, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, and many more were all voiced by one man, Mel Blanc. Discover the incredible life and t...
Twenty Parts Per Thousand: Designing with smell
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting smells. Throughout history, humans have gone to great lengths to indulge their sense...
Cremona: Saving the world’s most prized violin sounds
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a town in northern Italy that’s home to the most famous violin makers in history. The museum there holds some of the most unique and prize...
Satanic Panic: Backwards messages and '80s hysteria
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From the sixties to the nineties parents worried messages hidden in rock albums would make their children do drugs and worship the devil. The truth co...
Noise “R” Us: The evolution of noisy toys
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From See ‘n Say to Speak & Spell, and beyond, toys provide the soundtrack of our childhoods. Huge advancements in computer technology in recent deca...
Good Vibes: Unlocking music’s hidden power over your brain
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We know that music has the power to affect our moods, but you might be surprised by just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Music can affect our brains an...
4’33”: John Cage’s revolutionary “silent” musical piece
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
John Cage was a respected composer when, in 1952, he created his “silent piece”, 4’33’’ - a piece that would have the music world scratching...
The Seinfeld theme song w/ Composer Jonathan Wolff
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
No bass for you!! In 1987, TV composer Jonathan Wolff was still trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood. Then one day, he got a call from Jerry...
Sonic Wonderland: The world’s most incredible sounding places
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a reason we call tourists “sightseers”. As a society, we’re totally obsessed with the way things look. But our world is full of beauti...
Historically Speaking: How language & accent shape your brain
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Language is a uniquely human gift. We have shaped it to our individual and cultural needs, and it has shaped us in return. Professor Lera Boroditsky r...
Vroom Vroom: The symphony of high-performance engines
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you turned off your radio and just listened to your car? What’s really going on under the hood? We chat with our own Nick Spr...
Baby Shark: From summer camp song to viral earworm
04 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Baby Shark is a mega viral YouTube video, an unstoppable earworm, a top 40 hit, a Eurodance smash, a decades old campfire song, and the center of an i...
Virtual Choir: 8,000 Voices, One Song
21 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Singing with others is a powerful form of expression. That's why the composer Eric Whitacre started the Virtual Choir; an experiment that connects sin...
The Price is Right: The drama behind TV’s catchiest theme song
14 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As a young composer, Edd Kalehoff was looking for his break. In the early 70s he struck gold, writing the theme song and music cues for The Price Is R...
The Loudness War: Can streaming finally end it?
07 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In part 2 of the story of mastering, we explore the consequences of the Loudness War and call out some of the worst offenders. We’ll also hear about...
The [COMPRESSED] history of music mastering
23 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Join us on a musical journey from the Golden Age of analog mastering to the digital methods of today. We’ll find out why the music industry became o...
You’ve Got Mail: The voice behind AOL
16 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How a simple soundbite on America Online became one of the most recognizable sounds of the internet age, plus the creation of a whole new musical inst...
From Spinal Tap to The Simpsons: Voice acting w/ Harry Shearer
09 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We rarely think about the way we speak. For most of us, it just happens. In this episode, we catch up with two professional voice artists and chat abo...
Hear Here: The messy history of architectural acoustics
26 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have been fascinated with acoustics since our earliest ancestors. From Roman amphitheaters to modern symphony halls, we’ve designed our space...
What makes Stradivarius violins so special?
12 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Stradivarius violins are reputed to have an exquisite sound that cannot be replicated or explained. Why is that? And what, exactly, is a Stradivarius ...
808: The drum machine that changed music forever
29 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The 808 is arguably the most iconic drum machine ever made. Even if you’ve never heard of it, you’ve definitely heard it. It’s in dozens of hit ...
Soundmarks: AT&T, United Airlines, and inventive sonic branding
15 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Companies spend a lot of time and effort perfecting the look of their brands. But now what a brand sounds like matters just as much. We trace the hist...
Deaf Gain: The promise and controversy of cochlear implants
01 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The last few decades have seen amazing improvements in cochlear implant technology. Professor Michael Dorman reveals what they really sound like, and ...
Plants That Listen (and some that sing)
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever wondered what your dog or cat would say to you if they could talk? How about your plant? In this episode we explore the world of bioacou...
Sonic Illusions: Can you really trust your ears?
03 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What we hear is incredibly personal and we all hear things differently. Sometimes our ears can even play tricks on us. Sonic illusions put a spotlight...
Mother of Dragons(sounds): Game of Thrones’ bittersweet sounds
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Game of Thrones is a global phenomenon that has redefined the fantasy genre. Viewers from around the world gather every week to anxiously watch what w...
Sound Escapes: Nature’s untouched soundtrack
06 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Over his long career, Gordon Hempton has mastered the art of truly listening. He’s known as the Sound Tracker. Some people call him an acoustic ecol...
The Voyager Golden Record: Humanity’s message to the cosmos
22 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the late '70s, NASA launched Voyagers 1 & 2 to explore the furthest reaches of our solar system and beyond. But something amazing was included on t...
Bird Translation Guide: Decoding Tweets, Hoots, & Warbles
08 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you stopped and really listened to birdsong? Ever wonder what they’re singing about? We chat to Kenn Kaufman and Dr. Irene Pe...
Phone Tones: The hidden language of phone number beeps
25 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We unpack how touch tone dialing changed communication forever. Join us on a deep, quirky dive into telephone history. We’ll also deconstruct these ...
The Booj: The secret sound formula behind blockbuster trailers
11 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Movie trailers have undergone a huge evolution. They’ve gone from those cheesy voice-of-God narrators in the ‘80s and ‘90s, to boojes and bwaas....
Dining on Decibels: Why are restaurants so noisy?
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Have you noticed how loud it gets in restaurants these days? Have you found yourselves shouting just to keep a conversation going? Architecture critic...
Do Not Disturb: The unseen impacts of alarms and alerts
11 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alarm sounds have been around almost as long as humans themselves. But as our world has transformed, so have they. Today’s alarms are having an unex...
Blue! 42! How helmet radio changed the NFL
28 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, NFL strategy slowly evolved from each team running a dozen different plays, to rigid schemes with coaches sending in orders through codew...
Silence: Dispatches from the quietest place on Earth
14 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our world is filled with sound. It exists in even the quietest corners of the planet. But what happens when all that sound is taken away? What is sile...
A sonic journey through the Solar System
26 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when we leave Earth's thin blanket of atmosphere, and what do other planets sound like? In this special episode, we have completely remix...
Boots ’n Cats: The scientific secrets of beatboxing
10 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Beatboxing began as an imitation of a drum machine, but over the decades it has evolved as a means to emulate any number of percussive sounds. Now bea...
Being George Clooney: Dubbing Hollywood celebrities
26 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Hollywood films are huge internationally. But how are these films adapted for foreign languages? We delve into the not so talked about process of dubb...
The Xbox Startup Sound: Crafting a console classic
12 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Xbox startup sound is an audio logo that’s become synonymous with the game console. But its origins are rooted in solving a logistical problem; ...
Theater for the Mind: The Golden Age of radio dramas
29 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The "golden age of radio drama" may have been a stellar period for storytelling -- but the stories weren't all golden bright. Sci-fi and horror radio ...
Theremin: The instrument that defined classic sci-fi & horror
15 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever watched an old sci-fi or horror film, you've probably heard the hair-tingling, alien sounds of the Theremin. It's a spooky, strange ins...
Cartoon Sound Effects: From Steamboat Willie to The Jetsons
01 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Cartoon sound effects are some of the most iconic sounds ever made. Even modern cartoons continue to use the same sound effects from decades ago. How ...
Behind the Mic: The making of Twenty Thousand Hertz
17 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
50 episodes! When we launched this podcast two years ago, we never imagined our passion project would come this far. To mark the occasion, we’re tak...
Jingles: How they hooked us and why they vanished
04 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Odds are if we asked you sing your favorite advertising jingle from when you were a kid, you’d be able to recall every single lyric. Yet we don’t ...
“Intel Inside” and other sonic branding brilliance
20 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We are constantly exposed to sonic branding in television, radio, and web commercials. We deconstruct some of the most impactful audio logos in histor...
Loop Groups: The art of movie background chatter
06 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Invisible actors create worlds of sound in everything you watch - from Jaws to The Wire. With special guests, Carl Gottlieb, screenwriter and author o...
Slot Machines: The addictive power of sound
23 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What do you hear when you walk into a Casino? It can feel like chaos, but each sound is carefully curated to draw you in and make you stay. One collec...
Misophonia: Why we can't stand certain sounds
09 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The way our brains process sound affects the way we respond to sound. This episode is about why that happens in those who suffer from misophonia, the ...
THX Deep Note Part 2: How a lost file shaped movie history
25 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you're 6 years old, or 96 years old, one of the most memorable parts of going to the movies for the last three decades has been the THX "Deep ...
The THX Deep Note: From chaos to cinematic legend
11 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Since 1983 one of the most memorable parts of going to the movies has been the THX certification played during the previews. The accompanying sound lo...
Amen Break: The world’s most sampled drum beat
29 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a sample of music that’s been heard in over 2,000 songs. Odds are you’ve heard it many times and didn’t even realize you were listenin...
Ultrasonic Tracking: Are our phones really listening to us?
14 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know your phone is a really good listener? Apps on your phone might be sending and receiving data over ultrasound. Ultrasonic communication is...
ASMR: Why certain sounds give you tingles
30 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do certain sounds give you the head tingles? If yes, this episode is full of ear candy for you! In this episode, we learn all about the phenomenon cal...
Broadway to Cirque du Soleil: Sound design for the stage
16 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Amazing concerts, Broadway musicals, Cirque du Soliel performances, and other live shows live and die on their sound design. This is the story of how ...
Hidden Melodies: Discovering the music in our speech
02 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The way you speak has rhythm, timbre, and pitch. It’s more like music than you might think. We chat with The Allusionist host Helen Zaltzman, Martin...
Epileptic Symphonies: Turning seizures into music
19 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Brant Guichard has heard "The Music" for as long as he can remember. Brant has a particular type of epilepsy where he hears what are called "musical a...