Twenty Thousand Hertz
Episodes
Hamilton: Crafting the sound of the Broadway smash hit
05 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Broadway’s award-winning, record-breaking, smash hit, Hamilton, is a musical unlike any other. Get the story from people in the room where it happen...
False Alarm: How the Emergency Alert System went wrong
19 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When people in Hawaii were falsely alerted of a Ballistic Missile threat, the first thing they heard was the sound of an emergency alert. For decades,...
Muzak: How background music took over the world
05 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“Elevator music” was once the sound of restaurants, offices, and elevators in mid-20th century America. But ironically these bland, string-driven ...
Six O'Clock Soundtrack: The art of TV news music
22 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wonder how the music on your favorite news stations is created? Dive in with news music appreciator + journalist Victor Vlam; Composer Matthew Ka...
314-914-6093: When Michelle Obama tweets your phone number
08 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A mysterious Tweet from one of the most famous people on Earth: A single phone number, zero context. What does it mean? Why was it posted? Would you c...
The Gift: Dr. Amar Bose’s audio legacy
25 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The science behind sound reproduction has been studied for centuries. But what will research uncover in the centuries to come? One man made it his lif...
Facebook & Google Pixel: Designing the perfect alert sound
11 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There are sounds we interact with every single day and never give a second thought. Our phones, computers, cars, and other devices are constantly comm...
Let It Beep: The rise and fall of the Mac startup chime
27 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For over two decades, every time you turned on a Mac, you were greeted by a familiar sound. It’s appeared as a punchline in The Simpsons, and in mov...
Disney Parks: How Imagineers use sound to enchant visitors
13 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Theme parks have a way of transporting us to magical places, and sound is crucial in maintaining the illusion. From the most action-packed attractions...
Spooky Sounds: The secrets of horror sound design
30 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We uncover how scary sound effects are created in horror films as well as dissect how sound triggers the fear mechanisms in humans. Featuring Formosa ...
Acoustical Umbilical Cord: Why crying makes us human
17 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Many animals, humans included, are natural-born criers. It’s the most basic form of communication from right when we come into the world. But us hum...
Level Up: How video games tell an immersive story through sound
03 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Video games are a growing industry and every play-controlled experience is defined by its harmony of music, sound effects, and voice acting. In this e...
Watergate: How a tape recorder brought down a president
19 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Watergate might be the most widely-referenced scandal in our nation’s history. The actual word itself has been appropriated in order to name many la...
Sonic Seasoning: Can sound affect our taste buds?
05 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Taste is one of our most subjective of the five senses. A flavor that elicits delight in one individual may evoke strong disgust in another. And while...
Fight or Flight: Why airplane sounds make us anxious
22 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Are you afraid to fly? Does even the thought of boarding an airplane make you anxious? You’re not alone. Millions of Americans suffer from clinical ...
Sound Firsts: Landmark recordings in history
08 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What is the oldest recorded sound in history? For over 100 years researchers thought they knew until a mind-blowing discovery by historians found some...
Noise Pollution: The hidden costs
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Noise pollution is something we’ve all experienced. Road construction, motorcycles, passing aircraft - the list goes on and on. Other than being jus...
Silent Sea: Whalesong & Undersea Noise Pollution
11 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
71% of the Earth is covered by water. And most of us imagine it to be a serene, almost silent world. But why should we have all the fun up here? Disco...
Evolution of Accents: From Shakespeare to Valley Girl
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When you describe yourself to others you might mention your height, hairstyle, or maybe your build. But one of the most telling things about you is so...
The Wilhelm Scream: Hollywood’s most iconic sound effect
30 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to movie screams, what’s the first one you think of? Is it a scream that evokes a sense of fear, pain, or maybe even… humor? Perhaps...
The voices behind Dragon Ball Z & Firewatch
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We hear disembodied voices all the time, in everything from cartoons and anime to commercials and trailers. It seems easy, but it's actually an intric...
Hearing Loss: What causes it and how to prevent it
02 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our ears are sensitive, but we often don’t treat them that way. We are born with the ability to hear up to 20,000 Hz. As we age, our hearing range d...
From Screams to Serenity: How sound shapes us
18 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Some sounds are like rug burn for your ears, while others are pleasant and soothing. We explore these sounds and get to the bottom of why we might int...
Foley: Hollywood’s hidden sound heroes
04 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When you listen to a movie, everything the actor touches sounds crisp and clean. However, none of it was recorded on the movie set. Go behind the scen...
What do other planets sound like?
21 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When we think about sound, our only reference is what it’s like here on Earth. What happens when we leave this thin blanket of atmosphere, and what ...
Dolls That Talk (and some that listen)
07 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Talking dolls have been around for over a century, but the fascination with making inanimate objects seem human reaches back into our early history. W...
Car Sounds: Crafting every click, rev, and beep
21 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Some car sounds are more obvious like the horn or engine... but what about the not-obvious-until-you-point-them-out sounds like the hollow thud of a t...
Audio Descriptions: Not just for the visually impaired
07 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know there might be a track of audio on your favorite movies and television shows that describe all of the actions on screen? This technology ...
Inside Movie Soundtracks: How every layer tells a story
24 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When you think of a movie soundtrack, you probably think music. And sure, that’s one of the many, many things going on there. What else goes into ma...
From Analog to Digital (and back again)
10 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The transition from analog to digital seemed like a fairly simple and expected process. So why are so many people reverting back to analog? In this e...
Sounds We've Lost: Echoes of the Past
27 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you heard a dial-up modem? A dot matrix printer? A CD dropping into its plastic tray? Did you know it would be the last time? W...
The Windsor Hum: Canada’s Most Mysterious Sound
13 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There's this place right at the border between Detroit, MI, and Windsor, ON where there's this hum… It rattles dishes, makes people sick, it's even ...
How 8-Bit sounds became iconic
29 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Primitive, yet iconic, 8-bit audio defined a generation through video game sounds and music. Discover the history and innovation behind those audio ma...
The NBC Chimes: How three notes made history
15 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
NBC’s three little chimes didn’t just define a television network, they defined a generation. Where did they come from and what is the surprising ...
Becoming the voice of Siri… by accident?
01 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When Siri launched in 2011, she permanently changed the way people interacted with their technology. What was it like to be the voice behind that voic...