‘Wide-ranging and insightful’ - Guardian (pick of the week, January 2024)

A show for anyone who has ever listened to, played, improvised, written, or just enjoyed music and wanted to know more about these mysterious sounds. Are they 'auditory cheesecake' as cognitive scientist Steven Pinker claims, or actually a fundamental part of what has made us into modern humans?

With an enormous variety of guests ranging from well-known musicians, producers and industry figures through to those for whom music is central but who rarely have a voice, this show is unapologetically broad in scope.

In 'entertaining noises', Steve has musicians explain and demonstrate their instrument, giving fresh perspective on everything from the piano to modular synthesizers, via lesser-known folk instruments from around the world.

And in the flagship 'genre tombola' section, Steve is assigned a randomly-chosen genre from the list of 1334 music genres on Wikipedia, which he then goes away and researches, often talking to an expert in that music, before frequently attempting to make some music in that style... Whether he succeeds or not, there's lots of fascinating stuff to learn along the way!

As fun as it is thoughtful, this show aims to help you hear and appreciate music in new ways.

http://www.originofthepieces.com/

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Chart: Apple Podcasts – United States – Music Commentary

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