Reasonably Sound

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14: Joe Hanson on Animals, Sound, and Semiotics Feb 02, 2015

Show notes

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, and you’ll get a glimpse into the world of animals, sound, and semiotics. -- SOURCES -- The semiome: From genetic to semiotic scaffolding http://philpapers.org/rec/HOFTSF -- Find Joe at -- http://youtube.com/itsokaytobesmart twitter.com/jtotheizzoe twitter.com/okaytobesmart

13: Shopworn Sound Effects Jan 19, 2015

Show notes

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. -- 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 http://whatculture.com/film/10-ridiculously-overused-movie-sound-effects.php * The Creaky Gate * What is this sound effect I keep hearing? http://ask.metafilter.com/150543/What-is-this-sound-effect-I-keep-hearing Stock Sound Effects on TV Tropes http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StockSoundEffects Where Else Have I Heard That? http://ask.metafilter.com/125872/Where-else-have-I-heard-that * Police Dispatcher * Why do movies & TV use this police radio clip over and over? http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/19768/why-do-movies-tv-use-this-police-radio-clip-over-and-over Stock Sounds: Police Station from SimCity 3000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dklA4-ACN4k&t=26 * The Diddy Laugh * Diddy Kong Racing Intro http://diddy%20kong%20racing%20intro/ Steve Pagets Diddy Laugh YouTube Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvs58Hl92VaqqJwxaSzF6A2m1605VdLaf Steve Paget’s Diddy Laugh Blog http://diddylaugh.blogspot.com/ * The Wilhelm Scream * Wilhelm – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3-Y8eTaMZc Where Did the Wilhelm Scream Come From and Why Do So Many Filmmakers Use It? http://mentalfloss.com/article/60236/where-did-wilhelm-scream-come-and-why-do-so-many-filmmakers-use-it Hollywood Lost and Found http://hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/index.html Way, Way, Way Too Many Wilhelm Screams http://createdigitalmusic.com/2011/04/way-way-way-too-many-wilhelm-screams/ * Castle Thunder * Castle Thunder Compilation on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q79HMmZ4qNc Hollywood Lost and Found http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/sound/castlethunder.html Castle Thunder Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_thunder_%28sound_effect%29 Frankenstein (1931) Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(1931_film) -- 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?” http://mikerugnetta.tumblr.com/post/107612425165/regarding-your-latest-episode-of-reasonably-sound via erherr http://erherr.tumblr.com/ “Fred Armisen Gives Five-Minute Improvised Master Class in NYC Accents” http://gawker.com/fred-armisen-gives-five-minute-improvised-master-class-1662583152 via @sophiebiblio https://twitter.com/sophiebiblio/status/555431319229169665 Sean Monahan’s video on the Pennsylvanian/Mid-Atlantic Accent https://www.youtube.com/user/smonahan09/videos via @sophiebiblio https://twitter.com/sophiebiblio/status/555431110600302592 “Thoughts on Accents! Class! And Self-Presentation! (AKA Fashion! Turn to the Left!)” http://tinyletter.com/TwoBossyDames/letters/weekend-special-errata-addenda-ugh-mea-culpa via Two Bossy Dames http://www.tinyletter.com/TwoBossyDames -- Previous version of this episode contained -- Wilhelms Scream – James Blake Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz – Mr. Bungle Colony – Mason Android Park Tracks (Tall Bodies) – Chelsea Wolf

12: The Printing Press and the Great Vowel Shift Jan 05, 2015

Show notes

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. -- On American versus English Spelling -- Why Do Brits and Americans Spell Words Differently? http://www.livescience.com/33844-british-american-word-spelling.html Americanize, Anglicise: Why Do Brits And Yanks Spell Words Differently? http://io9.gizmodo.com/americanize-anglicise-why-do-brits-and-yanks-spell-wo-1671334487 Present Day American Spelling from The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume 6 https://books.google.com/books?id=ia5tHVtQPn8C&pg=PA352&dq=american+and+english+spelling+differences&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KmWtVNOoEoLksATGpoDgCg&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=american%20and%20english%20spelling%20differences&f=false -- Main Sources for this Episode -- A History of the English Language by Elly van Gelderen http://www.historyofenglish.net/ Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction by Kristin Denham, Anne Lobeck http://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/ISBN/1413015891?cid=GB1 Why Do Americans and Brits Have Different Accents? http://www.livescience.com/33652-americans-brits-accents.html When Did Americans Lose Their British Accents? http://mentalfloss.com/article/29761/when-did-americans-lose-their-british-accents Received Pronunciation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation -- Previous version of this episode contained -- - 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

10: Auditory Illusions Dec 08, 2014

Show notes

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!) The submarine film soundtrack work Mike mentions is here: https://mikerugnetta.bandcamp.com/track/guitar-shephard-tone Sources: - Demonstration 27 – Circularity in Pitch Judgment http://asa.aip.org/demo27.html - Scelsi: Cello Music (review) http://www.medieval.org/music/modern/scelsi/cello.html

9: On The Road with Mike Rugnetta Nov 23, 2014

Show notes

It's a Thanksgiving travelogue with Mike Rugnetta, who, like a bazillion other people, is on the road for the holiday.

8: A440 Nov 10, 2014

Show notes

A440 is not a steak sauce, nor is it a tax form. Rather, A440 hz is the standard tuning for musical pitch. Why is that? The reasons include, but are not limited to: The oboe, church versus secular music, and the difficulty of France. Mike Rugnetta explains. Special Thanks to Nicole He and Proprietous for their help with oboe details. Sources: – History of Performing Pitch: The Story of “A” by Bruce Haynes https://www.amazon.com/History-Performing-Pitch-The-Story/dp/0810841851 – A=432hz: On the Proper Concert Pitch and a New Standardization of Tempo by Brendan Bombaci https://www.amazon.com/432hz-Proper-Concert-Pitch-Standardization-ebook/dp/B009TTBOAI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1415310567&sr=8-3&keywords=concert+pitch – Why does the orchestra always tune to the oboe? http://www.rockfordsymphony.com/faqs/why-does-the-orchestra-always-tune-to-the-oboe/ – ISO 16:1975 http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=3601 – Why is A4 the standard pitch reference for tuning? http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/18969/why-is-a4-the-standard-pitch-reference-for-tuning/18973#18973 – Why are orchestras tuned differently? http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/776/why-are-orchestras-tuned-differently In a previous version of this episode, the music used was is (in order of appearance): – Walking (In Tune), Rene Hell – Swan Lake, Swan Theme, Tchaikovsky – Polovtsian Dances, Borodin – Piano Sonata 15, Beethoven (Digression Music) – Peer Gynt: Morning Mood, Grieg – Die liederliche Gesellschaft von allerley Humor: Allegro – Battalia a 10, Biber

7: Taylor Swift’s White Noise Oct 27, 2014

Show notes

Taylor Swift accidentally released eight seconds of white noise to iTunes, and it went to number one in Canada. Mike Rugnetta offers his take on it, as well as a helpful explanation what white noise actually is. Baseball and cooking metaphors are used.

6: Sound as a Weapon Oct 13, 2014

Show notes

Mike Rugnetta and Atlas Obscura‘s Dylan Thuras have a fascinating discussion on the use of sound in war and at what point sound becomes a weapon. Among the topics covered: - World War I “sound mirrors” (giant concrete parabolas that ineffectively tracked incoming planes) - Project Disperse - The Mosquito - “Tunnel chicken” - LRAD - So-called “less than lethal” technology - Humankind’s unintentional sound war on the animal population

5: Whisper Quiet Sep 30, 2014

Show notes

Do you have a favorite sound? Mike Rugnetta has a few: - A Snapple bottle opening - An orchestra tuning, with a couple instruments clearly off-key - A breaking incandescent light bulb In this episode, Mike explores the phenomenon of ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. Or, as some call it, a “head orgasm,” brought on by certain sounds, like whispering. There are even YouTube channels dedicated to triggering these responses. How does this all circle back to American telephone advertising from the 1970s and U.S. telecom infrastructure? Mike explains.

4: Snikt! Sep 17, 2014

Show notes

Mike would like to talk with you about snikt. And sploorp. And butcher some French while he’s at it. Today’s subject is onomatopoeia and the visual representation of sound, particularly in comics. AMONG, BUT NOT ALL, THE THINGS MENTIONED: - Proust - Magritte - Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics - http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-The-Invisible-Art/dp/006097625X/?tag=infguest-20 - Roy Crane - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Crane - The fadeout on the coda of Queen’s immortal “Fat Bottomed Girls” on the band’s greatest hits collection, which Mike is correctly peeved about and I’ll just add that it is a goddamn travesty THAT SOMEONE NEEDS TO ANSWER FOR - Time is a flat circle - http://imgur.com/g9Mem06 - The Handsome Family - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4zluA60hjs - Deadpool, elephant tusks, and Zombie Teddy Roosevelt - http://imagebank.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Deadpool-Wallpaper-1920x1080.jpg

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