This episode was written by Andrew Anderson.

We’re very pleased to bring you this episode, and more to come in the future, thanks to our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast that tells the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.

The history of recorded sound stretches back over a hundred and fifty years, starting with a device that could “record” a voice on a piece of paper. Today, we can enjoy lossless streaming anywhere we go… but getting here wasn’t easy. In this episode, our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz worked with Qobuz, the high quality music platform, to chart the history of audio mediums, from cylinders made of tin foil and wax, to vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CDs, and mp3s. Along the way, they explore the innovations and quirks of each format, with memories sent in from their listeners and the 20K team. Featuring Adam Tovell from the British Library Sound Archive.

Then, stay tuned afterwards as David MacDonald and Philip Rothman tie all of this “related technology” back to the “music notation” portion of the Scoring Notes mission, and explore how music notation and recorded sound are complementary sides of what makes a song a song.

Further reading:

What Is a Song?, by Ben Sisario from The New York Times, about the copyright questions raised in the lawsuit involving Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” and Ed Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud”.

Further listening:

The [COMPRESSED] history of mastering

Music featured in this episode:

Original music by Wesley SloverSteppin Intro by Sound of PictureParaphrase on Sleeping Beauty by Paul PabstGreylock by SkittleLonely Summertime by The Rockin’ BerriesDing Dong by Niklas GabrielssonBebop Blues by VendlaLiving Memories by Golden Age RadioGin Boheme by VermouthForever in Love With a Ghost by PÄRYou Oughta Know by Rockin’ For DecadesBack in Time by They FallPink Gloves by J.F. GlossDreamweavers by Sven Lindvall & Daniel FridellNo One Knows But Me by Torii WolfTour 505 by EpochaBlipper by Sound of PictureOctober by UTAHDo You by KENA

Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, and hosted by Dallas Taylor.

Art by Divya Tak.