It’s the stethoscope and the sampler as Mike leads us through “the alien nature of [our] own interiors.” In this journey into the sounds of the body, he explores the work of corporeal sonification as music, as well the history and meaning of sounds in medicine. There are lots of sound puns that are sure to resonate (HA!), and the pleasure of hearing Mike work his way through European names of the 19th century. Also the word “auscultation.” Music Intro: My Body by Perfume Genius from Too...

Support RS at patreon.com/reasonablysound It’s the stethoscope and the sampler as Mike leads us through “the alien nature of [our] own interiors.” In this journey into the sounds of the body, he explores the work of corporeal sonification as music, as well the history and meaning of sounds in medicine. There are lots of sound puns that are sure to resonate (HA!), and the pleasure of hearing Mike work his way through European names of the 19th century. Also the word “auscultation.” And a...

Support RS at patreon.com/reasonablysound Originally published September 17, 2015 It’s the birthday episode for Reasonably Sound! Celebrating 1 year, Mike dives into why he can’t lead us all in a rousing chorus of that famous Happy Birthday song that we all know and … love (?). But the copyright clampdown might be loosening in light of dramatic new evidence found (as evidence usually is) in a basement. PLUS … an exciting new birthday announcement: We are launching a Patreon! Now you can...

Support RS at patreon.com/reasonablysound Mike is on a brief vacation on Cape Cod. At the beach. Where he considers why the point of the beach isn't really the beach, but instead the strange draw of waves, water and the ocean. The ocean as Muzak. As white noise. As a tempering force for the other parts of our lives.

Support RS at patreon.com/reasonablysound It's convention season and Mike is on the road for three weeks straight, spending a LOT of time in centers and major hotel chains. And he's noticed how much of his life has become underscored by Muzak and the purposefully designed feelings that it is meant to evoke.

Support RS at patreon.com/reasonablysound Mike explores audience, taste, morality, subjectivity, commodity, and so much more in a pastiche of readings from Theodor W. Adorno, Gawker, Taylor Swift’s Tumblr, Fashionista, Noisey, NME and Pitchfork. The text of this episode of Reasonably Sound is entirely found. The sources are: On the Fetish-Character in Music and the Regression of Listening By Theodor W. Adorno Sacred Vows, Lies and Morphine: Nuns Detail Fight Against Katy Perry on...

Mike explores the sonic aspects of fireworks: What is an explosion, and why do they sound the way they do? These questions lead to a breakdown of combustion versus detonation; low explosives versus high explosives; the phrase “the boom is sort of like a pop with a diploma;” and a fascinating tangent about trying to learn card tricks in the ’90s. Plus: The joys of taping a ref’s whistle to the hood of your car. -- SOURCES -- Celebrate the independence of your country by blowing up a small...

It’s the ice cream truck jingle. Even Mike’s hated Mr. Softee one. Mike provides the secret origin of the jingle, touching on the Great Depression, the growth of the American middle class, the Good Humor Man, refrigeration, and bobsled bells. -- Sources -- Ice Cream: A Global History by Laura B. Weiss http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Cream-Global-History-Reaktion/dp/1861897928 Ding, Ding!: The Commodity Aesthetic of Ice Cream Truck Music by Daniel T...

Echoic memory, how it differs from other kinds of memory, and the definition of sound itself, all on this episode of Reasonably Sound. Plus: Jamiroquai.

Mike and Molly (not the TV show) take a road trip and consider Spotify, MTV2, and how we discover music now. (Also: Cover versions, N.W.A., and the undeniable perfection of Pony.)

That part in dance music, where the music builds and builds and builds and BUILDS before the tension finally, FINALLY, gets relieved? That’s “the drop.” Mike talks about its origin, construction, and application, and tells you what P.L.U.R. means. -- Sources -- Stefan Sagmeister on Storytellers (VIDEO) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlkIVIau1Nk “Waiting for the Bass to Drop” by Ragnhild Torvanger Solberg https://dj.dancecult.net/index.php/dancecult/article/view/451 “Detecting Drops in...

Misophonia is, literally, “the hatred of sound.” Molly Templeton has it, and talks to Mike about the noises that trigger it. -- Molly Online -- twitter.com/mememolly instagram.com/mememolly -- Sources -- “Misophonia: Diagnostic Criteria for a New Psychiatric Disorder” by Arjan Schröder, Nienke Vulink, Damiaan Denys. PLOSOne. “Decreased Sound Tolerance and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy” by Margaret M. Jastreboff AND Pawel J. Jastreboff. The Australian And New Zealnd Journal Of Audiology,...

How much is a song worth? How do you even calculate it? And what do DJ Shadow, Tom Waits, and the Wu-Tang Clan have to do with it? Mike Rugnetta answers these and other questions. -- Sources -- The Spotify Calculator http://time.com/3590670/spotify-calculator/ That Chevy Ad with the DJ Shadow track https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7sTc/chevrolet-attract-attention-song-by-dj-shadow Tom Waits on musicians allowing their work to be used in...

Mike explains how pigeon-lovers Arno Penzius and Robert Wilson found evidence to prove the Big Bang. Find out about hisses, #starstuff, photons, poop, and more to get a full picture of what the universe actually sounds like. -- Universe Sounds -- Big Bang Hiss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu7nKWa8hSM Dawn Chorus http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/rbsp/news/emfisis-chorus.html#.VQj9FhDF880 Black hole http://heasarc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/learning_center/listen.html Sound of the Big...

Mike navigates the streets, subways, and pizza shops of NYC, and as you listen, ponder whether listening to this episode makes you an active listener, an eavesdropper, or a spy.

On this installment of Reasonably Sound, Mike Rugnetta covers subliminal messages and their (lack of) effectiveness with help from BrainCraft’s Vanessa Hill. Chandler Bing is referenced. -- Find Vanessa -- youtube.com/braincraft twitter.com/brain_craft twitter.com/nessyhill -- Sources -- Is there an effect of subliminal messages in music on choice behavior? by Hauke Egermann, Reinhard Kopiez, Christoph Reuter.Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis Vol. 4, No. 2 Subliminal...

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

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...

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...

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...

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

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 –...

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.

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

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...