Best Musictheory Podcasts (2024)

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080 - Music Discord May 2:27:04

1M ago2:27:04

2:27:04

This huge episode features three vastly different conversations, each with prominent members of a respective microtonal music discord. (1) Xenharmonic Alliance (ground, anomaly, xenoindex, Frédéric Gagné, HEHEHE I AM A SUPAHSTAR SAGA) Hyperspace Odyssey [21edo] - from Adxenture EP Serendipitous Arrival [26edo] - from Adxenture EP Liminal City Escal…

1
079 - Melopœia 52:07

3M ago52:07

52:07

Xenharmonic black metal project Melopœia consists of Brian Leong, Jon Lervold, and Dave Tremblay. Their albums are inspired by J.R.R. Tolkein, and features his direct text both sung, and by mapping the letters of the text to different notes of 26-tone equal temperament. Their latest album utilizing this is “Valaquenta,” be sure to catch the latest …

1
078 - Christopher Otto (JACK quartet) 1:22:05

4M ago1:22:05

1:22:05

Chat about contemporary music, composition, and just intonation with us in this theoretically adventurous and wide ranging episode. Christopher Otto, composer and violinist, works with the JACK quartet, a group that has played the music of such individuals as John Zorn, Tristan Perich, Cenk Ergün, Tyshawn Sorey, Catherine Lamb, Georg Frederich Haas…

1
077 - Noah Jordan 1:13:37

5M ago1:13:37

1:13:37

Take a magical tour with us through some of Noah Dean Jordan’s microtonal instruments (including the requinto), including improvised performances! Be sure to check out the “Noah Dean Jordan” account on Bandcamp as well as the “Nueva Armonica” account! Intro: I Was Once a River (Rock Creek II) Outro: I Was Once a River (Te Quiero Verde) Check out No…

1
076 - Matthew Sheeran 2:34:58

6M ago2:34:58

2:34:58

Today’s episode celebrates the culmination of a years-long project with Matthew Sheeran, widely celebrated composer, orchestrator, and arranger. The album we’ve been working on is called “Acoustic Microtonal,” and it is a recording of Easley Blackwood’s Twelve Microtonal Etudes using acoustic instruments, playing monophonic lines in isolation and t…

1
075 - Saad Haddad 47:29

6M ago47:29

47:29

In this episode, we discuss composition and performance with composer Saad Haddad. One prominent topic - the challenges involved working with orchestras and large ensembles playing microtonal music, and logistics of the industry. We also discuss ideas of east vs. west, style infiltration, using minimal sets of pitches, and maqam. Music: Vortex Temp…

1
074 - Sevish and benyamind (Big Sway) 1:44:05

7M ago1:44:05

1:44:05

After this episode, be sure to check out the new Sevish album, “Big Sway!” Myself, Sevish, and benyamind have a classic microtonal chat about all things fun and intervallic, covering topics such as intuitive tunings, voice manipulation (vocoding, autotuning, etc.), perfectionism, going gridless, expectations, and communication and accessibility wit…

1
073 - Brock Benzel 36:26

1y ago36:26

36:26

In this brief but informative chat with Brock Benzel, we explore uncharted territory, with a firm commitment to being true to the self, taking on challenges, putting the music first, and breaking rules just the right way. Enjoy the comfort of alien intervals that Brock brings using the Lumatone keyboard instrument (our big topic). Music [Intro] Par…

1
072 - Steve Mueske 45:16

1y ago45:16

45:16

An episode about synth and drums among other tidbits. Topics include names, aliases, Sevish himself, reverberance, randomness, evil, disguising tuning, non-octave tuning, flaws, beauty, the joy of doing creative work yourself, AI, picking your genres, the microtonal community, and art. Be sure to check out Steve’s work as “Pentachrist” on Bandcamp,…

1
071 - Denny Genovese 2:13:16

1y ago2:13:16

2:13:16

In this episode, Denny Genovese recalls his history of creating and studying microtonal music, and his experience creating and performing in the impressive Exotic Music Ensemble. Join us as we become inspired through the brown note, Ivor Darreg’s secret math codes, the origins of Fractal Tune Smithy, the Moody Blues, FM synthesis, JI scales, and nu…

1
070 - Danny Playamaqui 56:09

1y ago56:09

56:09

Check out Danny Playamaqui’s electronic music, a hugely expansive discography using a staggering variety of techniques. Danny conducts by-ear-tuning editing, strategic de-tuning, varispeed tricks, and poly-systemic techniques in addition to starting out with xenharmonic tunings as templates. Luckily, 4 bars a day keeps the doctor away (or is it an …

1
069 - Bryan Deister 1:29:05

1y ago1:29:05

1:29:05

Come join us for a pleasant studio chat with Bryan Deister, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and jazz pianist extraordinaire. Recently he has been exploring microtonal covers on the Lumatone, with massive success on TikTok. He has also written many albums featuring microtonal music in various tuning systems, generally equal divisions, the most rece…

1
068 - Chris Bandy 49:41

1+ y ago49:41

49:41

Chris Bandy, a cappella maestro and creative polymath, joins us to discuss the microtonality of his spectacular arrangements on YouTube. He works in Logic Pro using FlexPitch. Most of his microtonal strategies involve tuning standard adjustments and drifts, or moving microtonal distances. His most xenharmonic sounding arrangement is likely “Where i…

1
067 - D&D's guide 1:07:05

1+ y ago1:07:05

1:07:05

Dave Keenan and Douglas Blumeyer have written an in-depth, specific guide about the mathematical principles of regular temperament theory that are groundbreaking in their consistency and explanatory power. We have them on to discuss how the exchanges evolved, de-mystify some theory concepts, and get spicy with terminology. Music [Intro] Dave Keenan…

1
066 - Mat Muntz 55:35

1+ y ago55:35

55:35

Experimental bagpipe and bass legend Mat Muntz brings his Croatian folk music expertise to the table… a topic most would say he has matsered in depth. Check out his latest album “Phantom Island” on Bandcamp, which freely combines folk music and jazz idioms into a grand polysystemic masterpiece. A lot of our conversation revolves around the intrigui…

1
065 - Aaron Myers-Brooks 35:05

1+ y ago35:05

35:05

Check out this conversation with Aaron Myers-Brooks, Pittsburgh prog guitarist/composer extraordinaire. His latest album, “Oblique,” is a microtonal odyssey exploring various quirky polyrhythms, applications of 17-tone equal temperament, electronic sounds, and distortion flavors. We get an inside exclusive look at the scores to “Energy Shapes”, fig…

1
064 - The One Footed Bride 1:11:58

1+ y ago1:11:58

1:11:58

“One-Footed” is a piece written by Taylor Brook named after Harry Partch’s “The One-Footed Bride'' Just-Intonation diagram. We discuss the aforementioned piece with Taylor Brook and John Schneider, diving into the ins and outs of writing idiomatically for the Partch ensemble, using Partch as inspiration, notation, and extended techniques on these i…

1
063 - acreil 39:01

2y ago39:01

39:01

Check out acreil’s music! Algorithmic albums appended with “a.” Keeper of obscure words in lists. Hardware enthusiast and certified synth geek. We have a delightful episode discussing how acreil works in Pure Data among other curiosities, such as how one navigates form to prevent boredom. Not only do we mess it up (or whatever), but we solve the pa…

1
062 - Skueue 49:23

2y ago49:23

49:23

Algorithmic August kicks off with Skueue, builder of the unnamed machine in Pure Data. This is an abstract, idea-filled episode packed to the brim with insights about the process. Our points of focus include a discussion of how writing affects software, uncommon disagreement about common practice, VST’s in PD, programming cadences, rootful resoluti…

1
061 - Nicholas Denton Protsack 49:05

2y ago49:05

49:05

Nicholas Denton Protsack’s music abounds with spectral delights of various kinds. Our talk today has a particular focus on notation, delving into the strategy behind its presentation. As we study tuning more and more, becoming less rigid with its implementation, it becomes helpful to focus on not just approximating some tunings with others, but als…

1
060 - Aaron Breeze 1:04:41

2y ago1:04:41

1:04:41

How on earth does one create a 1200-tone tone row? Or even a 372-tone row in Sibelius? Find out in this wacky episode featuring Aaron Breeze, the swingin’ licc master himself! The broader topics in this thrilling, conversational episode include silliness and perceived complexity, the connection between playing and speaking, red dress methodology, r…

1
059 - Stephen James Taylor 1:42:41

2+ y ago1:42:41

1:42:41

In this colorful, rich episode, we take a look into the importance of visual and narrative elements in accompanying microtonal music and its ideas. Stephen James Taylor does this not only through writing music in film, but also through his own visual content, such as in “Surfing the Sonic Sky,” an important documentary about Erv Wilson. Among the t…

1
058 - Anna-Maria Hefele 39:14

2+ y ago39:14

39:14

Anna-Maria Hefele, overtone singing sensation, has kindly graced us with her presence! Witness conversation about the tuning and construction of the intricate and aesthetically majestic Lambdoma project (built by Josef Baier). We also discuss how overtone singing intertwines with various musical ideas (production, style, classical technique, analyt…

1
057 - Ventifacts 1:08:44

2+ y ago1:08:44

1:08:44

A fascinating collaboration between Ben Spees, of The Mercury Tree, and Damon Waitkus, of Jack O’ the Clock. We take a look at the acoustic instruments used to create it (including non-Western ones), swap files, and talk about the challenges and inspirations behind the project. We also affirm quarter tones as part of the xenharmonic canon, nerd out…

1
056 - Ben Hjertmann & Emmalee Hunnicutt 1:01:47

2+ y ago1:01:47

1:01:47

“Visitors,” a lovely acoustic journey inspired by the visits of animals, is an album that leads to great conversation. Performed by Ben Hjertmann and Emmalee Hunnicutt, this masterpiece uses many different instruments which we discuss here. Fresh topics include: the act of rounding fretless tab, what a mentally ill Sufjan Stevens would sound like, …

1
055 - Hear Between the Lines 1:29:29

3y ago1:29:29

1:29:29

We chat with Rami Olsen and Freddi Sturm, the brains behind “Hear Between the Lines,” about all things microtonal arranging/content! Topics touched upon include contrived wet food analogies, channel ideas, the story of Rami’s cool guitars, fooling the ear by drifting, comparing different tuning systems’ whole tone scales, piano pedal shredding, and…

1
054 - browsers and inharmonic sleep therapy (Sevish) 1:12:34

3y ago1:12:34

1:12:34

Sevish and I chat about software, instruments, and philosophical questions. We are both excited to continually witness more and more people become interested in microtonality! Web-based browsers such as Scale Workshop, Xenpaper, and Leimma have made it even easier for people to play microtones without downloading synthesizers - all you need is an I…

1
053 - Automatic Microtonal Guitar (Tolgahan Çoğulu) 44:26

3y ago44:26

44:26

Check out our latest conversation with the brilliant guitarist Tolgahan Çoğulu, inventor of the LEGO microtonal guitar and automatic microtonal guitar. We dive into how these guitars work, how they could be useful for playing microtones, the inspiration behind these incredible ideas, and the geometry of making frets tune accurately on a LEGO grid! …