The hottest Sound Substack posts right now

The world is full of strange and interesting wonders like a potato Airbnb and historic animal obituaries.
There are individuals who curate unique collections like a NYC garbageman's trash museum and an online vacuum cleaner museum.
Excessive noise, like from trains, can have a significant impact on mental health and well-being.

Good groove or “boogie” comes from small dynamic gestures and subtle timing, not identical, clipped hits; flattening sounds loses the swing that makes music feel alive.
Museums often present sound badly — low-fidelity playback, loud excerpts, and spillover make listeners hear only the biggest bits and miss the works' nuance and intent.
Sound in art should be treated with as much care as visuals, so galleries need to redesign how they present audio and the public should support cultural work that values those listening details.

Gaussian Pop music is generated by AI models prompted by user searches, aimed to reduce streaming service costs and drive profits through listener engagement.
Gaussian Pop creates music that satisfies the urge to consume quickly and easily, tailored for inattentiveness and quick skips.
The rise of Gaussian Pop represents a shift in music consumption towards AI-generated content, leading to concerns about economic impacts on musicians and the potential alienation of shared music experiences.

Analog recordings keep both the music and the marks of their use — surface noise, tape hiss, and studio sounds — and those imperfections make listening feel tactile and time‑bound.
Digital formats remove physical friction and surface noise, giving cleaner sound and huge libraries, but that intangibility often encourages skipping and shallower listening instead of close, time‑rich attention.
New technologies from the player piano to magnetic tape and multitrack recording transformed how music is made and edited, enabling creative splicing and overdubs while also introducing limits like tape hiss and prompting changes in copyright law.

Jonathan Glazer is known for his unique and groundbreaking films, setting high standards for himself.
The film 'The Zone of Interest' portrays a haunting vanitas concept by juxtaposing idyllic visuals with disturbing sounds of a Holocaust setting.
The use of sound in the film creates a jarring contradiction, making it both boring and disturbing at the same time.

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Listening to old tapes can bring up feelings of unfulfilled potential and alternative paths not taken in music.
Each decision in music, like chord choices and melodies, leads down different creative paths.
Rejected tapes and imperfect recordings can add character and beauty to music, enhancing the listening experience.

Design can use fractal patterns to communicate meaning, like African designers do, enhancing spatial sequences and politeness in designs.
Iteration is key in design; like the evolution of violin F-holes from circular to F-shaped, small changes can significantly impact performance.
Design choices have ethical implications, influencing human actions and shaping moral practices, emphasizing the ethical responsibility of designers.

The author has a new live performance called 'Agency of Chaos, Unmoved' that explores consciousness and AI.
The Radiophrenia Festival features sound works and the author has two playing next week.
A special car journey in Bucharest inspired the author's sound work and will be shared at the festival.

Ambience music helps you relax and can create a dream-like experience while you sleep. It can make you feel refreshed and happy when you wake up.
Good ambience music usually has no beat and limited frequencies, which helps keep the brain calm. This is helpful because it avoids waking you up with sudden changes.
The music is often repetitive and sparse, meaning there’s a lot of silence and fewer instruments. This calmness allows your mind to settle down for a peaceful sleep.