Twenty Thousand Hertz

The stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds. Hosted by Sound Designer Dallas Taylor, Twenty Thousand Hertz unlocks the stories, secrets and science behind what you hear. Whether you’re a professional audio engineer with decades of experience, a fourth grader who loves sound and music, or anyone in between, you’ll find something to love: the sound design secrets of hit movies, the forgotten backstories of classic theme songs, the sonic craft of jingles and device sounds, linguistic mysteries, psychoacoustics, video game music, animal communication, and beyond. With moving human stories, immersive sound design, and non-stop ear candy, Twenty Thousand Hertz has grown into the world’s leading podcast about sound. 


New to the show? Start here:

• I'm Lovin' It: How “Ba da ba ba ba” took over the world

• The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to life

• Tudum! The story behind the iconic Netflix sound

• The Legend of Zelda: A Beep to the Past

• Inside Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Studios

• A sonic journey through the Solar System

• Mind the Gap: NYC & London’s iconic transit voices

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
226
Dolls That Talk (and some that listen)
Why have humans been so fascinated in re-creating toy versions of ourselves? Talking dolls have been around for over 100 years. Take a look at the evolution of how that came to be… and why they are so creepy.
14 min
227
Car Sounds: Crafting every click, rev, and beep
Discover how car companies are enhancing every aspect of your vehicle’s sound to provide the ultimate driving experience.
14 min
228
Audio Descriptions: Not just for the visually i...
Ever wonder how the visually impaired are able to enjoy their favorite movies? Discover how technology has been able to make this possible.
12 min
229
Inside Movie Soundtracks: How every layer tells...
What goes into making a movie soundtrack? Take a look behind the scenes with the sound designers that make your movies sound perfect.
14 min
230
From Analog to Digital (and back again)
What did we lose when we switched from analog to digital?
14 min
231
Sounds We've Lost: Echoes of the Past
We've grown accustomed to the everyday sounds we experience; cell phones ringing, cars idling, Facebook messaging. What about the sounds that we've forgotten about, the sounds we’ve lost?
14 min
232
The Windsor Hum: Canada’s Most Mysterious Sound
There’s a hum emanating from an island in Detroit that is so loud it disturbs the residents of Windsor, ON. The hum has caused so much discomfort and annoyance that a film crew decided to investigate the cause.
10 min
233
How 8-Bit sounds became iconic
8-bit audio defined countless childhoods. How did early sound artists and composers create such iconic sounds using the most primitive game technology?
12 min
234
The NBC Chimes: How three notes made history
The now iconic NBC Chimes were originally created to solve a small problem. Where did these three notes come from?
12 min
235
Becoming the voice of Siri… by accident?
Who is the person behind the voice of Siri? ...and how was the world's first virtual personal assistant developed?
11 min