Over the years, the range and quality of podcasts has increased immensely. Of particular interest here are those related to audio, Hi-Fi and music in general. The podcasts linked below are hosted, by and large, by extremely knowledgable professionals.
These are some of my favourites, but I’m always on the lookout for good quality offerings, so please get in touch if you have any recommendations.
The Next Track:
This show, co-hosted by Doug Adams and Kirk McElhearn, has quite a wide scope encompassing all aspects of music consumption. It features episodes on topics such as hardware, streaming, organising digital music to interviews with guests such as composers and music notation software authors. Regular guests include the ever entertaining and knowledgable music consultant Andy Doe and Chris Connaker of the Computer Audiophile website.
Doug and Andy are entertaining hosts in their own right and I particularly enjoy their incredulity when the show looks at the wilder end of the audiophile world. Episodes are frequent, usually every week and are accompanied by show notes.
The Mastering Show
A podcast about audio mastering may not seem relevant at first glance, but this show, hosted by mastering engineer Ian Shepherd from the Production Advice website has some informative episodes on how music is made. I especially liked the episodes regarding loudness and the loudness wars, compression and audio resolution. The shows on these sort of topics are suitable for those with no, or little knowledge and are great primers on the subject. Again, guests are well-chosen and there are links in the show notes.
The Listening Service
Excellent show from the BBC and hosted by the garrulous Tom Service. The show purports to explain how music works, exploring concepts, composers, perceptions of music and everything in-between, albeit with a largely classical music bias.
Twenty Thousand Hertz
An eclectic mix of programmes devoted to sound and not just music. As such you may not be interested in all of the episodes but it’s worth browsing the archive. Presented by Dallas Taylor a sound designer/mixer for television, films and video games.
Classical Classroom
Quite an interesting project this. The classical audio librarian at Houston Public Media knew next to nothing about classical music and so ensues an education. Each week, music is discussed with experts including composers and performers. I’m not overly enamoured with the presenting style of the host, Dacia Clay, but it’s probably an age/location thing. She’s young and American and I’m old and English and the problem is mine. Nevertheless, this is an excellent podcast.