Episode 2: Tasting Notes
Hello hello! It feels like ages since we've been in touch. In reality it's just been 15 days or so. But we've got a new episode of Loud Numbers for you to check out.
We're Miriam and Duncan, and this is the Loud Numbers development log. Well, actually it should now be called the Loud Numbers release log, I suppose, because development of season one is complete.
You're getting this message because you signed up at loudnumbers.net, and right now we're only sending messages when a new episode is released - every two weeks. You can unsubscribe at any time with the link at the end of the email.
Episode 2: Tasting Notes
Yes! The second episode of Loud Numbers has been released, and it's called Tasting Notes. You can listen right now in your favourite podcast player - find it by searching for "Loud Numbers", and make sure you hit "subscribe" too, so you can be sure you get future episodes delivered directly.
Episode two is kind of the odd one out in Loud Numbers season one, for several reasons. First, it's the only episode that features a special guest - as well as our voices, you'll hear the voice of Malin Derwinger. Malin is a certified beer taster, or "cicerone", and the episode is about beer tasting and the numbers behind it. Malin has a many-dimensional system for rating and ranking beers in different categories, and it's those numbers that we've sonified to make the music.
Second, it's the only episode not on a time axis. For this episode, Malin tasted ten different beers and so there are ten different mini-sonifications, which we've tied together in the final track with a beat and some samples of Malin talking about the beers in question, from Czech Pilsner, to West Coast IPA, to Belgian Dark Ale, and even an alcohol-free lager. The biggest challenge in this episode was definitely in getting the final track to sound like a single piece of music and not ten small ones.
Thirdly, Tasting Notes is probably the least serious of the episodes in season one. There's no alarming narrative about climate change, or inequality, or species decline. It's just celebrating the nerdiness of beer tasting. Musically it was inspired by Brian Eno's "The Microsoft Sound", and much of Lemon Jelly's "Lost Horizons" album.
If you enjoy the track, remember that you can always listen to it without the podcast intro. Search for "Loud Numbers" in your favourite music streaming software. Here it is in Spotify, for example. And here it is in Apple Music.
If you're enjoying the podcast in general, the best thing you can do is tell people about it. Put the tracks on your playlists and play them at parties. Put the podcast on during the next road trip you go on. Point your friends and family to loudnumbers.net, where they'll be able to hear the latest episode. The more people that listen, the happier we are!
That's it from us. See you in another couple of weeks, when we'll be releasing episode three - Boom & Bust.
xox
- Duncan & Miriam