『Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces』のカバーアート

Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces

Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces

著者： Steve Pretty
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‘Wide-ranging and insightful’ - Guardian (pick of the week, January 2024)


A show for anyone who has ever listened to, played, improvised, written, or just enjoyed music and wanted to know more about these mysterious sounds. Are they 'auditory cheesecake' as cognitive scientist Steven Pinker claims, or actually a fundamental part of what has made us into modern humans?


With an enormous variety of guests ranging from well-known musicians, producers and industry figures through to those for whom music is central but who rarely have a voice, this show is unapologetically broad in scope.


In 'entertaining noises', Steve has musicians explain and demonstrate their instrument, giving fresh perspective on everything from the piano to modular synthesizers, via lesser-known folk instruments from around the world.


And in the flagship 'genre tombola' section, Steve is assigned a randomly-chosen genre from the list of 1334 music genres on Wikipedia, which he then goes away and researches, often talking to an expert in that music, before frequently attempting to make some music in that style... Whether he succeeds or not, there's lots of fascinating stuff to learn along the way!


As fun as it is thoughtful, this show aims to help you hear and appreciate music in new ways.


http://www.originofthepieces.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Pretty 個人的成功 自己啓発 音楽
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  • Voice, Power and the Big Machine: Opera Special

    Voice, Power and the Big Machine: Opera Special
    2026/05/17
    This week, I’m joined by bass Barnaby Rea for a longer-than-usual opera special I mean if we're doing opera, we've gotta go long, right?!), recorded backstage at the Royal Opera House, London.Barnaby is a British/Irish bass who trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the National Opera Studio. He was a Harewood Artist at English National Opera and a member of the Oper Frankfurt solo ensemble. He has also appeared with companies including the Royal Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Zurich Opera, Teatro Real, Opéra de Lyon, Scottish Opera and Opera North.We recorded this while Barnaby was performing Doctor Grenvil in Verdi’s La traviata, in Richard Eyre’s long-running Royal Opera production.This episode was also partly inspired by a recent visit to Milan and the extraordinary Teatro alla Scala, which got me thinking about opera not just as music, but as architecture, social ritual, commerce, class, spectacle and power.So this is partly a conversation about opera singing, partly a look at the machinery of a major opera house, and partly an attempt to understand why opera can feel both thrillingly immediate and socially intimidating.We talk about opera vs musical theatre, why singers train for so long, how a voice can fill a huge theatre without amplification, what “placement” and resonance mean, and why vibrato is not just decorative wobbling.We also get into opera’s social context: boxes, gods, stalls, ticket prices, access, prestige, and whether opera’s elitist reputation is entirely fair.There’s also a wider reflection on live music now: why huge arena shows can dominate the public story of the music industry while smaller venues, grassroots promoters, festivals and independent musicians are struggling.This is a longer episode than usual, but that feels fitting for opera: there is a lot of voice, history, scale and backstage machinery to get into.In this episode00:00 – Steve introduces the opera special, Barnaby Rea, the Royal Opera House and the Milan / La Scala inspiration01:35 – Barnaby’s route into opera: school swing band, musical theatre, Sweeney Todd, Guys and Dolls and early training07:30 – Guildhall, opera school, learning the craft, and why opera takes so long to train for properly12:30 – Singing in different languages and understanding what you are actually saying15:40 – Opera vs musical theatre: amplification, stamina, acting, dancing and vocal demands20:45 – Inside the Royal Opera House: backstage scale, sets, docks, ballet and multiple productions24:45 – La Scala, opera boxes, social hierarchy, standing tickets and opera as mass entertainment30:05 – Arena economics, struggling grassroots venues, festivals and why smaller gigs matter36:50 – Is opera elitist? Ticket prices, access, class, prestige and opera culture in Europe42:35 – Entertaining Noises: Barnaby demonstrates the bass voice43:00 – Breath, resonance, placement, formant, range and preparing different roles50:15 – Show days, double casting, vocal recovery, travel, jump-ins and the pressure of saying yes55:00 – Berg, volume, singing without microphones, working with the room, and breathing with the orchestra01:00:30 – Vibrato: what it is, why it exists, and why it is not just decorative wobbling01:03:10 – Steve attempts a brief opera lesson01:07:40 – Learning roles, memory, punctuality, preparation and what performers can control01:12:45 – What is music for? Barnaby on release, escape, connection and performance01:15:50 – Music as personal soundtrack, film scoring, galleries, headphones and emotional recontextualising01:16:40 – Barnaby’s links, La traviata and walking into productions with decades of history01:18:35 – Outro: Peter Grimes, Wilton’s Music Hall, Ocean Songs, the website and what’s coming nextGuestFind Barnaby Rea at barnabyrea.com and on Instagram at @barnabyrea_bass.Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/StevePrettyOnTheOriginofthePiecesStay musically curious! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 時間 21 分
  • A Cave, A Conch, An Algorithm

    A Cave, A Conch, An Algorithm
    2026/03/17

    A collaboration with What We Did Before on the deep history of music, from prehistoric instruments and ritual to place, technology and AI.


    A slightly different episode this time. Instead of the usual format, I’m sharing an interview I did for the excellent podcast What We Did Before. This particular episode, Before Music: Cave Rituals and Ancient Instruments | Steve Pretty explores where music may have come from, what it might have looked and sounded like before recorded history, and what those origins can still tell us now.


    We get into prehistoric conch shells and bone flutes, the role of ritual, why location and environment matter to how music develops, and how some of those ancient questions suddenly loop back round when you start thinking about AI-generated music. In other words: caves, culture, creativity, and the usual big weird human questions.


    I also mention a couple of live dates at the top of the episode. Ocean Songs is at East Point Pavilion in Lowestoft on Saturday 21st March, and the album launch is at Theatreship in London on Tuesday 24th March. My next live edition of Steve Pretty On the Origin of the Pieces is at Wilton’s Music Hall on Tuesday 19th May, featuring Jim Bob.


    In this episode


    • a collaboration with What We Did Before
    • where music may have come from
    • prehistoric instruments, including conch shells and bone flutes
    • music, ritual and early human culture
    • why place and environment shape musical traditions
    • some thoughts on AI and what it means for music now


    Also mentioned


    • Ocean Songs at East Point Pavilion, 21st March
    • Ocean Songs album launch at Theatreship, 24th March
    • Steve Pretty On the Origin of the Pieces live at Wilton’s Music Hall, 19th May


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 時間 23 分
  • Nathaniel Dye: Public Service Announcement

    Nathaniel Dye: Public Service Announcement
    2026/02/11

    In this episode, I’m dedicating the show to Nathaniel Dye — musician, music teacher, brass band obsessive, ultramarathon runner, and one of the most quietly extraordinary people I’ve met. We begin with Nat performing his song “Public Service Announcement” (recorded live at my Wilton’s Music Hall show in November 2024) — a funny, furious, razor-sharp call to take bowel cancer symptoms seriously.


    Nat sadly died recently from complications related to bowel cancer. This episode is part tribute, part replay, part attempt to hold onto the actual substance of what he stood for: making things, teaching people, and choosing music — not as escapism, but as a meaningful way to use the time you’ve got.


    You’ll also hear excerpts from my “Listen like a musician” series, and then a replay of my earlier interview with Nat (from Episode 10), where he talks about his diagnosis, his fundraising, his trombone marathon plans, and what music became for him after everything changed.



    In this episode


    • Nat’s live performance of “Public Service Announcement”
    • Why he threw himself back into teaching and music-making after treatment
    • The story behind Bowel Cancer Bucket List and the fundraising work
    • A replay of our earlier chat: music, mortality, and doing the thing anyway
    • The episode outro: Nat’s music, accompanied by bass/tuba greats Guy Pratt and Theon Cross


    Links & references


    • Bowel Cancer Bucket List (Nat’s site + donation links): bowelcancerbucketlist.com
    • Matters of Life and Death (album page): Bowel Cancer Bucket List – album page
    • Matters of Life and Death (Spotify): Spotify album link
    • “Public Service Announcement” (Spotify track): Spotify track link
    • Donate to Macmillan Cancer Support: Macmillan donation page
    • Guy Pratt: guypratt.com
    • Theon Cross who appears in Nat's closing song too: theoncross.com


    Stay musically curious.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    55 分
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