A familiar sound from the past is like a time machine – it can take you right back – just for a flash of a second to a moment in your past. But can we get the same powerful sense of time travel further back in time? Can we travel to other people's pasts through sound? In this podcast series we meet the researchers uncovering the lost sounds of the past and discover that all sorts of long ago sound is recorded… If you know where to look.
Each episode Abigail Wincott interviews the people who do know where to look, researchers who piece together long ago sounds, from prehistoric South India through the Renaissance school room to life as a slave in the American South.
All of these projects to reconstruct the sounds of the past can tell us something important about real people’s experiences, and they can also tell us about ourselves and our world today. Insights that we often miss when we look but don’t listen.
Regent honeyeaters are losing their rich and complex song culture as their population declines and fragments. Dr Ross Crates and colleagues are using old recordings of the songs that have since been lost, not only to understand the decline, but to teach young birds to sing their intricate songs of their ancestors. More information can be found on the series webpage https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
6 Oct 2023
17th century sound effects with Dr Laura Wright
What we call sound effects - from trumpets to explosions to mermaids - were central to theatre of the 16th and 17th centuries. Laura Wright tries to uncover what the effects were, what they meant and what it was like to experience them. More information on the podcast can be found on the series webpage https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
27 Sept 2023
Vintage Radio Drama with Dr Neil Verma
Neil has listened to thousands of hours of US radio plays from the so-called Golden Age and found a rich world of symbolism and spatial realism created by some of the time's greatest writers, directors and actors. More information on the episode can be found on the series webpage https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
22 Sept 2023
Baroque Improvisation with Nina Kumin
It's hard to imagine Western classical music as improvised and participatory, but that's what Nina Kumin tries to bring back to life as she researches the sounds of Baroque music through playing. More information on the Nina's work can be found on the series webpage https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
14 Sept 2023
Sonic Histories of Cork City with Elaine Harrington and John Hough
As Cork’s historic docks close, tourists snap photos of the last ships coming in and share them on social media. But who will snap the sounds of the docklands? Elaine and John race to collect disappearing sounds, and recreate those already lost. More information can be found on the website https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
2 Jun 2021
Stone age tastes with Dr Riitta Rainio
Musical tastes affect the places we listen to music in, and those places also change the music we perform – from chamber music to stadium rock. Sound archaeologist Dr Riitta Rainio talks about the acoustic tastes of the Finnish stone age. Read more and share your suggestions for future Past Sounds at the website https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
14 May 2021
Medieval Mystery plays with Dr Mariana Lopez
Mystery plays were a big deal for the people of York between the 14th and 16th centuries. They staged these epic events every year, yet little is known about the performances. Dr Mariana Lopez's acoustic modelling has brought their intricate staging skills to life. Read more https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
6 May 2021
Sufi Sounds with Dr Guangtian Ha
Sometimes we don’t know here we come from, yet our language remembers on behalf. Assistant Professor of Religion, Dr Guangtian Ha, explains the ways the unusual present day pronunciation of China’s Jahriyya Muslims gives clues to a multilingual past. Find out more on the webpage https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
2 May 2021
Plantation Bells with Prof Mark Smith
Professor Mark Smith talks about what formerly enslaved plantation workers in the American South have told us about their sonic worlds, and demonstrates how different our experiences of the same sounds can be. Read more at https://abigailwincott.wordpress.com/past-sounds-podcast-2/
16 Apr 2021
The Renaissance Schoolroom with Prof Jennifer Richards
Dogs barking, drunkenness and declaiming in the 16th century schoolroom. Find out from Jennifer Richards, Joseph Cowen Professor of English Literature what that sounded like, and how she pieced together what she knows. More information on Professor Richards' work can be found at https://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/staff/profile/jenniferrichards.html#background
16 Apr 2021
Past Sounds series trailer
Find out more about Past Sounds, a series about the lost sounds of long ago, and the people who make it their business to find them. Coming Spring 2021.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Host of Past Sounds?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
