What is an Ear Worm
We all know that book worms are people who enjoy reading books, so what do Ear Worms enjoy? simply put, Ear worms enjoy great sound experiences, especially those in the wider realm of electronic and electro-acoustic music. Ear Worms is a weekly live stream hosted by Dr. Lawrence W. Moore of The Wayfarer Project and co-hosted by Jay Goodwin, a maker and designer of electronic and electro-acoustic instruments among other creations. The show is streamed live every Sunday evening at 7:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time. One can listen to the show live by subscribing to The Wayfarer Project’s main YouTube channel and clicking the bell icon for notifications. New scheduled streams usually appear on the YouTube channel by Thursday of each week. One can also catch the stream afterword by listening to them from the YouTube playlist in which they are archived.
018 – Lute vs. Hurdy Gurdy Championship Medieval Music & Monty Python
We are down to our final two instruments in the finals of the Holy Grail of Medieval Musical Instruments. Through voting in the previous three episodes, we are down to the lute and the hurdy gurdy. Which of these Medieval musical isntruments will be the champion? We will also finish our slide through of Monty Python & the Holy Grail along with some AI commentary.
018 – Lute vs. Hurdy Gurdy Championship Medieval Music & Monty Python
We are down to our final two instruments in the finals of the Holy Grail of Medieval Musical Instruments. Through voting in the previous three episodes, we are down to the lute and the hurdy gurdy. Which of these Medieval musical isntruments will be the champion? We will also finish our slide through of Monty Python & the Holy Grail along with some AI commentary.
016 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail of Medieval instruments Part 2 of 3
Our quest for the holy grail of Medieval musical instruments continues as we now are in round 2 of the competition, where the lute, sackbutt, crwth, bagpipes, donbra, zither, hurdy gurdy, and organ will compete until there are only four left. We will look at these instruments, listen to them, and then vote. The tournament will be coupled with some slide commentary and community theater from Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975. A little bit of laughing always helps the learning go down.
015 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail of Medieval instruments Part 1 of 3
The medieval period, also known as the dark ages and the middle ages, is generally looked upon historically as a rather dark and foreboding period. There were some pretty interesting musical innovations, such as the beginning of written music in the Western hemisphere, as well as many beautiful instruments. In this episode, we will be having a jousting tournament between these different instruments in which the chat will be able to vote and choose their favorite instruments. We are in the search of the holy grail of medieval instruments after all. To guide us on our quest, we will also learn from the the great film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like a beacon of light, it will guide us in our quest.
014 – The Oberheim OB-X, discoDESP OB-XD and Flash Gordon 1980 Part 2 of 2
This episode is part two of a two-part episode on the Oberheim OB-X and the film flash Gordon from 1980. The synthesizer was used by Brian May tin both the making of the soundtrack, but also some elements of the score and sound design from the film. As we have already looked at the synthesizer in the previous episode, we will be focusing on the VST plugin by discoDSP called OB-XD, which models the Overheim OB-X synthesizer. We will look at the second half of our film and do some of our regular exploration of AI art, human intelligence and other such amusements.
013 – The Oberheim OB-X & Flash Gordon 1980 Part 1 of 2
This episode of Ear Worms spotlights a match made in heaven. The Oberheim OBS-X is a legendary analog synthesizer that was released between 1979-1981. This synthesizer was popular with bands of the time period and it played a major role in Brian May & Queen’s soundtrack for the 1980 version of Flash Gordon. We will takea look at the synthesizer and the first half of the film to be followed up on in Part 2 of this two part episode.
012 – The Invention of the Radio & The Outer Limits S01E011 The Galazy Being
We will be engaging in some radio nostalgia as we look at the invention of the radio, which involved names like Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla, and Nathan B. Stubblefield. There is some controversy about who invented the radio, but one can trace the individual innovators along with their innovations. After exploring the beauty and power of radio, we will look at an episode of The Outer Limits that was inspired by radio called The Galazy Being. The episode is rounded off by some of our humorous segments that explore the reliability of AI, radio used in music, and some of our favorite radio shows.
011 – Pink Trombone in VCV Rack & The Twilight Zone Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
In this episode of Ear worms, we will be making some crazy sounds using the Pink Trombone module in VCV Rack. This module is based on the web-based speech synthesizer of the same name developed by Neil Thapern. We won’t get deep into the weeds, but people can see how the module works and how they can make some pretty outlandish sounds. We will also look at the famous episode of The Twilight zone, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet which stars William Shatner and Christine White. We will be doing some of our new regular segments as well, as we explore interesting music and try to determine what is real and what is AI.
Ear worms 010 – The Hammond Solovox, the Clavioline, and the Jennings Univox
This week on Ear Worms, we will be looking at 3 instruments from the 1940s and 1950s that were on the cutting edge of synthesis at the time. They were also significant innovations in the portability of synthesizers. The Hammond Solovox, the Clavioline, and the Jennings Univox were portable monophonic synthesizers with accompanying speaker systems. The Solovox was the inspiration for the other two instruments and each one has its own story and place in electronic music history.
Ear Worms 009 – The Hammond Novachord, Perchance to Dream, and Maya the Cat Girl
The Hammond Novachord was invented in 1938 and commercially released in 1939. It was considered by many to be the first polyphonic synthesizer that was commercially released. Only 1,069 of them were manufactured between 1939 and 1942. After 1942, no more Hammond Novachords were produced. There are very few left today and many of those are refurbished or rebuilt models and replicas. It utilized vacuum tube oscillators unlike its sister, the Hammond organ. We will look at some of the music and other media the Novachord was used in, such as Vera Lynn’s “We Will Meet Again” and the Outer Limits TV series, specifically, “The duplicate Man.” We will also look at one of the episodes from the classic TV series the Twilight Zone, Season 01 Episode 09 called Perchance to Dream. This episodes utilized the Hammond Novachord and had a great aesthetics, music, and overall story. It features a character called Maya the Cat Girl.
008 – The Electronic Music, Sound Design, and Other Innovations of Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet (1956) is a legendary science fiction film that was ahead of its time and utilized many innovations in the musical score, sound design, special effects, and scenery that have given it a firm place in the history books. We will be looking at the movie from start to finish and talking about these innovations. The movie has an interesting story that is well illuminated by the way the sets, sound effects, and music integrate together into a futuristic experience of sight and sound for the era of its creation.
007 – Mike Gourley: Native American Flute, Exotic String Instruments, and Electronics
In this edition of Ear worms, we will be talking to Mike Gourley and listening to his music. Mike is an accomplished player of Native American flute and an assortment of exotic string instrument ssuch as sitar, dutar, and cigar box guitar. Gourley is an independent artist who creates music in both the acoustic and electronic music worlds. He has a true passion for magic in sound and seeks out expressive instruments for his work.
