Dallas Taylor

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
Part 2 of our series on the Windows startup sounds picks up when Microsoft made the radical decision to kill the startup sound in Windows 8. In this episode, we explore the forces that led to that decision, unpack how Microsoft channeled the m…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
Over the years, Microsoft has made at least ten iconic startup sounds for Windows—from the triumphant “Ta-da!” of Windows 3.1, to the ambient chime that Brian Eno crafted for Windows 95, to the orchestral sweep of Windows XP. In this episode, …

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
For nearly half a century, one eerie sound has been showing up again and again in movies and TV shows. It’s typically used when something spooky or mysterious happens—and it can be heard in Poltergeist, The Matrix, Let the Right One In, and co…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
The voices of subway and train announcements are deeply ingrained in peoples’ lives. Many of us hear them every day, for years on end. And yet, hardly anyone knows who those voices belong to. In this episode, we uncover the human stories behin…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
The names of pop and rock stars are known by millions of people around the world, but the people who actually write their music often stay in the shadows. In this episode, we peel back the curtain on the songwriters behind some of the biggest …

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
In the forty years since The Joy of Painting first started airing, Bob Ross has become a cultural icon. His gentle, soothing voice is instantly recognizable, and still gives comfort to millions of people around the world. But despite his unsha…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
In the 1960s, the BBC had a vice grip on British radio, and rarely played the pop and rock music that was all the rage. So a group of rebellious radio DJs decided to give the people what they wanted, and started broadcasting popular music from…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
Your name is so much more than the sound that people call you by. It’s an entire human identity, distilled into a few syllables. So what do six people who share the exact same name have in common? It turns out, much more than you might expect….

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
When The Sims was first being developed, the creators faced a problem. They knew they wanted these characters to talk and interact, but they were worried that using a real language would quickly get repetitive and annoying. So, they decided to…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
A lovingly crafted podcast that reveals the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds. Subscribe now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
For our second annual Mystery Sound competition, we’ve rounded up the 20 best sounds from the past year, and invited the hosts of Underunderstood to test their ears in a competitive guessing game. So bust out those Q-tips, turn up your headpho…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
In part 2 of our series on HBO, we explore the tough questions that the company faced in the digital era: Are people still willing to sit through a 90-second theme song before they watch a movie? Does the sound of analog TV static even make se…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
In the 1980s, every movie that aired on HBO began with a truly epic theme song—a sweeping orchestral piece that triggers instant nostalgia for anyone who grew up with it. Then in the 90s, HBO introduced a 5-second audio logo for their original…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
If you’re a human being, chances are, you know someone who is a big time snorer. You’re falling asleep to the gentle sounds of crickets, and then BAM, you hear a snore that sounds like an angry troll. So who was the first snorer? And why is sn…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
In the past, video games were largely inaccessible to people with visual impairments. But these days, game makers are adding all kinds of innovative options to make their games more accessible. And some developers are creating entire virtual w…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
Playing a sport without sight might sound impossible. But it turns out, there are blind athletes all around the world doing exactly that. Instead of using their eyes, these players rely on their ears to hit a pitch, block a throw, and charge a…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
When Matthew Shifrin was growing up, his blindness meant that trying to enjoy a movie or TV show was often a confusing and frustrating experience. But then, Matthew discovered something called video description—an extra audio track where a nar…

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
For over a century, humans have been using technology to shape our sonic environment. White noise machines, nature recordings, noise canceling headphones and high-tech hearables all allow us to create an auditory safe space we can escape into….

Twenty Thousand Hertz http://www.20k.org by Dallas Taylor
Not long ago, our home appliances made nothing but abrasive beeps and harsh buzzes. In recent years though, these devices have started to chirp and sing with carefully designed tones and melodies. But crafting the “perfect” device sound takes …