Artsedge: The Kitchen Sink

In this episode, meet Sound Designer and Producer Cheryl Ottenritter, and listen as she builds compelling promos for Shark Week and the Military Channel, sound by sound. Cheryl also discusses how her background as a musician helps her collaborations with soundtrack composers, and explains what does a sound designer does when what is on screen makes no sound of its own.

Hundreds of years ago, the world was introduced to the orchestra. It was love at first sound. Everyone was captivated by the never-before-heard sounds of some 20 to 100 musicians playing together. Before the orchestra, classical music was for groups of three (trios) or four (quartets)—tops! The invention of this much bigger musical group meant bigger musical possibilities, and the world’s imagination went wild. Composers all across Europe were inspired to try their hand at creating symphonies for the orchestra and pushing classical music to new limits. Next stop: Austria!

Meet Ben Burtt, Sound Designer for films like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and WALL-E. Learn how he comes up with sounds that complement the amazing things seen on the silver screen – from laser blasts to whirring, buzzing lightsabers. Find out the story behind some of his signature effects and how he first got interested in sound design.

Indian music typically contains no harmony, can be completely improvised, and is rarely written down. So how do Indian musicians manage to play together? In this segment, we’ll learn about rhythmic patterns called taal, music unique to certain communities and even times of the year, and if deep-rooted musical traditions can continue as India undergoes fast-paced growth and modernization.

The geographic, language, and cultural diversity of India contributes to a broad range of musical styles within Indian music. Certain folk styles and traditions of music important to one region may be virtually unknown in others. In this segment, we’ll learn about many common elements of Indian music—ragas, drones, improvisation, and the celebrity of being a Bollywood playback singer.

Do you know which drum can speak? Or what instrument is made from a pumpkin? In this segment, we’ll learn about the many instruments that define the sounds of Indian music, and how they are played: the tabla, sitar, tanpura, sarangi, mizhavu, naal, dhol, pung… and the double-flute sitara, whose players can perform without stopping to breathe!

The Ninth Symphony is as big as Beethoven gets. By the time he wrote this symphony, he was near the end of his career—and he was also completely deaf. Visit artsedge.kennedy-center.org for even more, including an “Ode to Joy” sing-along!

Beethoven painted pictures with music in his Sixth Symphony, which is often called the Pastoral Symphony. In this episode, we learn about another scene, “Storm,” in which Beethoven paints a musical picture of a storm that brews in the distance, coming closer until it is right overhead. Visit artsedge.kennedy-center.org for even more!

Beethoven painted pictures with music in his Sixth Symphony, which is often called the Pastoral Symphony. In this episode, we take a closer look at a happy scene called “Peasants’ Merrymaking,” when the farmers gather in a field for an afternoon of eating, dancing and relaxing. Visit artsedge.kennedy-center.org for even more!

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is so famous, it even got sent into outer space, so that aliens can find it (seriously, check out our Art/Space podcast). In this episode, you will learn about the famous “da-da-da-DUM” motif in Symphony No. 5. Visit artsedge.kennedy-center.org for even more!

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is so famous, it even got sent into outer space, so that aliens can find it (seriously, check out our Art/Space podcast). In this episode, you learn about Symphony No. 5 and get to know the composer’s basic tools including beat, rhythm, and pitch. Visit artsedge.kennedy-center.org for even more!

We know President Kennedy for the Cuba Missile Crisis and the Peace Corps.  But why is there a performing arts center named after him?  Well it turns out President Kennedy made the arts a special cause: He opened the White House to the greatest international and American artists and to ordinary citizens alike.  Initiatives led by the Kennedy family brought the Mona Lisa came to America for the first and only time;   the White House went through a renovation that revolutionized the way Americans thought about art history.  Join actor Richard Dreyfuss to learn all President Kennedy did for the arts in America.

Today we consider big-name celebrity concerts broadcast from the White House to be routine.  But that wasn't the case before the Kennedy Administration.  More concerts, ballets and operas were staged inside the White House for President and Mrs. Kennedy than ever had been before or ever have been since.  Actor Richard Dreyfuss takes us through the roster of singers, dancers and musicians both young and old who performed in the Kennedy years.

We think of music and art as bringing us pleasure or entertainment.  But it can also help in -- of all things -- foreign policy.  The State Department has said that hearts and minds can be won through culture just as effectively as through guns of the field.  In this segment, Chief Musician Mike Bayes of the United States Navy Band talks about how music and culture were used during the Kennedy Administration to bring the world a positive view of America -- from Jazz Ambassadors to the creation of elaborate arrival ceremonies at the White House.

Beethoven’s greatest hits include Moonlight Sonata, Für Elise, “Ode to Joy,” and his famous Fifth Symphony. You might not recognize these titles, but you’re sure to know the melodies. You hear them today in movies, television, ring tones—and orchestral concert halls.

Follow the process of bringing Mo Willems’s beloved children's book to the stage. Commissioned by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, this world-premiere musical tells the story of Trixie, her parents, and Trixie's favorite stuffed animal, Knuffle Bunny. This fun musical features an up-beat score by Michael Silversher with lyrics by Mo Willems.

For almost 50 years, NFL Films has defined the way we see and think about football. One reason they have had such an impact is their unique music; music that can make you feel the action. Tom Hedden wrote many of those songs during 19 years at NFL Films. He narrates and — along with two other legendary NFL Films composers — tells us what it takes to write music that, when you hear it you think "Football." Plus, you'll hear the story behind one of the most iconic sports songs of our times, the theme music for The NFL on Fox.

Even though it's nothing more than a chance for football teams to go an rest, Halftime has become an American institution— where fans cheer, dance and get up and shout. It's also brought us multiple styles of marching band music that are uniquely American. Join the ArtsEdge Half Time Report, hosted by Tom Hedden, who composed songs for 19 years at NFL Films, and learn everything there is to know about the music that comes between the action.

There's nothing to make you feel team spirit or school spirit like a fight song. In this installment, Tom Hedden (who composed songs for 19 years at NFL Films) tells us about some of the famous people who've written fight songs, why most of them were written with in just a few years of each other and why they're called "Fight Songs" in the first place.

There's music floating in Outer Space. And we're not just being fancy or poetic. There are actually two disks filled with songs that are floating out beyond the planets that are most distant to Earth. The disks are strapped to the sides of the Voyager probes which were launched to explore the outer edges of our galaxy and whatever lies beyond them. In this podcast, we hear from two of the three people who decided what music would go on the disks, to learn why they thought it was important to let whatever extraterrestrial life may exist in the universe know that human being make music. The podcast is hosted by Roger Launius, a curator in the Space History Division of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.