From living-room experiments to Malawian street stages — and a brief stop-off in Transylvania.

This week, Steve explores what it means to sing what you see: making music that’s spontaneous, handmade and gloriously human. There’s a Halloween detour into his live Nosferatu score, a new Clip n Mix, and a look at the brilliant Madalitso Band from Malawi — two musicians whose home-built instruments and hypnotic grooves turn simplicity into joy.

Plus: the mystery of a slightly windy theme tune proves that accidents can be the best kind of inspiration.

👇 Full timestamps + links below!

00:00 – A suspiciously familiar theme

02:30 – Living-room experiments & musical accidents

06:40 – Clip n Mix – turning everyday sounds into music

10:45 – Vampire Vamps: Nosferatu score (watch)

16:30 – Introducing Madalitso Band (Malawi)

22:00 – Homemade instruments & street recordings

32:00 – Singing what you see

44:30 – Finding beauty in simple sounds

55:20 – Wilton’s shows, Patreon & Universe of Music tour

🎧 Listen / Watch

YouTube | Apple Podcasts | More platforms

🎬 Nosferatu live score → Full video

🎛 Support / Extras → Patreon

🪐 Universe of Music Tour (with Chris Lintott)

Corsham (20 Nov) | Cambridge (27 Nov) | Shoreham-by-Sea (15 Jan)

🎟 Full info → universeofmusic.co.uk

🎟️ Live at Wilton’s Music Hall – 24 Jan 2026

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 KIDS matinee (2 pm) – interactive family show

🌙 Evening show (7 pm) – live podcast with guests & musical surprises

💸 Code SPRETTY15 = £15 best available seats

Book Kids | Book Evening

💬 Got a weird sound you’d like Steve to turn into music? Email podcast@stevepretty.com or comment with #ClipnMix.

🙌 Like, subscribe & stay musically curious.

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

This week, I finally tackle a long-overdue Genre Tombola pick: Tonás, one of the oldest and most intense styles in flamenco — unaccompanied, emotional, and steeped in centuries of cultural history.

To explore it, I chat with the brilliant Josie Sinnadurai, a flamenco dancer based in Seville, who sheds light on the roots of Tonás, its tragic themes, and how flamenco works as a live, collaborative, improvisational artform.

But first… I hit a firepit with a stick. And turn it into music.

Using only my phone and the Ableton Note app, I record a metallic firepit in Dorset with my son, and turn it into a playable instrument. The result? A crunchy little beat made entirely from campsite sounds — and the launch of a brand-new segment: Clip n Mix.

Video versions available on Spotify and YouTube.

00:00 – Intro + podcast updates

03:00 – Clip n Mix: sampling a firepit in Dorset

10:45 – Tonás and flamenco intro

11:10 – Interview with Josie Sinnadurai

35:30 – Post-interview: why I didn’t make a Tonás track

36:30 – Turning the firepit samples into a beat in the studio

56:00 – Outro, Patreon, live shows, and how to send in your own samples

🎬 Watch the Tonás video Josie mentions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7vpU5zLl-A

👣 Follow Josie:

Website: https://www.josielaurelflamenco.com/

Instagram: @josie_sinna

📱 Try Ableton Note (free app):

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/ableton-note/id1611814758

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ableton.note

🎧 Get the firepit samples + Ableton Note project file:

https://www.patreon.com/StevePrettyOnTheOriginofthePieces

🎟️ Live at Wilton’s Music Hall – 24th Jan 2026

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Kids show (2pm): https://wiltons.org.uk/whats-on/steve-pretty-and-friends-on-the-origin-of-the-pieces-kids/

🌙 Evening show (7:30pm): https://wiltons.org.uk/whats-on/steve-pretty-and-friends-on-the-origin-of-the-pieces-2/

🌍 More info: https://www.originofthepieces.com

👉 Like the show? Please subscribe, rate, and share — and send your own weird/beautiful samples for future Clip n Mix segments to podcast@stevepretty.com or @stevepretty on social.

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

What can a lump of whale earwax tell us about human history?

What does the end of the universe sound like?

And how do you play the sea like a synthesiser?

This episode of Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces goes from marine mammal physiology to cosmological heat death, taking in hydrophones, cultural transmission in humpbacks, the physics of underwater sound, and an improvised trumpet elegy for the end of everything.

My guests are:

• Chris Lintott – astrophysicist, broadcaster, and co‑host of The Sky at Night. We open with a live extract from our Universe of Music show, performed at Gresham College — exploring what sound and music can tell us about the ultimate fate of the cosmos.
• Richard Sabin – whale expert and lead curator of mammals at the Natural History Museum, who shares sonic insights from the deep — including how 150 years of whale earwax is helping scientists track stress in marine life.

We also:

• Hear vintage 78 rpm whale recordings, played on a £60k system at Audio Gold
• Use filters to “play the sea” like a scale
• Drop a hydrophone into a water tank and see how sound behaves
• Discuss echolocation, underwater acoustic pollution, and whale “culture”
• Recreate underwater acoustic effects via processing and pitch shifting
• Reflect on what it means to really listen — to whales or the cosmos

Recorded live at the brilliant First Light Festival in a sweltering tent by the sea (thanks again to them for hosting us).

🎥 The full, uncut interview with Richard Sabin — including audience Q&A and extended hydrophone demos — is available on Patreon.

• Sonic Collaborations – project by Colin Riley & team
• Audio Gold – London hi‑fi / vinyl emporium
• Natural History Museum
• First Light Festival
• Chris Lintott

• Join the mailing list: www.originofthepieces.com
• Become a patron: patreon.com/StevePrettyOnTheOriginofthePieces
• Share with a musically curious friend
• Rate & review on Apple or Spotify — it genuinely helps 🎧

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