Too Much Music

Alison and Greg Wilder

Two music know-it-alls talk about making music in a world that already has too much music in it. This ex-husband-and-wife pair spout knowledge on all things music, including computational creativity, music production, human creativity, composition, songwriting, music business, music education, music-making culture, and machine learning/AI topics.

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Top 10 Too Much Music Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Too Much Music episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Too Much Music for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Too Much Music episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Art vs. Pop Music Smackdown - Pt. 2

Too Much Music

06/23/23 • 54 min

The first sign that the Wilder marriage might be in trouble happened before the wedding: it was a knock-down, drag-out fight about whether there's a fundamental difference between music in the European art music tradition and music in the American blues tradition. (We can all agree that this is a severely nerdy topic to fight about.)
Eventually, after years of testy conversation, Alison conceded on this one -- Greg and Alison now agree, they're different. But how?
This two (maybe three?!)-part episode delves into the specific traits and characteristics that make art music and pop music different from each other. Part one focused on the musical characteristics, while part two dives into culturally-driven differences.
Greg's website: https://gregwilder.com
Alison's website: https://alisonwilder.net

Doctor Body is Alison & Greg's experimental electronic duo.
PatternSonix is Alison & Greg's niche consulting firm focusing on the intersection between sound and AI.
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or check us out at toomuchmusicpodcast.com
Music, blogging, & more from your hosts: Dr. Greg Wilder | Alison Wilder

Greg Tells Alison What to Do - Composition Challenge Pt. 2

Too Much Music

03/27/22 • 42 min

Since Alison and Greg are a formerly-married couple, they know each other's strengths and weaknesses. In this two-part series, they're using that knowledge for good, and creating challenges tailor-made to help the other person become a better musician -- and who knows, maybe a better person along the way!
This episode covers Greg's challenge to Alison: to craft a drum sound for her upcoming Blix Byrd album by testing out a few different sounds. This is opposed to her usual gut-instinct way of just going with it...what will this ultra-crafty approach yield for her music?!
In this episode, we talk about the Dave Smith Instruments Tempest drum machine, as well as the Roland 606, 707, 808, and CR78 drum machines.
Greg's website: https://gregwilder.com
Alison's website: https://alisonwilder.net

Alison Tells Greg What to Do - Composition Challenge Pt. 1

Too Much Music

03/03/22 • 35 min

Since Alison and Greg are a formerly married couple, they know each other's strengths and weaknesses. In this two-part series, they're using that knowledge for good, and creating challenges tailor-made to help the other person become a better musician -- and who knows, maybe a better person along the way!
This episode covers Alison's challenge to Greg: to create a piece of music without using his composer craftiness. He's not allowed to think about what he's going to make, but has to abandon his training and use only his intuition to create music.
Check out the episode to learn why this was a challenge for Greg, and how it went!
Greg's website: https://gregwilder.com
Alison's website: https://alisonwilder.net

Two Nerds Talk About What Music is Worth

Too Much Music

02/04/22 • 38 min

It's official: the internet has been a game-changer for music. Alison and Greg dive into how music is and isn't valuable today, both monetarily and culturally.
As usual, their conversation is far-reaching. They talk about the usual suspects: Spotify, major labels, Napster, machine learning algorithms, and music for media. Of course, it doesn't stop there. You'll also hear about the desensitization of listeners by reality TV danger music, the Faustian deal we make as musicians, the sheer brilliance and stupidity of Hans Zimmer's music, making beats for Drake, Lawrence Kramer's defense of classical music as still relevant, and music's current value as your mood for sale.
Greg's website: https://gregwilder.com
Alison's website: https://alisonwilder.net

To Music School, or Not to Music School?

Too Much Music

01/21/22 • 54 min

Greg and Alison want to tell you why you should (or shouldn't) go to music school. In this episode, they explore what it's like to take a traditional path through music school, including how music school might be beneficial or detrimental depending on your own musical goals.
It's a magical mystery tour through a diverse set of of topics, including the differences between composers and songwriters, learning how to music on YouTube, Greg's mentor George Rochberg, the creative process in general, Stephen King, Thom Yorke, start-ups, Vangelis, musical embodiment, why Modest Mouse kinda sucks, and production music libraries.
Greg is a Doctor of Music in piano and composition from the Eastman School of Music (ooh la la!) and Alison has a master's degree in music theory and quit a doctoral program in music theory and cognition at McGill University, so they're well versed in the ins and outs of music school. They've both been students and professors, but each decided to leave the academic path years ago, and have been making it on their own in the rough world ever since.
Greg's website: https://gregwilder.com
Alison's website: https://alisonwilder.net

Art vs. Pop Music Smackdown - Pt. 1

Too Much Music

06/04/23 • 49 min

The first sign that the Wilder marriage might be in trouble happened before the wedding: it was a knock-down, drag-out fight about whether there's a fundamental difference between music in the European art music tradition and music in the American blues tradition. (We can all agree that this is a severely nerdy topic to fight about.)
Eventually, after years of testy conversation, Alison conceded on this one -- Greg and Alison now agree, they're different. But how?
This two (maybe three?!)-part episode delves into the specific traits and characteristics that make art music and pop music different from each other. Part one focuses on the musical characteristics, while part two will dive into culturally-driven differences.
Greg's website: https://gregwilder.com
Alison's website: https://alisonwilder.net

Music as Information: What Gets Lost?

Too Much Music

09/08/23 • 46 min

Where does music live? Is it the sound in the room? Is it in your brain? Or maybe it lives on paper? In order to repeat it, we need to create systems to write it down, and ultimately represent music as information or data. But what gets lost when we do this?
Writing music down seems straightforward enough. But as we’ll see, the process of reducing the rich experience of music to dots on paper isn’t as simple as jotting down a grocery list or even writing down your innermost thoughts about last night’s dreams.
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or check us out at https://www.toomuchmusicpodcast.com/
More from your lovely hosts:
Greg: https://gregwilder.com
Alison: https://alisonwilder.net/

How Do Computers Match Musical Sounds?

Too Much Music

09/17/23 • 52 min

Today we take a look back at the music technology underpinning a startup co-founded by our hosts in the early 2010s. With the motto "Use Music to Find Music" , Clio Music was perhaps the first commercially available search engine to speak the language of music and has been a part of TiVo since 2012.
Listen in as our intrepid hosts share insights from that experience as well as ways they see this technology playing an important role in the future of music AI.
Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform or check us out at https://www.toomuchmusicpodcast.com/
More from your lovely hosts:
Greg: https://gregwilder.com
Alison: https://alisonwilder.net/

How to Define Musical Identity for Humans & AI Systems

Too Much Music

09/24/23 • 68 min

Alison & Greg talk about how we hear, understand, and define the identity of a piece of music. After a bit of a dive into the great music thinkers of the 20th and 21st century and their work on how our minds hear and process music, they jump into the specifics of what musical parameters go into identity, and how we can define and codify those parameters so that they're available to an AI system.

Who ARE these people, anyway?!

Too Much Music

02/24/24 • 43 min

Greg and Alison are back...to talk about themselves! In this episode, they'll tell you about how they met, why they're not still married, and what things are like today. Don't worry, you'll hear plenty of music talk along the way.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Too Much Music have?

Too Much Music currently has 11 episodes available.

What topics does Too Much Music cover?

The podcast is about Music Production, Music, Podcasts, Arts, Music Commentary and Performing Arts.

What is the most popular episode on Too Much Music?

The episode title 'Greg Tells Alison What to Do - Composition Challenge Pt. 2' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Too Much Music?

The average episode length on Too Much Music is 49 minutes.

How often are episodes of Too Much Music released?

Episodes of Too Much Music are typically released every 26 days, 20 hours.

When was the first episode of Too Much Music?

The first episode of Too Much Music was released on Jan 21, 2022.

Show more FAQ

Too Much Music

Alison and Greg Wilder

Top 10 Too Much Music Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Too Much Music have?

What topics does Too Much Music cover?

What is the most popular episode on Too Much Music?

What is the average episode length on Too Much Music?

How often are episodes of Too Much Music released?

When was the first episode of Too Much Music?

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