The Music Box

The Music Box will be back with a new season in the fall. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this special about shape note singing — one of the oldest musical traditions in this country. It’s a practice that began in colonial America, and after centuries of ups and downs in popularity, today it’s finding an expanded and surprisingly diverse new following… and some of its singers believe the music...

In the season 8 finale, Kiana and Fiona are taking you Behind the Music to learn about what it takes to be a professional musician. And we’re lucky to have a very special guest join us on this episode – bassist Christian McBride. Interested in knowing more about careers in music, the secrets of touring and playing music for a living? This one is for you!

This week on The Music Box, Kiana and Fiona find themselves on the case, investigating a haunted piano with a mysterious character. Everything is not what it seems in this Halloween episode. Help the gang find clues to uncover the ghost of music's past!

The Music Box team is getting into the Halloween spirit a little early with this one. Fiona stumbles on mad scientist Kiana and her creations. This week, go a little mad breaking down auditory illusions like the Doppler effect and Shepard’s tone.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Kiana and Fiona are taking you Behind the Music to learn about what it takes to work in sound design, and what better way to learn than from LPM’s very own Alex Biscardi? The Music Box is for all ages, however today's episode is recommended for high school-aged students and older who are interested in knowing more about careers in music and audio fields.

This week on The Music Box, Kiana and Fiona travel all around the world, going to Japan, Tanzania, and West Virginia to explore the history of work songs and their places across different cultures. Get shot out of a cannon, deal with some unruly pirates, and… GET SCURVY?? 😳 This week’s episode is a big adventure.

Paging Doctor Kiana and Nurse Practitioner Fiona to the Musical Unit STAT! Another music doctors episode is back, and this time Kiana and Fiona are solving a flamenco fiasco! Learn about all of the elements of flamenco on this week’s episode.

Have you ever been on a submarine?! Join Kiana and Fiona as they dive into music written about water. Explore music by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and John Cage while you meet a mermaid and find out the curse of the sunken city!

What do you want to be when you grow up? Kiana and Fiona are taking you Behind the Music to learn about hosting a show on the radio live on air! Dig into the history of radio, talk with a special guest, former 91.9 WFPK host Otis Junior, learn all you need to know about being a host and some fun facts about radio along the way! Find out how to bring 90.5 WUOL and the Music Box to your classroom at...

Can Fiona become the ultimate guitar master?! This week, Kiana and Fiona meet Rex “The Earthquaker” Dallas to learn all about guitar pedals and their effects. Listen and learn how to craft an epic tone with us!

Music really is all around us! In this week’s episode, sound designer and mystical wizard Alex Biscardi guides Kiana and Fiona through music made with water, singing rocks, even wind that plays the harp! Listen at music box pod dot org.

Kiana and Fiona try to pull an all-nighter and end up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during Carnival! Explore the blocos (blah-co) of Brazilian Carnival to learn about different styles of music from the region like ijexa (ee-jay-shah), xote (sho-chee), and frevo (frey-voo) and hear all the instruments that make them!

Have you ever learned about extended vocal technique from a tour bus full of yodeling gnomes?? There’s a first time for everything! Join Kiana and Fiona as they explore yodeling, hocketing, throat singing and more in the season 8 premiere! Go to musicboxpod.org for more.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Kiana and Fiona are taking you Behind the Music to learn about being a DJ! Dig into the history of DJing, talk with a special guest, 91.9 WFPK’s very own Destiny Carter, a.k.a DJ Lady Dee, learn all you need to know about starting your DJ journey and some fun facts about DJing along the way! Find out how to bring 90.5 WUOL and the Music Box to your classroo...

Kiana, Fiona, and YOU?! We’re bringing the classroom right to your living room in this week’s episode all about musical storytelling. Grab your pen, notebook, and imagination! We’ll listen to the music of The Fretless, Sergei Prokofiev, Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Paquito D’Rivera while talking about what inspired them to write their stories. Then, Kiana and Fiona encourage you to write and tell...

Shhh! Do you have your listening ears on? Kiana and Fiona are at Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky tuning our ears to the sonic environment. We explore how to use your community's sounds to make music, art and field recordings. So, have your headphones ready for this episode all about found sound!

Break out your binoculars! We're heading through the musical forest in search of bird music. No, not actual birds, but music meant to sound like them. From Saint-Saëns to Jennifer Higdon, Kiana and Fiona show us the musical aviary, and how nature has inspired composers for centuries.

All aboard the Music Box Express! Kiana wants to visit 1953 and meet a renowned jazz theorist, and Fiona wants to travel to the future to hear some tunes. But they get distracted on the train, and end up waaaaay back in ancient Mesopotamia! And they're just in time for a musical performance like none they've ever heard before. Come along!

Ready for your brain to get bigger? Come along with us as we all fill our heads and ears with Indian classical music! We'll learn about the melodies, rhythms and beats that make up this musical style that's over 6,000 years old! And we'll hear some cool instruments that might sound familiar, even if you don't know their names... yet!

There's more than one way to play a violin, and on this episode, we're learning all about non-traditional ways of playing, also called extended techniques. But what's this? The lesson is coming from INSIDE THE VIOLIN! And there are... pigs? Tiny pigs in there. Listening to Béla Bartók. Because of course they are. You won't want to miss these sounds, folks (but you might want to miss the smells).

What does a sound designer do? Turns out, a lot more than Kiana and Fiona think! On this episode, our own sound designer Alex Biscardi shows the power of sound design to transport us through time and space, make us laugh, and even get us out of some tight spots. Turn on your listening ears and come along!

The Music Box is back! And it's a good thing, because it looks like Baroque needs some fixing. Luckily, Dr. Kiana and Dr. Fiona are on the case! The music "doctors" cauterize Baroque's counterpoint, malleate its melodies, and assess its appoggiaturas... but can they bring Baroque back to all its intricate glory? Find out on this episode of The Music Box!

For season six’s FINALE, we’ll board the finest time traveling locomotive this side of the train soundboard once again to explore experimental music throughout history! We’ll be going all the way from Pauline Oliveros to Bjӧrk, remembering all the things we’ve talked about this season, like improvisation, drum machines, and more! Learn about musical experiments, meet up with an old friend, and get...

In the words of James Brown, “get funky with me! C’mon!” We’re back in the operating room this week, so put on your lab coats and get ready to examine all the elements of our next patient - Funk! Join us as we explore rock steady beats, staying on the one, and grooving supporting guitar chords. This episode is recommended for grades K-5, but everyone can groove with us! Additional lessons and reso...

Creepy crawlies, wriggling worms, buzzing bees, singing cicadas, oh my! Get your daily dose of music AND science as we dive into the bug's life and the music they inspire. This episode is recommended for grades K-5, but everyone can join in on the flying fun. Additional lessons and resources at musicboxpod.org .