Steve Pretty on The Origin of the Pieces

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Steve Pretty on The Origin of the Pieces

Helping you to hear and understand music in new ways. As fun as it is thoughtful, this show aims to help you hear and appreciate music in a new way.

A show for anyone who has ever listened to, played, improvised or written music and wanted to know more about these mysterious sounds. Are they 'auditory cheesecake' as cognitive scientist Steven Pinker claims, or actually a fundamental part of what has made us into modern humans?

06/12/2025

On 24th January I’m doing two shows at Wilton’s Music Hall — a live version of my podcast Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces. It’s for anyone who’s musically curious and wants to explore how music works without getting lost in theory.

There's a seriously eclectic and fun mix:
• A full 16-piece Dan Spanner Big Band, from Duke Ellington through to David Bowie and drum & bass
• DJ Steady, a jungle/drum & bass DJ who has already played Ibiza and Ministry of Sound — at just TEN years old
• Plus additional guests

There’s a 2pm family show and a 7pm evening show.

🎟 Tickets: https://www.originofthepieces.com/live

02/12/2025

A bit of news from the composing desk: I’ve written the theme tune for My Friend Maisy, a new Sky Kids original based on Lucy Cousins’ Maisy books!
The series is produced by BBC Studios Kids & Family Productions and Trustbridge Entertainment, with animation by Bristol’s A Productions and Karrot Animation. The first 6 of 52 episodes have just been released on Sky Kids and are available to stream on NOW in the UK.

This video is a quick behind-the-scenes look at some of the more unusual instruments and textures that I used to develop the theme, before everything gets boiled down into a very short piece of music that has to carry a lot of character for our eponymous hero and her adorable friends.
If you’re a producer, director or music supervisor working in kids / family TV and looking for distinctive, instrument-led themes and score, HIT ME UP!

25/11/2025

Episode 34 of Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces features , and this excerpt is a lovely reminder of why their whole thing actually works.

They’re touring the UK, and I’m joining them on 29th November at in Highbury.

Come and see what happens when bluegrass and hip hop collide without the wheels falling off.

22/11/2025

A warm welcome to everyone who has found me through the New Scientist podcast!

This clip is from my Shellectronica set at ALSO Festival. All the sound you hear comes directly from conch shells, processed in realtime. No backing tracks, just live playing and electronics stretching the shells into this slow, underwater sort of space.

There's an album on the way, and for updates, shows and the mailing list, head to shellectronica.com.

21/11/2025

A very busy week in all things Shellectronica (my ancient-meets-modern project blending shells and live electronic processing).

Very exciting meetings with (including an introduction to their mollusc research library which is AMAZING), a great Universe of Music show with (next stop on 27th), and I am featured guest (along with a few 🐚) on the brilliant podcast which dropped today, talking about the evolution of music, creativity, sound physics and music technology (including a live performance with .audio Tempera, S4 and many 🐚).

I never anticipated this phase of my career involving so much science/music crossover, or indeed that I would be spending so much time with a hacksaw and a seashell, but here we are, and I’m HERE FOR IT.

10/11/2025

When the regular podcast theme had to take a short break, I used the moment to explore something I talk about a lot on the show: musical play.
So for now, the temporary theme is Farting on the Sofa, written by my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

At a live show at the Hammersmith Apollo, 3,500 people joined in.

This clip’s from Episode 33, which looks at improvisation, imagination and how we can all reconnect with that sense of musical play.

03/11/2025

from Malawi started out playing every day on the streets, no teacher, no formal training — just the will to make music and the imagination to build what they needed.

Their first guitar used motorbike brake cables for strings and a truck tyre for the body. It still sounds better than most things you can buy.
Recorded live at for Steve Pretty On The Origin of the Pieces — Episode 33 is out now.

🎧 Listen here → http://www.originofthepieces.com/

30/10/2025

Back in 1922, F. W. Murnau created Nosferatu — the world’s first vampire film and still one of the most haunting.
Here’s my full live improvised score, recorded at ALSO Festival 2025 and now on YouTube. Everything you hear was made in one take from trumpet, wind and percussion, sampled and processed live with no pre-recorded sounds.

Performed using a variety of acoustic instruments, plus Push 3 Standalone, Cosmos, .audio Tempera, LaunchControl XL, and LiveTrak L6.

Perfect for Halloween, or whenever you want to hear 1920s horror through 21st-century machines.

29/10/2025

We use our phones to edit and share endless photos and videos, but almost never play with sound.

In Episode 32 of Steve Pretty On the Origin of the Pieces, I recorded a fire pit with my six-year-old son and turned it into a full track using the free Ableton Note app. What started as a daft little experiment ended up surprisingly musical — and a good reminder that creativity starts with curiosity and play!

26/10/2025

Back from a fantastic few days

I have got SO MUCH great stuff recorded for the podcast, met lots of friends old and new, had some tasty food (including this spectacular lions’s mane mushroom dish), danced my butt off, and listened to an insane amount of great music from all over the world.

Stay tuned for insights into music from everywhere from (deep breath): China, US, Finland, Palestine, Korea and many more.

My ears and brain maybe need a little break now, but I’m back feeling more energised by so much great music than ever! The tiniest selection here, but I have a 512gb memory card bursting at the seams with fascinating insights and music.

20/10/2025

Steve Pretty On the Origin of the Pieces has been taken down on some platforms because the theme tune — a song I produced myself — somehow triggered a copyright claim.
Until it’s back up properly, here’s the freshly recorded version. You might detect a few subtle differences.
🎧 originofthepieces.com

18/10/2025

Tonás stands apart in flamenco, defined by its unaccompanied singing style. The absence of guitar and dancing highlights the raw emotion. It's an older style, originating from Seville and Cadiz, where the heart of Andalusia beats strong. Have you felt this?

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