Melodic Minds Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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Melodic Minds Podcast

Melodic Minds

Arts

Frequency: 1 episode/1d. Total Eps: 6

Melodic Minds is where science meets symphony. Hosted by Dr. Lynne Falconer and Dr. Beth Mills — two researchers deep in aquaculture and infectious disease — this podcast uncovers the surprising parallels between the structured world of STEM and the free-flowing magic of music creation. What can rigorous scientists learn from the wild creativity of composers, producers, conductors, and musicians? How do project development, collaboration, and co-creation look similar — or radically different — across these seemingly opposite domains?

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Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - performingArts
03/05/2026
#96
🇬🇧 Great Britain - performingArts
24/04/2026
#98
🇬🇧 Great Britain - performingArts
18/04/2026
#84

Spotify

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Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://2025.algorithmicpattern.org/sheffield/
2 shares
https://janestanley.com/
2 shares
https://markholub.com
2 shares

https://www.instagram.com/melodicmindspodcast
6 shares

https://www.youtube.com/@janestanley495
2 shares
https://www.youtube.com/EdinburghUniversity
1 share
https://www.youtube.com/@UniversityofEdinburgh
1 share

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Score global : 58%

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Live Coding Music & Algorithmic Patterns W/ Alex McLean

Season 1 · Episode 6

Sunday, March 22, 2026 • Duration 42:29

What if you made music live — on stage, in front of an audience — entirely by writing code?

Alex McLean (research fellow, Sheffield; co-founder of Tidal Cycles and Strudel live coding environments; co-curator of Algorave and Alpaca Festival) joins the podcast to explore algorithmic music, live coding performance, and a worldview where everyone is already a technologist.

We discuss South Indian Carnatic konnakol rhythms, the deceptive complexity of counting to five, collaborating with Peruvian khipu scholar Paola Torres Núñez del Prado, and the thorny question of cultural appropriation when heritage algorithms meet modern code. Alex also shares how the first Alpaca Festival united jugglers, textile artists, paper vinyl records, and midnight Algoraves.

🔗 Links & Resources:

Alex McLean website: https://slab.org
Tidal Cycles live coding environment: https://tidalcycles.org
Strudel live coding environment: https://strudel.cc
Alpaca Festival: https://2025.algorithmicpattern.org/sheffield/

📩 melodicminds@gmail.com | 🎵 @MelodicMinds

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Music Composition Process & Creative Education W/ Jane Stanley

Season 1 · Episode 5

Sunday, March 22, 2026 • Duration 35:09

How do you compose music that leaves room for the performers to bring themselves to it — and still sounds exactly right?

Professor Jane Stanley (Professor of Composition, University of Glasgow; founding member of the Young Academy of Scotland) joins the podcast to talk about her music composition process — from fully-notated works to semi-improvised, indeterminate pieces tailored for specific performers and spaces.

Jane also discusses an earlier project with a nutritionist exploring synesthesia and tasting music, and shares her vision for making composition genuinely accessible: a Coursera upskilling course for teachers and the public, and a future book for people who have never thought of themselves as composers.

🔗 Links & Resources:

Jane Stanley on Spotify
Jane Stanley website: https://janestanley.com/
Jane Stanley YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@janestanley495

📩 melodicminds@gmail.com | 🎵 @MelodicMinds

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Sonification of Data: Turning Science into Music W/ Colin Campbell

Season 1 · Episode 4

Sunday, March 22, 2026 • Duration 39:18

What if you could hear a molecule? Or encode the altitude profile of a Scottish hillside into a guitar line?

Professor Colin Campbell — chemist, musician, and University of Edinburgh chair of medical and biological spectroscopy — has done both. In this episode, Colin charts his journey from a Fulbright sabbatical in Boulder, Colorado (where he spent months turning protein sequences into listenable music) to a Creative Scotland-funded album, West of Fjord.

We discuss data sonification techniques, the Shortbread Tin Collective, the Viking history of Loch Bracadale, Joe Strummer's unexpected memorial on a Skye hillside, and why sonification of data is still a holy grail in scientific communication.

🔗 Links & Resources:

West of Fjord album & Music About Science playlist (University of Edinburgh School of Chemistry YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/@UniversityofEdinburgh
Colin Campbell / University of Edinburgh profile: https://www.ed.ac.uk/chemistry

📩 melodicminds@gmail.com | 🎵 @MelodicMinds

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What Does a Conductor Do? Orchestra Leadership W/ Hannah Baxter

Season 1 · Episode 3

Sunday, March 22, 2026 • Duration 49:02

What does a conductor actually do — and what can their extraordinary blend of intellect, intuition, and management teach the rest of us?

Dr. Hannah Baxter, conducting academic and founder of Notes from the Podium journal, pulls back the curtain on one of music's most misunderstood roles.

From three years of score preparation to the split second a conductor walks onto the podium (and the orchestra decides how the whole week will go), Hannah reveals the depth of craft involved — part human mixing desk, part project manager, part psychologist.

We also explore how Hannah's own PhD research pivoted from sign language to dance, a masterclass in following the evidence wherever it leads.

🔗 Links & Resources:

Notes from the Podium journal: https://www.notesfromthepodium.co.uk

📩 melodicminds@gmail.com | 🎵 @MelodicMinds

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Jazz Improvisation & Group Language W/ Mark Holub

Season 1 · Episode 2

Sunday, March 22, 2026 • Duration 56:48

What can jazz improvisation teach us about leading a team, navigating failure, and staying true to yourself?

Dr. Mark Holub — drummer, composer, band leader, and Mercury Music Prize-nominated leader of Leadbib (now with eight albums) — joins Lynn and Beth for a wide-ranging conversation about group language in jazz, the art of knowing when NOT to play, and what it really means to lead without performing a version of leadership that isn't you.

Mark also unpacks the gap between academic and practising musicians, why arts funding cuts may accidentally build community, and how his ensemble Anthropods navigated recording improvised music while still needing to be physically in the same room.

🔗 Links & Resources:

Mark Holub on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6P5ax3kzV84qXxyxiI0t09?si=wMZ0uEc0Rkak-pf3jDELWA
Mark Holub website: https://markholub.com

📩 melodicminds@gmail.com | 🎵 @MelodicMinds

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Music for Dementia: Musical Technologies W/ Jennifer MacRitchie

Season 1 · Episode 1

Sunday, March 15, 2026 • Duration 37:35

What does it really mean to work across disciplines — and what happens when you put people with dementia in the driving seat of technology design?

Dr. Jennifer McRitchie (UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, University of Sheffield) joins Lynn and Beth to explore musical technologies for dementia, participatory research, and cognitive science. Jennifer's work bridges electrical engineering, music psychology, and dementia care — and she shares how deep engagement with people living with dementia completely reshaped her project.

We discuss the similarities between composing music and designing research, the role of compassion in collaborative teams, and how COVID forced a rethink of everything — including posting 60 keyboards to research participants.Jennifer also introduces the Bridges for Dementia Network Plus (EPSRC-funded, launching October 2025), which co-designs new technologies alongside people with lived experience of dementia — because music is a cultural right, not just cognitive training.

Links & Resources:

Bridges for Dementia Network Plus — sign up for updates: https://bridgesfordementia.org/
Film: Living with Young Onset Dementia — Our Music, Our Voice: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/music
Jennifer McRitchie project website: https://sheffield.ac.uk/research/co-designing-future-music-technology-dementia

📩 melodicminds@gmail.com | 🎵 @MelodicMinds

Melodic Minds Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Melodic Minds Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other16

Instagram1

Youtube3

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other16

Instagram1

Youtube3

Apple Podcasts

Spotify