The Met's sonic time machine
Seoul's futuristic neon pulse
Lagos's polyrhythmic afrobeat fire
Mexico City's deep Mesoamerican bass
The ultimate digital showdown
themet Mix ancient instrument samples into modern beats to discover how history's oldest sounds shape music.
themet Seoul's Futuristic Neon Pulse
Neon gayageum, neon gayageum! Spinning ancient strings in cyber light.
themet In Seoul's Mapo-gu district, bedroom producers use advanced software to stretch ancient acoustic waveforms into sci-fi pads.
Silk strings: Traditional Korean gayageum strings are made of twisted silk, giving them a much warmer, softer sound than modern steel strings.
themet The double-reed piri, a staple of Korean court music, gets chopped into high-energy electronic leads.
What traditional Korean stringed instrument, dating back to the 6th century, features 12 silk strings plucked over wooden bridges?
What does a digital audio workstation (DAW) allow music producers in Seoul to do with audio samples?
Which material is traditionally used to construct the loud, double-reed Korean wind instrument known as the piri?
What digital audio effect do Seoul producers use to reduce sample quality and create a gritty, retro-futuristic texture?
What is the name of the traditional Korean music genre that producers blend with modern K-pop beats?
By what percentage do sound designers stretch a gayageum pluck to turn it into an ambient, sci-fi synthesizer pad?