The Rest Is Just Noise is a monthly podcast exploring the relationship between sound and our cities. Each episode our passionate and excitable hosts (three soundscape researchers) are joined by an expert guest from fields such as acoustics, architecture, and environmental psychology, to discuss their latest work and introduce our audience to the science, beauty, and noise of urban sound.
From the announcement of the 2023 ASA Science Communication Awards for Acoustic Expert Multimedia Winner:
"The Rest is Just Noise Podcast stands out as a remarkable audio journey into the realm of acoustics. With deep knowledge and captivating storytelling, co-hosts Dr. Andrew Mitchell, Dr. Francesco Aletta, and Dr. Tin Oberman explore various acoustical phenomena and their impact on our lives. Through interviews with experts and immersive soundscapes, this podcast educates and entertains listeners, creating a space where the beauty and significance of acoustics are celebrated."
Dr Andrew Mitchell is a Research Fellow in urban soundscape modelling at University College London (UCL). His research interests include soundscape analysis and visualisation, machine learning, and human perception of complex sounds.
Dr Francesco Aletta is a Lecturer in Building Physics and Soundscape, based in London at the UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering. He is a member of the Italian Acoustical Society (AIA) and the Secretary of the Technical Committee Noise of the European Acoustics Association (EAA). He has been active for more than 10 years in soundscape studies, and environmental acoustics more broadly, with a particular focus on soundscape descriptors and indicators and the harmonization of protocols for gathering perceptual data on acoustic environments. He has been appointed by the British Standards Institution as Committee Member in the WG 54 “Perceptual assessment of soundscape quality” to work on the development of the ISO 12913 series on soundscape, and is currently the project leader for the revision of Part 3 of the technical specifications on soundscape data analysis.
Dr Tin Oberman is a soundscape researcher at the University College London with a background in architecture, urban planning, landscape and music. He is fond of spatial audio and making connections between art, design, planning and research. Tin mixes the Just Noise episodes and creates the accompanying audio intros, in most cases using original materials provided by the guests or sourced by himself.
Dr Hasina Begum is partnering with #justnoisepod to lead on the special series Women in Acoustics #WiA
Hasina completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield working on silica aerogels and their uses in vibro-acoustic applications for building and pipe insulation. She is now a Research Fellow at the University of Warwick – WMG’s National Polymer Processing Center (NPPC). Hasina is currently working on the sustainability of plastics using chemometrics and machine learning algorithms. She is also based at the Automotive Composite Research Center at Warwick where she's worked on the process engineering of high-volume manufacture thermosetting carbon fibre composites in automotives particularly focusing on 'Zero-waste manufacturing of highly optimised composites with hybrid architectures’.