Twenty Thousand Hertz

Author: Dallas Taylor

The stories behind the worlds most iconic and fascinating sounds.
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Language: en

Genres: Arts, Design, Music, Music Commentary

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Defying Gravity: The Audio Wizardry of Wicked's Live Vocals
Episode 227
Wednesday, 19 November, 2025

In movie musicals, the vocals are almost never recorded live on-set. Instead, the actors pre-record their songs, then lip sync to those recordings while filming. But on Wicked, they threw out the rulebook, and recorded all of the lead vocals live. In this episode, Production Sound Mixer Simon Hayes reveals how they pulled off this audio feat. From cleverly disguised lav mics and in-ear monitors, to “silent wind” machines, to a jaw-dropping live performance of “Defying Gravity,” this is the story behind a truly magical production. Subscribe on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to see our video series. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠mystery.20k.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Support the show and get ad-free episodes at ⁠⁠⁠20k.org/plus⁠⁠⁠. Follow Dallas on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our community on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reddit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Explore incredible speakers, soundbars and more at ⁠sonos.com⁠. Get 50% off your first box of Factor Meals + free breakfast for a year at factormeals.com/tth50off. Subscribe to Working Smarter wherever you get your podcasts. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial at ⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/20k⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices