Marty and Blake finally add enough layers to their song Instinct Cringes. Now they start to cut, arrange and then add more layers. They sample paper, matches and a toothbrush to add texture.

Special guest David Magumba joins to share his musical journey and his single Wooden Monarch, that he wrote with Marty Gray. Tune in to this episode to hear how a first grade choir audition can lead to a wonderful musician.

Marty and Blake continue to shape and form a song they started in high school, but abandoned for a number of years. This episode the two get into adding more layers and arranging the song.

In this workshop Marty and Blake recreate (from memory) a song they started in high school! In part one we lay out what we remember and make plans to add many many layers to build a full and beautiful song.

"Let's do another one, but this time pretend you are a smooth pad of butter." Marty breaks down how to be comfortable in front of your mic, be it singing or playing an instrument. He also talks though his entire method for recording to get a great result every time. How many takes? When to preform conservatively? When to go wild? When to listen back? Blake also shares a psychology tip to help you decide how many takes you should record.

Jokes on you! We have no advice. Lyrics are hard to 'get better at' because they are so subjective. Poetry is tricky even before you add the musical element and start text setting. Marty brings up tips and tricks, like subbing words, playing with tense and changing syllabic stresses to bring out quality. Blake then argues with Marty about Taylor Swift before unifying to shout out Phoebe Bridgers and saltines. Then the two go on a genre journey from pop-punk to classical music of the German elite.

Me too. Everyone (literally everyone) hates their voice. This episode dives deep into the methods you can use to circumnavigate this phenomenon. Marty makes the good point that making and judging your performance is a lot to ask all at once. First we get into the details of Marty's recording set up which maximizes his comfort, then we get a demo from one of his songs and how he produced the vocals.

Even if you have perfect pitch, turns out there is still room for error. What's the smallest margin of "detectable pitch change"? As it turns out, you can train your perception. Marty shares some neat exercises near the end. Marty and Blake also discuss musical memory, amusia, orchestra tuning tricks and the physical length of low notes. 

We break down beat basics and build our own live. Marty shares his rare shaker collection. We talk about making beats three dimensional and how anything can be a drum.

Do I have to use standard tuning for my guitar? No! First we get distracted and talk about what we are listening to: Rosalía, Amnesia Scanner, Oneohtrix Point Never... then Marty teaches the coolest guitar tunings artists use and some that that can make playing guitar easier. Marty wraps it up by sharing his facial hair pattern and Blake shares the beauty of being a beginning guitar player. This episode is rich!