Station Archive

Places selling products and services, whether they are your favorite household goods store or your doctor’s office, want to measure what you think of them. In this episode we talk about PREMs and PROMs — Patient Reported Experience Measures and Patient Reported Outcome Measures. These are surveys that seek patients’ views and opinions on their health and their experiences at clinics and hospitals. Ezequiel García-Elorrio tells us about his experience with understanding patient experience in Argentina and cultural contexts to consider in collecting, interpreting, and using this information.

It may have lacked the jazzy groove of the Hammond B3 or the soulful sophistication of the electric piano, but the raspy, wheezy, oh-so-slightly out-of-tune electronic whine of the combo organ was in integral part of the garage and psychedelic sounds of the 1960s and beyond. While the name of one of the largest manufacturers -- Farfisa -- is often used to refer to them, a number of manufacturers produced these instruments during their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s: Vox, Yamaha, Gibson, Fender, Acetone, Elka, Cordovox, Rheem (yes, the water heater folks) and a bunch more. Though they were supplanted by digital synthesizers in the 1980s, their distinctive sound can still be heard today not only in rock, but also in jazz, international, alternative and even contemporary classical music.

On this week's Audio Ecotone, we explore some of these sounds with selections from The Sir Douglas Quintet, Stereolab, Elvis Costello, The Darts, Dengue Fever, Steve Reich and more.