Melodigging logoMelodigging name
mluvene slovo

Mluvene Slovo

Czechoslovakia · 1920s
ChillSentimentalSadDarkDreamy

Your digging level

For this genre
0/8
🏆
Sign in, then listen to this genre to level up

Description

Mluvené slovo (literally “spoken word” in Czech) is a Czech-language umbrella genre for recorded and broadcast speech-based performance: literary readings, radio plays, monologues, essays, storytelling, cabaret sketches, satirical dialogues, and author recitations.

It prioritizes diction, timbre, pacing, and interpretive acting over melody or groove. Music and sound design appear as supportive elements—stings, leitmotifs, scene-setting ambiences, or comedic punctuations—rather than as the focus. Historically tied to Czech broadcasting and theatrical traditions, mluvené slovo has lived on radio, vinyl/cassette/CD releases, and today in audiobooks and podcast-like formats.

Because it spans literature, theatre, and journalism, the repertoire ranges from fairy-tale narration and classic prose to satirical commentaries, documentary features, and intimate authorial reflections.


Sources: Spotify, Wikipedia, Discogs, RYM, MB, user feedback and other online sources

History

Early formation (1920s–1940s)

Czech mluvené slovo grew alongside the creation of Czechoslovak radio (founded in 1923). News bulletins, recitations, dramatic scenes, and educational features quickly established a national taste for speech-centered programming. Theatre actors brought stage craft and clear diction to microphones, while engineers learned to stage voices and effects for the airwaves.

Institutionalization and record culture (1950s–1980s)

Post-war decades saw mluvené slovo consolidate as a recognizable publishing category. Public radio nurtured radio plays, documentary features, author readings, and literary series. Labels (notably state and later cooperative imprints) issued “mluvené slovo” LPs and cassettes: fairy tales, classic prose, humorous monologues, and radio-play adaptations. Many of the country’s most respected stage and screen actors recorded canonical texts, helping to codify performance conventions (careful prosody, expressive yet restrained delivery, and tasteful musical cues).

Transition and diversification (1990s)

After 1989, market liberalization expanded audiobook production and reissue programs. Satirical and cabaret lineages resurfaced in new forms—live literary evenings, author talk recordings, and radio features—while studios adopted cleaner, closer vocal production and more flexible sound design.

Digital era (2000s–present)

Audiobooks and podcast-like series brought mluvené slovo to streaming and mobile listening. Public-service and independent producers now mix reportage, essay, and drama with modern post-production (soundscapes, foley, spatial audio). The genre remains a living conduit between Czech literature/theatre and audio: from children’s tales and classic novels to contemporary satire and documentary storytelling.

How to make a track in this genre

Material and text
•   Choose texts that carry on voice alone: short stories, essays, fairy tales, dramatic scenes, satire, or reportage. •   Adapt literature for the ear: simplify long sentences, clarify references, and structure scenes with audible cues (pauses, shifts in tone).
Performance and delivery
•   Prioritize intelligibility: clear diction, controlled breath, and consistent mic distance. •   Shape phrasing and pace to the text’s rhetoric—use pauses as punctuation, vary timbre and dynamics for emphasis, and define characters with subtle register or accent shifts. •   In dialogues/radio plays, block the scene in stereo and maintain distinct vocal identities; avoid overacting—credibility beats caricature.
Sound design and music
•   Treat music as supportive underscore: brief motifs to signal scene changes, mood beds at low level, or a signature intro/outro sting. •   Use foley and ambience tastefully: rooms, street beds, or period cues that enhance place without masking speech. •   Keep dynamic range speech-centric (2–4 LU of short-term variation) and mix for spoken-word clarity (HPF ~80–100 Hz, light compression, gentle presence lift 3–5 kHz).
Recording and production
•   Microphones: large-diaphragm condensers or broadcast dynamics; record in a treated, quiet room. •   Aim for close, intimate capture (proximity without boom), consistent levels, and minimal mouth noise (water, light de-essing). •   Edit tightly: remove stumbles, reduce breaths judiciously, maintain narrative momentum; master slightly below music norms (e.g., −18 to −16 LUFS integrated) to preserve comfort in long listening.
Dramaturgy and pacing
•   Structure episodes/chapters with clear beginnings and endings; preview stakes early. •   Alternate intensity (serious passages vs. lighter asides) to avoid listener fatigue. •   For children’s material, keep sections shorter, with repetitive cues and warm, inviting tone.

Best playlists

The Sound of Mluvené slovo
The Sound of Mluvené slovo
Every Noise at Once
Mluvene Slovo
Mluvene Slovo
Chosic
Best of Mluvene Slovo
Best of Mluvene Slovo
volt.fm

Main artists

Top tracks

Locked
Share your favorite track to unlock other users’ top tracks

Upcoming concerts

in this genre
Influenced by
Poetry
Poetry (as a recorded genre) centers on the spoken or performed recitation of verse, foregrounding voice, diction, rhythm, and imagery over conventional song structure. Performances may be entirely unaccompanied or framed by sparse accompaniment such as piano, strings, jazz combos, drones, or subtle sound design. Unlike broader spoken word, which can include storytelling, monologues, and comedy, poetry recordings focus on literary verse—metered, rhymed, or free—delivered with attention to prosody and poetic form. Releases range from archival readings by canonical poets to contemporary performance sets recorded in studios, classrooms, libraries, and clubs. The listening experience often emphasizes intimacy and textual clarity: microphones capture breath, cadence, and silence, while arrangements (if any) remain secondary to the poem’s language and pacing.
Sermons
Sermons, as a recorded genre, are spoken-word performances of religious preaching captured for commercial release or broadcast. They focus on exhortation, scripture exposition, moral storytelling, and ritual address, often delivered with a strong rhetorical cadence and call-and-response with a congregation. Though primarily speech, many sermon recordings are deeply musical in delivery: organ or small ensemble accompaniment, congregational interjections (“amen!”, “yes, Lord!”), and voice-leading cadences (“whooping”) give them a distinctive sonic identity. The genre is most historically associated with African American church traditions in the United States but exists across many denominations and faith contexts. Sermon recordings have circulated on 78 rpm discs, radio transcriptions, LPs, cassettes, CDs, and, more recently, podcasts and streaming platforms, preserving the performance art of the pulpit and influencing gospel and spoken-word styles.
Has influenced
Reading
Reading is a spoken‑word genre centered on the recitation of literature—poems, short stories, and book chapters—performed aloud, usually with little or no musical backing. It foregrounds the voice, diction, pacing, and interpretive nuance of the reader rather than melody or beat. On modern streaming platforms, “reading” often appears as standalone tracks or short series (e.g., a poem or a single chapter), distinct from long‑form audiobooks. The material typically spans public‑domain classics, contemporary literature licensed for audio, educational selections, and mindfulness or motivational texts. Production ranges from dry studio voice to lightly scored or subtly sound‑designed narration, but the core is intelligible, expressive speech.
Children's Story
Children's story is a narrated, music-supported form that presents tales, fables, and picture-book narratives specifically for young listeners. It blends spoken narration with gentle underscoring, character leitmotifs, and simple sound effects to spark imagination and aid comprehension. Typical releases include fairy tales, folk tales, and moral stories, often packaged as read‑along records or cassettes with chimes to signal page turns. The pacing is unhurried, diction is clear, and vocabulary is age-appropriate, making it suitable for bedtime listening, classrooms, and family entertainment. Musically, arrangements favor warm timbres—small orchestras, woodwinds, acoustic guitar, piano, celesta/glockenspiel, and light percussion—supporting but never overpowering the voice. The focus remains on storytelling, with music guiding mood and scene changes.
Sermons
Sermons, as a recorded genre, are spoken-word performances of religious preaching captured for commercial release or broadcast. They focus on exhortation, scripture exposition, moral storytelling, and ritual address, often delivered with a strong rhetorical cadence and call-and-response with a congregation. Though primarily speech, many sermon recordings are deeply musical in delivery: organ or small ensemble accompaniment, congregational interjections (“amen!”, “yes, Lord!”), and voice-leading cadences (“whooping”) give them a distinctive sonic identity. The genre is most historically associated with African American church traditions in the United States but exists across many denominations and faith contexts. Sermon recordings have circulated on 78 rpm discs, radio transcriptions, LPs, cassettes, CDs, and, more recently, podcasts and streaming platforms, preserving the performance art of the pulpit and influencing gospel and spoken-word styles.

Download our mobile app

Get the Melodigging app and start digging for new genres on the go
© 2026 Melodigging
Legal
Melodding was created as a tribute to Every Noise at Once, which inspired us to help curious minds keep digging into music's ever-evolving genres.
Buy me a coffee for Melodigging