Products of Music

Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Terry Burton and Angelo Mazzocco, two of the co-founders of Meris.

The two met during their early days in Line 6, with Terry later launching Strymon, and then joining forces with Angelo to launch Meris. 

In the show, we discuss their founder stories, their approach to product development, insights into the challenges of hardware and DSP, the state of the market and the challenges of being a music gear company in the US right now.

To learn more about Meris, visit: https://meris.us/ 

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:05 Intro 

02:15 Terry and Angelo's backgrounds

04:30 Line 6 days

08:27 How Angelo and Terry work together

11:00 How ideas are developed

14:07 Chase Bliss sponsor segment

15:00 How DSP algorithms are created

17:50 Building the hardware for Angelo

21:40 Same hardware repurposed (Empress example)

23:25 Story of the CXM1978

24:56 Prism algorithm in the Mercury X

26:11 Coming up with factory presets

28:50 prEDITOR software development

31:00 Not wasting prototypes (Ottobit X)

31:30 New product ideas

33:14 Designing products that last a long time

34:30 Current challenges in the US

38:40 Angelo's tips for learning DSP development

43:20 Mercury 7 development issues

44:48 Spin FV-1 chip overview

46:44 What most concerns Terry and Angelo

48:00 Friends with 'competitor' pedal brands

49:04 Favorite Meris pedals

50:55 Most underrated Meris pedals

52:05 Top three effects pedals of all time

54:20 Community questions

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Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Oliver Ackermann, founder of Death By Audio.

We chat about Oliver's founder story, his approach to both analog and digital pedal design, his thoughts on the current state of affairs, from social issues to the rise and impact of AI, and he answers some quick-fire questions, and questions from you too. 

Chapters:
00:00 Preview

01:12 Intro

02:32 Oliver's founder story

04:30 25th anniversary of DBA

07:15 Inspiration and ideas creation

09:10 Digital DSP in Death By Audio pedals

12:26 Early stages of development insights

15:05 How Oliver makes pedals better

19:40 Sponsor segment (+ me playing)

20:46 Experimentation versus intention

25:00 DSP process at Death By Audio

28:50 "There are no new effects pedals"

29:20 Speed Tripper

30:16 New pedal - Amp Crash

33:10 Chaos versus order

36:00 Graphic design insights

37:37 Oliver's favourite DBA designs

39:31 What Oliver is most concerned about

40:37 AI is potentially terrifying

47:25 Thoughts on Death By Audio clones

51:33 Olivers favourite DBA pedal

51:51 Most underrated DBA pedal

53:45 Top 3 pedals of all time

55:49 Community questions

01:03:30 Outro

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Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing Inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with John Snyder, Founder of Electronic Audio Experiments (EAE), about his journey, approach to product development at the company, tips for aspiring pedal builders, as well as his new reverb pedal with a pre-amp in the works.

To learn more about the company, visit: https://www.electronicaudioexperiments.com

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:10 Intro

02:10 EAE founder story

05:35 Dude Incredible V1

06:32 Sending V1

07:00 EAE's unique value proposition

07:40 Longsword pedal

08:53 Prismatic Wall pedal

09:45 Where ideas come from

10:45 Book recommendations for pedal design

13:15 Tips for beginner pedal builders

16:07 How to find out why a pedal sounds good

18:55 Art versus engineering

20:10 Chase Bliss sponsor feat. Big Time

21:10 How the Halberd was developed

24:47 Through hole versus surface mount

25:30 Noisy pedals

29:31 Sunn O))) in concert experience

30:32 New tube amp in development

36:30 New Hypersleep successor Reverb pedal

40:40 Big Time Chase Bliss collab story

46:15 Thoughts on trends and digital modelers 

51:03 Favorite EAE pedal

54:20 Most underrated EAE pedal

55:26 John's top 3 pedals of all time

58:50 New reverb pedal visual reveal

59:20 Plans on bringing back the Dude Incredible

01:01:54 Other pedal company shout-outs

01:07:02 Favorite Pile song

01:08:40 Outro

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Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Steve Bragg, founder of Empress Effects, about his founder story, approach to product development, the secrets behind the pristine sounds of Empress pedals, thoughts about the state of the market and much more.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:21 Intro

02:25 Pedal pricing

02:20 Steve's founder story

05:45 Art versus science in design

07:45 Why surface-mount tech is best

11:25 Why Empress pedals sound 'pristine'

15:37 Chase Bliss Big Time sponsor

16:41 How the business is run (Lean)

19:18 How ideas come

20:55 Key product milestones

24:51 How features are chosen

26:18 Beta testing

27:32 What's surprising behind the scenes

31:50 What concerns Steve

34:00 Thoughts on AI

36:03 Challenge of starting a business now

38:04 Favorite Empress pedal

38:23 New pedal soon?

39:53 Most underrated Empress pedal

40:28 Steve's top 3 pedals of all time

42:45 Thoughts on future collaborations

44:04 Philosophy question

45:40 Surprising thing that impacts tone

46:40 An Empress pedal Steve would redesign

48:13 What makes an idea reach production

49:49 Smaller Reverb and Echosystems?

51:30 What makes the Para EQ pedal so good

52:37 Swapping Reverb & Echosystem firmware

55:18 Advice to aspiring founders

57:00 Outro

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Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Martin Kidd, Chief Designer and Co-Founder of Victory Amplification. We discuss his founder journey, perspective on Cornford Amps ceasing trading, the birth of Victory Amps and his approach to product development. We also have some quick-fire questions and community questions.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:13 Intro

02:20 Martin's musical beginnings

03:30 Modding Marshalls

05:10 How Martin learned amp design

09:06 Building the first amp

12:00 The Cornford story 

13:45 Cornford ceases trading

18:00 Chase Bliss Big Time Event

19:15 Martin as Chief Designer, not CEO

22:15 Approach to product development

28:10 Product development early process

29:15 Martin's unique designs

31:58 Standing out in the amp market

34:52 Victory MKX and originality

38:25 Market concerns

42:06 Hybrid analog and digital

45:36 Victory PowerValve and digital products

47:55 Quick-fire questions

52:13 Advice to aspiring founders

55:10 Most difficult amp to design

56:13 Addressing the Lee Anderton 'drama'

58:54 The braille amps story

01:02:40 Outro

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Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing Inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Brady Smith, co-founder of Old Blood Noise Endeavors (OBNE), about his career and founder journey, the approach to product development at Old Blood, as well as how he is reshaping business processes and operations to survive the challenges of running a small business in a niche industry.

To learn more about the company, visit: https://oldbloodnoise.com/

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:14 Intro

02:20 Brady's founder story

07:16 Keeley Electronics job

09:00 Birth of Walrus Audio

11:30 Quitting Walrus, founding OBNE

14:40 The OBNE way of product development

18:07 Chase Bliss sponsor section

18:57 Product development process

23:07 Brady's role at OBNE

24:26 EOS business model

26:30 Split with Seth McCarroll

29:40 Thoughts on the future effects market

31:35 Empress Bass compressor love

36:25 Future pedal opportunities

42:45 Friendship with Joel Korte

46:20 Quick-fire questions

49:55 Community questions

56:40: Outro

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Welcome to Products of Music, a podcast sharing Inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Francisco Cresp, co-founder and CPO at Neural DSP, about his founder journey, how the company approaches product development and inside stories from one of the leading names in digital modeling for guitar and other instruments.

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:15 Intro

02:36 Francisco's founder story

09:00 Working with Doug Castro

11:00 Neural DSP's product development

16:03 Chase Bliss sponsor section

16:47 User feedback mechanisms

19:05 John Mayer X development

23:02 Plugin compatibility challenges

26:10 How Neural DSP prioritises

27:42 Why a vocal plugin?

31:30 Quad Cortex for vocals

33:10 Analog versus digital debate

34:48 Tom Morello JCM800 differences

37:40 Love of analog synths

38:52 Synth in the Quad Cortex

39:08 Neural DSP as a target

40:36 Latest research projects

41:21 Gen AI in the Quad Cortex?

42:50 Challenges of capturing fuzz

46:06 Noise floors in capture tech

47:33 Quick-fire questions

51:30 FX captures?

53:52 When PCOM for Petrucci?

55:22 Interface gain at 0?

58:24 Software for Nano Cortex?

59:04 Outro

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In this episode, host Adam Wakeling speaks with Analog Mike Piera, founder of Analog.man, about his approach to product development, the infamous waitlist for the King of Tone, the state of the guitar and pedal market and what the future looks like for the company.

To learn more, visit: https://www.analogman.com/

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor Chase Bliss.

Check out Chase Bliss effects pedals here: https://www.chasebliss.com?utm_source=productsofmusic

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:02 Intro

02:00 Mike's founder story

03:57 Approach to product dev

10:50 Analog Man marketing

12:53 Sponsor section

13:38 Art versus science in design

15:01 Testing rigs

17:10 FX loop challenges

18:50 Pedal gain versus amp gain

20:49 Analog Man Rat pedal?

21:24 King of Tone wait list

24:25 Analog Man without Mike?

25:31 Teaching knowledge

27:06 Thoughts on digital modelers

31:04 What not to add on pedals

34:47 Chase Bliss Brothers AM

36:42 Mike's current concerns

40:32 Challenge of limited supply

42:39 What keeps Mike motivated

44:57 How the customer has changed

50:07 Mike's advice to founders

52:52 Quick-fire questions

56:38 Community questions

01:00:30 Outro

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In this episode, host Adam Wakeling speaks with Tosin Abasi (CEO and Founder of Abasi Concepts), as well as Ivan Chopik (Founder of Guitar Messenger and COO of Abasi Concepts) about their journeys; the state of the guitar and pedal market; and their approach to product development and innovation.

To learn more about Abasi Concepts, visit: https://abasiconcepts.com/

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor Chase Bliss.

Check out Chase Bliss effects pedals here: https://www.chasebliss.com?utm_source=productsofmusic

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:35 Intro

02:41 Abasi Concepts Origin Story

10:16 The First 7/8 Strings

17:00 Chase Bliss Sponsor Section

18:15 Compromises in Guitar Design

20:32 Abasi Concepts Product Development

25:16 Ideation to Production

31:30 Why Tosin Loves Analog Gear

34:40 Digital and the Young Generation

35:26 Where Abasi is Looking Next

38:32 Gibson Neck Heel Issues

39:37 Abasi Concepts Bass Guitars

40:00 Abasi Nylon String Guitars

42:05 Solving Problems for Guitarists

45:30 Leveraging Industry Collaborations

47:36 Guitar Market Concerns

50:00 Abasi Guitar Quality Issues

54:39 Entrepreneurial and Musician Advice

58:54 Quick Fire Questions

01:01:54 Reddit Community Questions

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Welcome to Products of Music, where you will hear inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology.

In this episode:

In this episode host Adam Wakeling speaks with Jamie Stillman, Founder of EarthQuaker Devices about the impact of tariffs on small US businesses; why Jamie is not concerned about the current generation of digital modelers like the Quad Cortex and Helix, as well as how EarthQuaker Devices approaches product development at the company.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_O3xHoxGFw

To learn more about EarthQuaker Devices, visit: https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor Chase Bliss.
To learn more about Chase Bliss, visit: https://www.chasebliss.com?utm_source=productsofmusic 

Chapters:

00:00 Preview

01:15 Intro

02:17 EarthQuaker origin story

05:00 Catalyst for scaling

05:53 Julie's impact

06:58 Product development approach

09:24 Data-driven development

10:48 Trends in the market

14:31 Chase Bliss Sponsor

15:34 Analog versus digital

18:36 Guiding product principles

22:50 Every pedal has a song in it

24:03 Inspiration for pedal ideas

27:39 Ideas thought process

29:25 More complex EarthQuaker pedals

32:50 Hedgehog concept in business

35:19 What EarthQuaker is best at

41:45 Getting pedals to be ready

47:12 Jamie's concerns for the future

49:28 Quick-fire questions

52:55 How fans can support

55:30 Customisation capabilities

56:51 Pedals close to being scrapped

59:08 Bright pedal LEDs

01:00:03 Outro

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