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 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
🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

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