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 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
🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

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
🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

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
🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

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
🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X

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
🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts
🎧 Listen on Spotify

🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn
🌐 Follow the host on X