Products of Music

Hosted by Adam Wakeling

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Get the full story on what makes a great music technology product, with 1-1 conversations from leading voices and founders. Hosted by Adam Wakeling, Product Manager.

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38 recent

August 27, 2026Episode 71 hr 3 min

Designing Pedals By Breaking Them | Death By Audio

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

July 29, 2026Episode 61 hr 9 min

How EAE Became One of The Most Distinctive Pedal Brands | John Snyder

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

July 10, 2026Episode 557 min

The Secret Behind Empress Effects' Legendary Sounds

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

June 9, 2026Episode 41 hr 3 min

From Cornford to Victory Amps: Martin Kidd's Story

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

May 5, 2026Episode 357 min

How Old Blood Noise Endeavors is Evolving to Survive

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

March 3, 2026Episode 259 min

How Neural DSP Became a Leader in Digital Modeling

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 🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify 🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow the host on X

February 3, 2026Episode 11 hr 1 min

Analog Man: The Last Years of a Pedal Legend (and What Comes Next)

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 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify 🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow the host on X

December 9, 2025Episode 91 hr 6 min

How Abasi Concepts is Redefining Guitar Design (CEO Tosin Abasi & COO Ivan Chopik)

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 🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify 🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow the host on X

November 14, 2025Episode 81 hr 0 min

How EarthQuaker Devices Changed the World of Effects Pedals (Jamie Stillman, Founder)

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 🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify 🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow the host on X

October 14, 2025Episode 71 hr 7 min

The Chase Bliss Way: Emotion, Design and the Future of Pedals (Joel Korte, Founder)

Welcome to Products of Music, where you will hear inside stories and expert insights on product innovation in music technology. In this episode: Host Adam Wakeling speaks with Joel Korte, founder of Chase Bliss, about his founder journey, the 'chase bliss way' of product development, as well as his successes, failures and market insights. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTKX8kSsQsw To learn more about Chase Bliss, visit: https://www.chasebliss.com 00:00 Preview 01:50 Intro 03:05 Joel's founder journey 09:00 Meaning of 'Follow Your Bliss' 12:25 EOS business tools 15:00 Chase Bliss way of product dev 18:30 Definition of 'best' 20:42 Biggest success story 25:36 Pedal release timing 28:36 Why Joel discontinues pedals 33:25 What makes a pedal last? 37:45 Analog versus Digital 42:52 Future innovation 45:37 Chase Bliss midi controller? 47:24 Enamel pins 48:30 Habit design 50:09 New form factor? 50:44 State of the market 57:35 Chase Bliss budget pedals 58:30 Most painful pedal implementation 01:00:01 'Quick fire' questions 🌐 Subscribe for free on Substack 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 🎧 Listen on Spotify 🌐 Follow the host on LinkedIn 🌐 Follow the host on X