Sonic Talk Podcasts

This week we enjoy a pre Musik MESSE rumour or two, discuss the merits of stage diving for the super group after Chris Martin sprinted around the arena in Sydney earlier this month, then a couple of drum topics - the first in the form of the Silent Drum Controller, and then the wonderfully cheesy MiJam Air Drum Pro, we then ponder the new Dell Adamo and our own dream machines, and finish off with Depeche Mode and their new single and video Wrong.

First up, we lament the imminent closure of Manny's Music in New York City - a legendary music shop, then it's on to the amazing Kutiman's Youtube video mashups, Spotify.com a new music streaming business model impresses some of us, then we enjoy a great speech on creativity and genius from TED.com.

After hellos we take a listen to some great tunes from Jen Scaturro at iamjen.com, then we're on to our least favourite jobs in the studio, Photosounder - the visual audio editor that allows you to process your audio in apps like Photoshop, boutique and special plug-ins are next, after which we discuss Prince's latest offering only available via Target.

After a quick mention of the new Macs and the i7 processor, we play a burst of the them from the Loveboat in honour of PJ Tracy who's enjoying a late honeymoon on a cruise. Then we start out with a Vince Clarke interview in UK free paper Metro, a quick chat about the international public unveiling of the Roland V-Piano in Bristol, next we discuss the Energy-XT small footprint DAW for Mac/PC and Linux and what a good DAW should be. Then we come clean about our most unwise or disappointing studio purchase, then we put on our thinking caps to try and help out Portishead figure out how to sell their music in the future, the Pul(SEW)iidth felt synths and finally this weeks tumbleweed moment is instigated by Nick when we attempt to discuss the Andre Michelle AS3 flash Karplus Strong guitar synth.

After shout outs to some of our new Twitter followers (we are sonicnick btw), we lust (well I do) after the new Apple 17 inch MacBook Pro, we get on to some nuts and bolts of touring and how we choose the gear that will make the show go on, the Ryan Gruss the drummer who releases a loop a day and writes a mighty fine blog too, Bebot - the polyphonic synthesiser for the iPhone and iPod touch - Jordan Rudess likes it! The next item considers another drummers (Josh Freese) endeavours to promote his upcoming album by offering some ridiculous limited edition experiences, and finally we have a tumbleweed moment as Nick tries to find out more about the Korg Sigma - and fails

After wondering where the EMS Synthi 100 system will go that's currently on eBay, and the items for sale in the Michael Jackson auction, we move on to the announcement that company behind Muzak - yes there really is one has announced Chapter 11 after more than 80 years in business, then the discovery that Madonna was last years top earner in the music list from Billboard, we ponder the ethereal world of top level high production touring. next is the Tonehammer Digeridoo sample library and others, then finally it's on to 3D vision and audio with a touch of 5.1 surround thrown in.

First up we guffaw over the amusing and probably unintentional use of Microsoft's Songsmith vocal accompaniment software wiith some crackers from Billy Idol, The Police and Eminem, then it's the wonderful Diego Stocco's Music From Sand and all that sound design should be, pressing on we tackle Isao Tomita and finally AutoTune seems to be getting a lot of attention at present, we discuss what this means for the future of singers.

Our first topic is based on the news that Steve Jobs is leaving Apple for a period of recuperation after the announcement of his illness. Many commentators are predicting the demise of Apple if he leaves them for good, but I'm not so sure. If that were the case, how do are panel handle the loss of a creative plaftorm? Then we're on to Quantum Leap's Silk - the new ethnic sound library from producer Nick Phoenix - and how is it working with no common language, next up Roland's V-Piano and modeling in general. And finally the TC Helicon Voice Live 2 - is that impressive or what?

We start with an homage to Oliver Postgate - the UK children's TV show creator who passed away this week, then we're on the Stylophone both real and iStylophone versions, then we're on to Christmas themes and No1 singles both UK and US - or rather lack of, then we preview the brilliant Sonic TALK remix from The Circuit Symphony which shows off the excellent VariPhrase technology of the Roland V-Synth GT - great work mate! Then we satisfy the curiosity of Kayle Clements who wants to know how we got together and how we got into our musical gigs. We finish with the perennial topic of messy workspaces or not. Caution, those of you with an obsessive need to tidy up may find this topic distressing...

PJ Tracy, Dave Spiers, Nick Batt. Our first moments are spent marveling in the wonders of Ad Jingles and their creation, with blasts from John Parr and Jonathan Hodge, then we discuss the recently announced Moog Taurus pedals reissue. Then a quote from Blixa Bergfeld on Disquiet gets us onto the topic of originality, then we talk about Raysgigs.com - a site where Ray Morrissey lists over 5000 gigs he has attended and made notes on many occasions - a real goldmine of information and impressions. And thats it for this week.

Dave tells us the latest installment from the weird world of hearing and balance tests and we ponder a positive word beginning with X, which takes us to Xanadu, Mark's theta wave podcast gets a mention, then we're on to the world's thinnest speakers, made of carbon nanotubes, Ray Kurzweil wonders if machines can have souls - discuss, then we're on to a topic sent in from Kayle Clements about replacing band members, the nifty Optogate triggers a discussion on must have gadgets and gizmos. And finally - Oliver Davis from the Circuit Symphony sent us in a demo of work in progress to play us out.

First PJ tells us all about his recent Emmy winning experience, Dave pines for his new Roland D550 and MKS70, then we move on to the WiiMote to MIDI, Jordan Rudess shreds on the nanoKeys, then we ponder the merits of Resort Studios - Nassau Compass Point especially, then we're on to rare synths we have played..

We talk of the ZX Spectrum sound chip, last weeks Music Live! show in Birmingham, and AudioNerd's new plug-in TemperTemper which is a Microdiatonically Equal Tempered Metronome - a click that can be in tune with your track. Then it's on to the new Bond movie and jack White's theme tune and drum sound, FourTrack for your phone - old school for today, long-term relationships with electronic musical instruments, Beardyman does Jazz - an amazing beatboxer and two KP3s, MTV Music and any old excuse for us to look back.

Electoral preamble aside, we move on to the subject of AsioHead's homework, who gamely rose to the challenge set last week to finish a track by this week - in fact we have two! Well done mate. Then we're on to the Yamaha Tyros 3 - the uber arranger keyboard as demonstrated by Martin Harris, which brings back memories of major chords for Dave Spiers, then more madcap research from those Microsoft boys and girls in the Cambridge Sensors and Devices department with the touch screen you don't touch, the new Fraunhofer HD-AAC mpeg encoding algorithm works on 24-bit 96kHz loss-less compression and what it might mean is next, followed by a discussion on how hard it is to learn a new DAW where I get some useful tips on Ableton Live.

After hellos and discussion of various ailments we move on to the current economic climate and what that might mean for music, as well as plucking a few artists from the charts in the last two Uk recessions, then we're on to Dr Pepper and Chinese Democracy - thats the new album/single from Axel Rose, the mesmerizing Daito Manabe's MAX/MSP twitch patch video is up next, followed by the forthcoming Vemia Auction - a great place to find all things electronic and vintage, Nick kicks off the movie soundtrack topic with a burst of John Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13, after which the team tell us of their own favourites, then we finish with Asioheads' MIDI file spotting and also some advice on how to Get Stuff Done.

After Dave Spiers tells us about his hearing tests from earlier today, we talk of the iTunes Genius recommendation system and other similar services, then its the great Reason bassline challenge and the panels own favourite b-lines, Nick embarrasses himself with girls singing about synthesizers, then we ponder the 7 music trends whose return must be stopped, which takes us into the world of warbling divas.