2009 episodes (47)
Sonic TALK157 -An Imaginary Audience With Tara Busch
Sonic TALK157 -An Imaginary Audience With Tara Busch
Sonic TALK156 - Analog Can Opener, Modulation Consensus
Sonic TALK156 - Analog Can Opener, Modulation Consensus
Sonic TALK151 -Bang The Wavedrum And Talking Piano
Sonic TALK151 -Bang The Wavedrum And Talking Piano
Sonic TALK147 - The Synth Whos Name Cannot Be Spoken
Sonic TALK147 - The Synth Whos Name Cannot Be Spoken
Sonic TALK140 - Mackie M-Powered, Logic 9, Underworld App
Sonic TALK140 - Mackie M-Powered, Logic 9, Underworld App
Sonic TALK133 - My APC Goes Boom Boom
We start off with a little speech synthesis courtesy of Expressivo.com, then straight into the meat with the Jasuto modular VST and iPhone synth, the Autogun free VST synth with 4 billion presets, a new SEM module from Tom Oberheim, APC40 hysteria is sweeping the globe, and finally the heart-warming story of Island Records who this year celebrate 50 years in business.
Sonic TALK132 - Diego Stocco
Firstly we talk with Diego about his work and processes and equipment, then we're on to Henry Till and his messy room, Orbital to tour with a whole bunch of analog gear, then its the Rock-afire Explosion and obsolete technology which gets us on to the Epcot Center and Disney.
Sonic TALK131 - Tap Tempo Changed Everything
We start with a couple of mechanical oddities from the Mobius Strip music box, and the bizarre mechanical drum machine from James Taylor, we then move on to the Synplant - an organic instrument from Sonic Charge, Lady GAGA introduces the Virus Ti use in pop and also which instruments are currently dominating music, a quick chat about the Dragon MIDI controller and the ChineeSheng 3000 year old party instrument kicks off a discussion about the art of modeling and sampled instruments in general. Lastly we look at the WolframAlpha search engine and then Rich tells us all about his new M-Audio Axiom Pro.
Sonic TALK130 - Eurovision Radiophonic and EMS
Dave Robinson tells us all about the Eurovision massive production and the enormous redundancy they put in place, then it's the recent BBC Radiophonic Workshop gig at the Roundhouse in London, after which we suffer a network outage which sees me scrambling around for multiple re-boot - don't worry , we made it back on air, but minus Dave Robinson unfortunately. We then discuss the excellent documentary/interview with Peter Zinovieff of EMS, followed by a bit of a mixed bag from Sony and there new X-Series Walkman announced just at the time when they also post enormous losses. We finish up with Curtis Roads and his digital granular synthesis and what this pre 1970s work means to the modern musician.
Sonic TALK128 - Synths Synths Synths, New Props DAW
Our topics this week begin with the excellent TANK-FX.com reverb processor, then we talk of Imogen Heap's recent improvisations live from Maui, AHNE (Analog Heaven North East) synth fest, then what are Propellerheads releasing on May 9th? We finish up with MOTU's new Volta analog-> Daw plugin which some say is set to set the world alight.
Sonic TALK125 - 11,000 Dollar Synth Jam
Our week begins with the release of Ableton Live 8, and the realization that we all need some Live in our lives, then it's on to an excellent video interive with NIN 's Trent Reznor, who really does appear to be a very switched on guy, after oggling all his analog gear, we turn our attention to the ridiculous prices that certain synths are getting on eBay and elsewhere, theres an opportunity to play our new Howard Scarr composed Tumbleweed moment as we fail to uncover anything about the new EMU Longboard and Shortboard new synths, we raise a glass to Charlie Steinberg who just got a MIPA Lifetime Achievement Award, then the inevitable inclusion of another iPhone music app - the iSyn from AudioMIDI.com and Virsyn - we also ponder the enormous market for software now that the Apple App store approaches the 1 Billion downloads to getting on for 30 million devices. Finally we offer suggestions on how to tackle the situation when you are asked "what do you think of my music/gig?".
Sonic TALK123 - Just Plain Wrong
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.
Sonic TALK122 - Happy Birthday Mark
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.
Sonic TALK121 - My Singer Was Hypnotized
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.
Sonic TALK120 - All Aboard the Loveboat
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.
Sonic TALK119 - Limo To Tijuana
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
Sonic TALK118 - Michael Jacksons Swarovski Socks
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.
Sonic TALK117 - The Rise Of The Throat Flickers
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.
Sonic TALK116 - Difference Between Dated and Classic?
Sonic TALK116 - Difference Between Dated and Classic?
Sonic TALK115 - I'm Sorry, I Dont Understand
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?