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?