Frank Broughton, co-author with Bill Brewster of the classic history of dance music, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, in conversation with DJmag US Editor Bruce Tantum about the characters, the stories and the surprises in the new edition of his book. Full disclosure: Frank is also Pitch and Sync Creative Director.

Can a specially crafted piece of music be used to treat acute pain?

Dr. Claire Howlin is a psychology researcher at Queen Mary University of London specialising in research, looking at the psychology of music, the arts and creativity and how this helps our health and wellbeing. We caught up with Dr. Howlin on the latest episode of Feeling Music to discuss her recent research into using music as a treatment for people experiencing acute pain. Dr. Howlin and her team, collaborated with multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, Anatole, to create a series of music compositions following the question posed by pain treatment powerhouse Nurofen.

London based multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and sound designer Robert M Thomas is a pioneer in intuitive sound design and explores the use of music as a fluid medium which can intelligently adapt & personalise itself in real time to the listener's situation. We spoke with Robert about how he is manipulating audio with machine learning to further the listeners immersion and some of the interesting projects he has worked on.

Robert has collaborated with some of the worlds most influential and household artists including Massive Attack, Imogen Heap, Hans Zimmer, Carl Craig, Air, Ben Burtt, Richard King, Bookashade to name a few.

Which three sounds define you? Head of P&S studios Ben Hauke caught up with festival promoter, radio presenter and DJ Rob da Bank, and experimental percussionist and producer Andrea Belfi. They told us about their evocative audio visual project 'Roaming Soundtrack' in the latest episode of our podcast, Sound.

It's all about The Drop! That hands-in-the-air moment of pure release when a track builds to an intense crescendo, whips the dancefloor into a frenzy of snare rolls and tension, pauses for breath, and then drops a monster beat on our heads. But what's going on? Why is the drop so effective? And how can we use it to make them want even more? Dr Amir-Homayoun Javadi is a Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience in the School of Psychology, University of Kent, and an Honorary Research Associate at the Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience at UCL – and he has all the answers.

What are some sounds that define your own sonic identity? Lon Bender is a Grammy award winning sound designer, composer and producer renowned for his audio work on major Hollywood productions like Braveheart (1995), Drive (2011), The Revenant (2015) as well as many more and as the creator of the iconic Netflix opening mnemonic. We caught up with Lon to discuss his work, what he's up to at the moment and some of the sounds and feelings that he considers to make up his own sonic identity.

What's happening to our brains when we're lost in music? Dr Derek Lomas actually has an answer. New developments in psychology, neurology and AI mean that scientists like him are closer than ever to understanding the amazing effects that music has on human beings. Feeling Music from Pitch & Sync is a new podcast about sonics and emotion. We explore why – and how – music affects us the way it does. Each episode we'll examine the connections between sound and humans, and meet scientists doing incredible research into the different ways music affects us – psychologically, physically – and emotionally.

Whether it's the different characters of a neighbourhood talking about their patch, or a heartwarming tale about a Spice Girls tribute band, Dorothy Allen-Pickard's films are wonderful nuggets of humanity. Shot mostly in South-East London, they focus on heartfelt issues of life and community. She talks with Pitch and Sync's Ben Hauke about her semi-autobiographical approach and the rewards of working with non-professional actors.