Gearwire Engineering 101

Ableton Live can do pretty much anything short of splicing, dicing, and pureeing an eggplant. When Gearwire's Bill Holland decided to integrate it into a full band, it proved challenging. In the end, however, the results proved to be both educational and rewarding.  

Bill Holland wraps up his tutorial on synthesizer creation on the Access Virus TI. Here, Bill has his soft knob parameters assigned, and the GeArWire patch is now complete. Though Bill claims it's not the best patch in...  

Bill Holland continues with his synthesizer creation tutorial with the Access Virus TI's editor section. Here, Bill concentrates on the Velocity Map section, shaping the sound of his GearWire patch further, and getting...  

Bill Holland joins us once again with the Access Virus TI for another three part tutorial. This time, Bill dives into creating your own synthesizer with the Access Virus TI. Bill introduces the GeArWire patch which suggests...  

Bill Holland completes the oscillator tutorial on the Access Virus TI. In the final installment of this video, Bill displays the solution to a semitone problem caused by switching between the three oscillators and adds...  

In this section of Bill Holland's Access Virus TI tutorial on oscillation, Bill adds oscillator two into the mix. Bill complicates his original wave by adding a complementary wave to his saw wave on oscillator one. You...  

Bill Holland takes a look at the oscillators Access Virus TI after reviewing the arpeggiator in his last Access trilogy. Bill takes the synthesized sounds from clicking to full shape by modifying the waves from sine to...  

Bill Holland finishes his tutorial on the Access Virus TI's arpeggiator functions. Here, Bill goes over how editing the note length and swing factor can change up your arpeggiated sounds.

You can catch the first...  

In part two of this Access Virus TI tutorial, Bill Holland works some more with the Virus' arpeggiator. Bill drops the arpeggiator down to the bass clef and then expands on the types of patterns you can use with the TI's...  

In this first in a series on the Access Virus TI, Gearwire's Bill Holland takes a close look at the various modules of the synth. The first episode features the arpeggiator and how to work with it to get the most out...  

Sound artist Nicolas Collins has a very long history of messing around with sound; and he's got a list of high-quality creds to show for it. He teaches in the sound department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago...  

You've probably heard of LEMUR in relation to its mounting of Ballet Mecanique - George Antheil’s 1924 composition for, among other things, 16 player pianos - at Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art last spring....  

Resolume 2 can be a really tough customer when it comes to understanding the audio analyzer. To really understand how to use the audio analyzer, begin by opening Resolume to check your preferences.

Under...  

In response to our last Reason tutorial, we have decided to rein back the scope of our videos. In the following tutorial, Gearwire expert Bill Holland looks at the most basic functions of the Mälstrom and why they...  

Drums seem to always be the elusive element to programming in Reason. Even with years of experience from version 1.0 on, I still struggle with this. I hear tracks that get press in music magazines that still sound...  

In part four of our Circuit Bending Workshop series, Chris has a problem with his Speak and Math. One of the more classic and potentially difficult circuit bending pieces, the Speak and Math can have often times up...  

Again, for those who do not know at this point, circuit bending is the art of creating new electronic noise out of old electronics like speak and spells, halloween toys, and other such devices. In the past few videos...  

Circuit bending is the art of purposefully shorting out an electronic device to create new and original tones. On Mondays at Northeastern University, Dan Demchuk hosts a circuit bending workshop for beginners and advanced...  

Every Monday, WZRD at Chicago's Northeastern Illinois University hosts a weekly circuit bending workshop. This week, I talk with Dan Demchuk and his associates about the basic purpose and tools of circuit bending. ...  

Did you ever feel like adding a bit of that Gearwire sheen to your tracks? Well, now you can with the help of some free impulse responses that will help simulate the sound of the Gearwire studio.

The zip file contains...  

While there are those who still think the very idea of incorporating a laptop into a DJ set is pure blasphemy, the reality is that more and more performers are going digital. The benefits are fairly obvious, even...  

While looking for more free plug-ins to slake my thirst I ran into LineUp by developer NuGen Audio. You need to sign up for their newsletter to get the plug but I decided it would be worth the registration. Among others...  

In this final installment of the series on DIY impulse responses for convolution we sample a few things you wouldn't neccesarily think to use in a convolution program. First off a shoebox, second a distortion pedal, and thirdly...  

The ability to sample a space and synthesize its acoustic properties is the main reason convolution technology was developed for the audio world. In this, the third section of the series on convolution, Dan takes you through...  

In this video Dan demonstrates a completely different method of creating impulse responses (or IR's) to use with convolution programs. The method of using sine wave sweeps across the audible frequency range is very much superior...  

This is the first in a series of videos covering the ins and outs of creating your own impulse responses (IR's) for use with convolution reverbs. In this section Dan demonstrates the simplest way to get a response. The method...  

In the last video we replaced normal drum samples with ultra lo-fi samples that were made from scratch. In this video Dan checks out a simple way to further explore the realm of possible sounds available to the digital composer. ...  

In this video we take a look at how to make your own drum samples using little more than a dynamic microphone, a paper plate, and a standard recording setup. It is a great and simple way to take something run of the mill...  

This Episode of Gearwire Engineering 101 attempts to demystify the science and sound behind the two most prominent designs of recording microphones. Dynamic and condenser mics appear on pretty much every recording you have...  

We hope you enjoy this maiden voyage of Gearwire Engineering 101. In this episode Dan covers the technique of using two microphones on either side of an acoustic source. First, he puts a mic on both the top and bottom...