Live Signal Processors

Ryan Maeker is a sound designer in NYC, and though he may come off as a somewhat threatening figure in this interview -- all talking about cuttin' fools, hitting people with cars and even threatening the life of yours truly -- he's actually a total teddy bear with a soft spot for Speilberg movies!  

You may think that a signal splitter is a signal splitter is a signal splitter. You'd be wrong. The new Klark Teknik Square One Splitter is more than just a splitter; it's an analog audio distribution solution. Well then.  

Bill's at the Digitech booth speaking with product engineer Andrew Lovegrove about the top of the line Vocal Harmonizer Pro, though there seems to be some sort of low number class hurricane brewing just outside the booth -- they've got to yell like Geraldo-in-a-parka to hear each other in there!  

The new dbx SC-64 and SC-32 System Core processors are key units for schools, houses of worship, and similar venues. The SC-64 and SC-32 respectively have 64 and 32 combined ins and outs arrangeable in increments of eight -- similar to how Buffalo Wild Wings allows you to sauce your wings differently in increments of six, only two better.  

Powered speakers are pretty convenient, but if you think just because your speakers power themselves that your system is complete, you may not get the best sound. That's where the dbx DriveRack PX comes in.  

It's a common quandary: you love the sound of your own doubled vocals, but you aren't one of a set of identical twins, or, even more painful, your twin is an investment banker and refers to your career as a "childish hobby." Well we'll show them, won't we. Mwah ha ha!  

Howard Sandroff lives audio -- especially live audio. We already know Howard has tremendous credentials as an audio educator. Here, Howard talks about some of his live processing experience as an electronic sound designer.  

Neptune's Jason Sanford conceived of the band's aesthetic over twelve years ago, in a welding class. Since then, the aesthetic and inimitable sound of the Boston trio has taken them all over the world and into a deal with the label Table of the Elements.  

Experimental band Neptune's Mark Pearson goes deep into detail on his gear, mods, and technique. Not only do Electro-Harmonix and Studio Electronics figure into the mix, but Pearson also leans heavily on his own gearmaking skills to push Neptune's unique sound into the realm of the unknown.  

The Slave Drum are a Philippine band (based in Manilla) that started playing together in 2001. With a few personnel changes since then the band consists of Jerome Velasco on guitars and keyboards, Ramon Mayor on vocal,...  

Lexicon's PCM96 takes center stage at Lexicon's booth at AES, introduced as a professional quality stereo reverb and effects processor. The PCM96, first and foremost, enriches your sound with Lexicon's renowned reverb...  

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...  

Illinois-based I:Scintilla, signed to Germany's Alfa Matrix label, have been playing shows and festivals to support the release of their second CD, Optics. The band has existed for four years and played live for three,...  

Summer NAMM has been occupying us at Gearwire for a couple weeks, but right now we're going to take a break and return to Casey Farina's Project CONDOR. As you recall, Farina is a doctoral student at Northwestern University....  

Laura Clapp from TC-Helicon proves she's got some vocal chops as she demonstrates the TC-Helicon VoiceTone Create Pedal at Summer NAMM. She doesn't quite make it through all 99 presets, but we do get a general idea what this...  

TC Helicon's Create Pedal is another vocalist-only stompbox designed to give the singer more self-determined options in the mix. This model features 99 presets, half of which are "standard" and half of which are "genre-based"...  

Recently Gearwire spoke with singer-songwriter Danielle Howle about her guitars, live shows and recordings. In that conversation she noted that her most important piece of "gear was not actually a thing but a human being--Travi...  

Not being a blog surviving on the content of others, Gearwire doesn't post many YouTube clips. But when Chris Holder, Editorial Director of Australia's Audio Technology magazine was invited to bring his video camera on...  

The Quad Series from Mackie is a pair of rackmount digital effects processors for use in a live sound setting. The two pieces are the Quad EQ and the Quad Gate/Compressor. Check out the latest from Mackie in our exclusive...  

Sound Performance Lab rolled out the Transducer System at this years Musikmesse in Frankfurt. As the name implies this piece simulates, you guessed it, transducers. If you are not among the enlightened a transducer is anything...  

At Winter NAMM 2007, Galaxy Audio showed off the Anyspot Traveler, a portable PA system with a built-in battery system and universal power supply for use anywhere in the world. It has a host of wireless features including...  

EAW presents its UX 8800 processor, which is designed for PAs, sound systems, and many other applications. One major feature on this unit is the ability to select crossover points based on your PA or sound system needs....  

Fostex shows off its RM-2 rack monitor. The two-channel stereo monitor works from digital or analog inputs, and you can select the left channel, right channel, or stereo playback from both speakers. You can stick this in...  

TC Helicon shows off the TC Helicon VoiceLive vocal processor. If you've ever wished you could harmonize with yourself in a live setting, you'll want to see this unit in action. The box doesn't simply appromximate your...  

TC Electronic and TC Helicon have quite a lot of new products headed to market, including the TC Helicon Voice Solo, a voice monitoring system that can be floor-mounted, or mounted on a mic stand with or without a boom. On...