Russell Gillespie
Composer/Developer
Exploring the relationship of human creation and emotion through sound and technology
Russell Gillespie
Composer/Developer
Exploring the relationship of human creation and emotion through sound and technology
In Summer 2018 I was commissioned by Producer Alex Barron to compose original theme music for The New Yorker Politics and More Podcast , A weekly discussion about politics, hosted by The New Yorker’s executive editor, Dorothy Wickenden.
Recently I began working with Dr. Michael Horn of Northwestern University's School of Education and Social policy on TunePad. This software is a learning platform that aims to promote access to core computing literacies by combining the emotional connection naturally present in music with Python programming constructs that reflect music's more mathematical aspects.
Autoharp: A set of Python functions to semantically generate harmony based on input variables including Tonic, Mode, Chord Type, Transposition, and more.
Feedback Delay Line: A minimal Python script that takes a list of notes and generates echo effects or feedback/resonance based on level attenuation or multiplicaiton per delay tap.
ChromaFunk: A simple disco/funk beat composed with a variety of modulus operations to create varied repeats per instrument.
Modalia is a game crafted in Unity3D and Wwise that explores mapping the musical concept of modes onto shape, color, and sound. The gameplay revolves around solving puzzles with sound in a minamalistic environment.
This Demo was created as my capstone Study in Sound project for the Master of Arts in Sound Arts and Industries at Northwestern University.
In the Summer of 2018 I was hired by writer and film-maker Lars Steier founder of Desert Beast Filmproduction to record and edit dialogue and create an original sound design for his animated short Richie Beyond. See what happens when space cadet Richie has his first meeting with the A.I. human resources representative in this sci-fi comedy.
In Winter 2019, I spent the academic quarter as a Teaching Assisant to Stephan Moore for the pilot of a new course in AR/VR sound called Virtual Audio Production. As a part of Northwestern University's Sound Arts and Industries program, we designed this course to introduce graduate students to ambisonics, 3D mixing, and integrating their work into a 360 environment using Google Resonance, HTC VIVE, and Unity3D. We are grateful to industry veteran Steve Pardo of Harmonix for sharing his insights and professional perspective from his years working in the game audio industry.
