Gear

We often get people asking about what gear we use, so here’s a selection of some of the things we have used over the years:

  • Recording Systems:
    • Yamaha CX5M Music Computer (the world’s first mass market music computer, which even had a full 4-operator DX synthesiser stuck inside. Used for all of the sequences and synth basslines on the early singles and Grenade. It was a bitch to program)
    • Powertran Digital Delay (since we couldn’t afford proper studio gear, we improvised a lot in the early days. This was our first studio effect, hand built by Paul from a kit and used for all those Alan Vega / Suicide style echo effects)
    • Atari ST (the backbone of our MIDI sequencing for many years – we used this both in the studio and live on stage. We became so well-known for this computer that we even got sponsorship from Atari, and they gave us computers for free, which was fantastic)
    • Steinberg Cubase (used for all of the albums from Theomania to Wetware)
    • Lexicon LXP-1 & LXP-5 reverb/FX (back in the 80s Lexicon was the name behind those huge fantastic reverb sounds on all the records we loved. But they were ridiculously expensive for a bunch of broke cyberpunks like us until the LXP series arrived in 1988 and changed everything. Used on every record we did from the day they came out)
    • TASCAM MSR-16 (16 track tape recorder used on The War Against Sleep and Sex & Death)
    • Presonus Studio One (used to record The Plague)
    • Yamaha NS-40m speakers (used on The War Against Sleep and Sex & Death)
    • EMES Black TV monitor speakers (used on Wetware and The Plague)
    • ESI uniK 05+ & activ 10s monitor speakers (currently in the studio)
    • ESI U168XT audio interface and M8U eX MIDI interface (currently in the studio)
  • Synthesisers:
    • EDP Wasp (the first synth Rodney ever bought, later augmented with an EDP Spider, the world’s first digital sequencer. March and many other early songs were written on these cheap plastic boxes)
    • Korg MS-20 & MS-50 (another backbone of our early sequencer sound when we started, later stolen from our studio in a burglary)
    • Sequential Circuits Pro-One (bass monster on our early records)
    • Roland MC-202 (a tiny Roland digital sequencer with a built-in SH-101 synth – what’s not to like?)
    • Casiotone MT-40 (combined with a Carlsbro Suzz pedal and a Roland Chorus for the classic fuzz keyboard sound of The Cassandra Complex, particularly on March and Moscow Idaho)
    • Casio CZ-230 S (used on Grenade and Theomania. Has the unique distinction of being the first synthesiser we ever bought new, everything else up to that point we had picked up super cheap in second-hand stores)
    • EMS Synthi-Hifli (one of the world’s first guitar synthesisers, this was extremely rare and valuable but Rodney found one for 55 UK pounds in a junk store in a Leeds back street. Used for the guitar sounds on Cyberpunx)
    • Korg M1 (we bought the very first one to reach Germany, on the day it came out. Used widely on all the songs from Cyberpunx to Sex & Death – we even used it for the drum sounds on those albums. It and its big brother the Korg T2 were our main live keyboards for many years)
    • Korg MS-2000 (all over Wetware, and on the live tour of that album)
    • Waldorf Microwave II (used on Wetware – the opening synth sound on VALIS is from this beauty)
    • Emu Audity 2000 (used on the Wetware album for all sorts of digital nastiness)
    • Waldorf Blofeld (Andy’s main live keyboard, and used on a lot of the songs from The Plague. Rodney also uses the desktop version in the studio. We actually have three of these currently, we love it so much)
    • USE Audio Plugiator (used on The Plague, especially for vocoder parts)
    • Knif Audio Knifonium (this magnificent beast was used for a lot of the bass and sequencer parts on The Plague)
    • Roland SH-201 (used by Axel in the current live touring band)
    • Korg microKorg (Axel’s live vocoder machine)
    • MeeBlip Triode (this tiny terror is currently in the studio)
    • Waldorf Pulse2 (just got this one, you’ll hear it on the next records a lot. Yes, we are big fans of Waldorf)
  • Samplers:
    • AKAI S612 (used all over Grenade and Theomania – the famous keyboard sound on One Millionth Happy Customer is from this sampler)
    • AKAI S700 (the younger and more powerful brother of the S612, also used on Theomania)
    • Roland S-50 & S-550 (used lots around the period of Cyberpunx to The War Against Sleep. The huge choir at the start of Nightfall is the S-50)
    • Digidesign SampleCell II (our first in-the-box computer sampler. Used in the studio on The War Against Sleep and Sex & Death)
  • Drum Machines:
    • Sound Master Memory Rhythm SR-88 (the first drum machine we ever bought. Everyone else we knew was using a Boss DR-55 but in our usual contrary manner we bought this little blue box and used it to write our first dum tracks. We recently got a virtual version of this so it might even appear again in future!)
    • Roland TR-808 (used on the very first single March, then also got stolen from our studio. I still want to punch that guy)
    • Roland TR-909 (also got stolen in the same burglary)
    • Roland TR-707 (used for the drums on the early singles, Grenade, and Theomania)
    • Roland TR-505 (Keith’s infamous “drum guitar” that we used live on the Grenade tour was made from the guts of one of these mounted on a cheap bass guitar body and attached to a 20 metre cable so he could run around)
    • AKAI MPC-60 (this Roger Linn-designed monster was used for the drums on The War Against Sleep and Sex & Death, as well as Rodney’s solo album Sun God)
    • Waldorf Attack (used for synth drums on The Plague)
    • Arturia Spark Creative Drum Machine (and its little sister, the SparkLE – used on The Plague to trigger lots of our old drum samples)
    • Ugritone Drums (we used lots of sounds from these drum libraries on The Plague)
    • MT Power Drums (yes, even more drums on The Plague)
    • BFD 3 (currently in heavy use in the studio, so will be appearing on future records if all goes as planned)
  • Synth Controllers:
    • Casio DH-100 MIDI Saxophone (a heavily modded version of this was used by Patrick around the Cyberpunx period – we called it the Complexophone)
    • Nektar Panorama P4 (current main MIDI controller keyboard in the studio)
  • Andy’s Guitar Stuff:
    • Yamaha SG500 guitar (March)
    • Tokai Stratocaster guitar (Moscow Idaho and Datakill)
    • Yamaha SG200 guitar (Grenade)
    • Roland Jazz Chorus 40 amplifier (Grenade)
    • Gibson SG guitar (Theomania and The Plague)
    • Laney Linebacker amplifier(Theomania)
    • Lexicon MPX G2 effects processor (The War Against Sleep)
    • Casio MG-510 MIDI Guitar (The War Against Sleep)
    • Native Instruments Guitar Rig & Rig Kontrol amp sim (used live for tours between 2010-2020)
    • Yamaha Revstar guitar (The Plague)
    • PreSonus Ampire amp sim (The Plague)
    • Brainworx Rockrack amp sim (the main source of guitar sounds on The Plague)
    • Softube Amp Room amp sim (currently using)