Emperor Machine

Emperor Machine

Llama Farm Studio is situated in a converted stable, at the end of a long winding road, in the wilds of Staffordshire and in the middle of nowhere! It’s just a few minutes drive from my home and I’ve been working there for a few years. It’s a truly inspirational place.

Adam Audio A77X

The bass on these monitors is fantastic. They are brilliant to mix on. I read a lot of reviews because I only had a modest budget to spend on some monitors and I took a gamble with these and it really paid off. Amazing speakers.

I mixed half of my new album, “Music Not Safari”, on Yamaha NS10s then I got these and started all over again!

AKAI MPC2500

The MPC2500s are probably my most used pieces of equipment for writing music on initially, getting ideas together but also for playing live. I have always been an MPC user. I started on the MPC60, which I sold to buy an MPC3000 which I still have and use. My new album was written on the MPC2500s.

In the background on the right you can see my new MPC live. I have been using that more recently as it is a lot lighter to carry around and use live. I think that it is absolutely amazing but I think that I am probably going to end up buying the MPC X as I really like the new Akai workflow.

Korg Minilogue XD

I bought this on a whim based on some reviews and it has ended up being an invaluable synth in the studio. I wrote my latest single, “House Des Lowe”, (which is out on the 6th December 2019 🙂 ) entirely on this synth, apart from the drum sounds. I think that this synth is amazing.

I am surrounded by vintage analogue synths but I always turn to this synth first. The only thing that I don’t like about it is the small key bed. I always end up controlling it with a full-size keyboard.

Polymoog

I bought this from Sphere auction about 6 years ago. There are actually three of them in the studio in total. One doesn’t work. One is the keyboard/synth version and the other is just the Polymoog (Gary Newman) version.

It is such a lush sounding synth. I used it on the track “Two Voice”, my previous single release on Skint. You can hear it come in around 4 minutes.

Moog Prodigy

I used this on my new album on the track “What you Need (SDS)”. I also used it on my first release with Skint Records on a track called “Function”.

It’s such a good all-rounder. It is a warm sounding synth and I always find that it makes the best basslines. It is used on a lot of the album in parts. I have had it for what seems like forever but when I work it out its a mere 18 years. It has never been serviced and never lets me down…starts first time every time!

I used to take it on the road with me too because at the time it was the only synth that would slice through a guitar sound on stage. I found that most Roland Synths seem to get lost in a live mix whereas the Prodigy was so much better at cutting through a Fender Strat. It’s also quite lightweight. It is a good go-to synth.

The Oberheim 2 Voice

I used this to write all of the percussion and bass on my cunningly named previous single for Skint called “Two Voice”! I sampled some bass notes from the 2 Voice into the MPC2500 and wrote the bassline on the 2500. I sketched the bassline on the Oberheim sequencer and re-wrote it again on the MPC. I did this to help me play around with the notes separately.

UAD Apollo x4

My most recent purchase. I was using an RME Fireface 800 but it died. So I had to buy a new interface and I chose this one.

Let me tell you the sound is sublime! It is almost transparent, especially with Adam’s monitors. It is so crystal clear I almost think, every time, that I don’t need to do any mixing. It sounds so precise. It really helps me to hear the textures in the synths. I am absolutely blown away with it.

The zero-latency monitoring is so good it means that I can take my laptop and the UAD and work with a synth anywhere without any latency. I have just done my first remix for someone using this new set up. I think that it is going revolutionise the way that I work and has sped up my process significantly.

Yamaha CS-60

This was just an opportunity to have a photograph of a new studio arrival! I’ve not used it yet but can’t wait to have a go.

While it’s not the monster that the CS-80 is – it’s still a thing of beauty.

Fairlight CMI

Here are a few more of my favourite synths…

EMS VCS3

Yamaha CS-15

E-mu Emulator II & ARP Omni-2

Roland ProMars MRS-2

Doepfer Schaltwerk

Roland Vocoder Plus VP-330

Robots

I like Robots. I like them in the studio when I work. A bit weird perhaps…?

I used to have a lot more including a Robosapien – but he took up too much room and had to go; I prefer old vintage robots anyway.

Thumper & Aloette

Lama Farm Studio is home to very friendly Llamas called Thumper and Aloette, numerous cats and Giant Tortoises.