Adele – 21
The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 2011 album 21.
Music from 21
Artists on 21
Gear Used On 21
Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Adele – 21 (2011). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.
Microphones used by Adele on 21
Avg price: $2,749.00
In the live performance of "When We Were Young" at The Church Studios, Adele uses the Sennheiser SKM 9000, Sennheiser's flagship wireless microphone. Previously, during her "21" album tour, she used the Sennheiser SKM 2000 handheld transmitter. While the specific microphone capsule Adele uses in this performance isn't identified, it is unlikely to be a Neumann capsule. Her backup singers appear to use the Sennheiser 5000 series, possibly the 5200, with entry-level capsules.
Avg price: $19,995.00
Used for the vocals on "Someone Like You", as mentioned anecdotally by recording engineer Warren Huart in this August 1, 2012 Mix interview, archived on the Endless Analog website.
Warren Huart on Steven’s vocals: Most of Steven Tyler’s keeper vocals were cut at Swing House with a Neumann U 48 that Huart had used previously on The Fray, James Blunt, Adele and others.
Avg price: $1,099.99
"I recorded all Adele's vocals with my Rode Classic 2, going through my UA 6176 mic pre, and never went back to them. The vocals in the final version are all from the demo. She was really going through something and you can hear it in her voice. I think I also used quite a bit of Logic overdrive on her voice, too, to add harmonics."
Studio Equipment used by Adele on 21
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Avg price: $2,448.00
Used for the lead vocals on "Rolling in the Deep", as stated by mix engineer Tom Elmhirst in this September 2011 Sound on Sound interview.
Vocals: Waves Q6 & De‑esser, Digirack EQIII, Lo‑Fi & Trim, Pultec EQ, Urei 1176, Tube‑Tech CL1B, various spring reverbs and delays.
"I had the Q6 on the chorus vocal, notching out 930, 1634 and 3175 Hz very, very heavily: ‑18dB, ‑18dB and ‑12.1dB respectively, with very narrow Q. I also had the EQIII on the lead‑vocal sub, notching something out again. Something obviously needed to be taken out. The vocal is the most important thing in the track, and taking those frequencies out allowed me to keep it up front in the mix, particularly in the chorus. You can never account for what mic the vocals were recorded on, and whatever it is that bugs me, I can take it out. 'T' on the lead vocal bus is the [Massey] Tapehead plug‑in, which wasn't used, but I did use two Waves De‑essers, one taking out at 5449Hz and the other at 11004Hz. Rather than use one to try to cover all the sibilance I used two. I do that quite often.
"Regarding the outboard, I had the Pultec EQ, Urei 1176 and the Tube‑Tech CL1B on the lead vocal sub insert (desk channel 25). The Pultec boosted around 100Hz and 12k. It's colourful, but not drastic. There was not a lot of gain. The blackface Urei had fast attack and fast release, whereas the Tube‑Tech had slow attack and slow release, it was more evening out the level. You can use compression as an effect, but on the vocal you mainly want control. You want to set it up right so you're not constantly moving the channel fader to fit the vocal in the mix. If you're constantly moving the fader, rather than just doing the occasional ride, you know that you need to look at your compression. There's also Paul's Roland Space Echo track, which I used throughout, and which was the only lead vocal effect in the first chorus. On the backing vocals I had the Digirack Trim, again the Lo‑Fi, and the EQIII, cutting a bit around 405Hz and boosting a little around 3.17k. I used quite a few spring reverbs on the backing vocals, because I wanted them to have a lot more ambience. In the choruses I would also have added several delays. The delays make the backing vocals swing a bit, and they also fill up the space and make sure that they fit in the mix.”
Also used on the vocals for "Someone Like You", as featured in this April 18, 2013 Instagram post by recording engineer Warren Huart.
Compression! Same chain used for #adele on #someonelikeyou #urei1176 #LA2A #dbx165 #dbx175vu #compressor #recordingstudio #studio #recordingengineer #warrenhuart #warrenhuartproducer #vintagegear #gearporn #studioporn
Guitars used by Paul Epworth on 21
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Avg price: $2,768.57
"This is the '64 Martin D18 that I wrote and recorded a special song with. I never gave it a shout out. Much belated; Thanks Martin."
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Pianos used by Dan Wilson on 21
Avg price: $104.26
Dan Wilson uses the Yamaha C7 grand piano, as evidenced by Warren Huart in his LinkedIn article, "Recording the Perfect Piano Sound: A Deep Dive into Adele's 'Someone Like You'." Huart states, "The piano featured on 'Someone Like You' was our beloved Yamaha C7. That instrument lived in the heart of our studio and became part of its identity." This 7'6" grand piano is noted for its clarity in the highs, solidity in the low end, and a touch of warmth, making it a studio favorite for both solo pieces and dense mixes.