Coldplay – Parachutes album cover

Coldplay – Parachutes

Album 2000

The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 2000 album Parachutes.

Music from Parachutes

Gear Used On Parachutes

Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Coldplay – Parachutes (2000). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.

Guitars used by Jonny Buckland on Parachutes

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Fender Jerry Donahue Signature Telecaster Electric Guitar

Jonny Buckland is seen/heard playing the Fender Jerry Donahue Signature Telecaster in the Madrid dressing room during Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto tour, which he's had since Parachutes era. The guitar has a bound body in translucent sapphire blue, a rarely used finish on Fender guitars

Solid Body Electric Guitars

Fender JD Telecaster

"Jonny's guitar used during the Parachutes / Rush Of Blood era of touring." - From Coldplay's end of decade clearout sale catalog where they auctioned off their gear.

Studio Equipment used by Jonny Buckland on Parachutes

Effects Processors

Roland SDD-320 Dimension D

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this Sound on Sound interview about the production of Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends.

Guitars: EMI Chandler TG1, Lexicon PCM42, API 525, API 5502, Roland Dimension D SDD320, Watkins Copicat

"Normally I send each side of a stereo guitar to my EMI Chandler TG1 panned left and right and coming back on the console, but I didn't in this case, so I must have felt that it sounded bad. It might have taken away from the tightness of the guitars. They had already recorded it very tightly. So instead I didn't add anything to their stereo chorus verse guitar. I also had a mono verse guitar, which I sent to a PCM42 delay set at 224ms and panned to the opposite side, and every time the guitar strums it goes over to the right. On the acoustic guitar I did what I normally do, which is to send it through my acoustic patch, an API 525 going into an API 5502. That's a great combo and I have been using that for years. It makes the acoustic guitar very natural and full and gives it great presence without it sounding processed. In this song it's not very evident, because the acoustic guitar isn't very important, but, for example, on Parachutes the acoustic is very important, and I used the patch back then. There was no insert on the solo guitar. I did have a Dimension D SDD320 chorus on it, which spreads the sound naturally, and which went to a Watkins Copicat Echo unit with a fairly short delay. Otherwise it's totally dry, no reverb, hardly any EQ. Again, it was so well recorded that it didn't need a lot of work."

Effects Processors

Lexicon PCM 42

Avg price: $1,972.07

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this Sound on Sound interview about the production of Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends.

Guitars: EMI Chandler TG1, Lexicon PCM42, API 525, API 5502, Roland Dimension D SDD320, Watkins Copicat

"Normally I send each side of a stereo guitar to my EMI Chandler TG1 panned left and right and coming back on the console, but I didn't in this case, so I must have felt that it sounded bad. It might have taken away from the tightness of the guitars. They had already recorded it very tightly. So instead I didn't add anything to their stereo chorus verse guitar. I also had a mono verse guitar, which I sent to a PCM42 delay set at 224ms and panned to the opposite side, and every time the guitar strums it goes over to the right. On the acoustic guitar I did what I normally do, which is to send it through my acoustic patch, an API 525 going into an API 5502. That's a great combo and I have been using that for years. It makes the acoustic guitar very natural and full and gives it great presence without it sounding processed. In this song it's not very evident, because the acoustic guitar isn't very important, but, for example, on Parachutes the acoustic is very important, and I used the patch back then. There was no insert on the solo guitar. I did have a Dimension D SDD320 chorus on it, which spreads the sound naturally, and which went to a Watkins Copicat Echo unit with a fairly short delay. Otherwise it's totally dry, no reverb, hardly any EQ. Again, it was so well recorded that it didn't need a lot of work."

Effects Processors

Chandler Limited EMI TG12413 Zener Limiter

Avg price: $5,214.43

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this Sound on Sound interview about the production of Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends.

Guitars: EMI Chandler TG1, Lexicon PCM42, API 525, API 5502, Roland Dimension D SDD320, Watkins Copicat

"Normally I send each side of a stereo guitar to my EMI Chandler TG1 panned left and right and coming back on the console, but I didn't in this case, so I must have felt that it sounded bad. It might have taken away from the tightness of the guitars. They had already recorded it very tightly. So instead I didn't add anything to their stereo chorus verse guitar. I also had a mono verse guitar, which I sent to a PCM42 delay set at 224ms and panned to the opposite side, and every time the guitar strums it goes over to the right. On the acoustic guitar I did what I normally do, which is to send it through my acoustic patch, an API 525 going into an API 5502. That's a great combo and I have been using that for years. It makes the acoustic guitar very natural and full and gives it great presence without it sounding processed. In this song it's not very evident, because the acoustic guitar isn't very important, but, for example, on Parachutes the acoustic is very important, and I used the patch back then. There was no insert on the solo guitar. I did have a Dimension D SDD320 chorus on it, which spreads the sound naturally, and which went to a Watkins Copicat Echo unit with a fairly short delay. Otherwise it's totally dry, no reverb, hardly any EQ. Again, it was so well recorded that it didn't need a lot of work."

The item can be seen in this photo from the same interview.

Five towering racks of outboard gear dominate Michael Brauer's mix room, and contain far too much equipment to list. Notable items used on the mix of Violet Hill include (first rack) Pye compressor, Empirical Labs Distressors, ADR Compex limiter, Chandler EMI TG12413 limiter, EAR 660 compressors and Fairchild 666 compressor; (second rack) Lexicon PCM81, Sony DRE S777, Akai S612, Bricasti M7, Zoom 1202, Rupert Neve Portico 5014; (third rack) Neve 33609, API modules, Moog EQ and Pendulum ES8 compressor; (fifth rack) Chandler EMI TG12345 Curver Bender, Shadow Hills compressor and ADL 670.

Effects Processors

API 525

Avg price: $1,155.75

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this Sound on Sound interview about the production of Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends.

Guitars: EMI Chandler TG1, Lexicon PCM42, API 525, API 5502, Roland Dimension D SDD320, Watkins Copicat

"Normally I send each side of a stereo guitar to my EMI Chandler TG1 panned left and right and coming back on the console, but I didn't in this case, so I must have felt that it sounded bad. It might have taken away from the tightness of the guitars. They had already recorded it very tightly. So instead I didn't add anything to their stereo chorus verse guitar. I also had a mono verse guitar, which I sent to a PCM42 delay set at 224ms and panned to the opposite side, and every time the guitar strums it goes over to the right. On the acoustic guitar I did what I normally do, which is to send it through my acoustic patch, an API 525 going into an API 5502. That's a great combo and I have been using that for years. It makes the acoustic guitar very natural and full and gives it great presence without it sounding processed. In this song it's not very evident, because the acoustic guitar isn't very important, but, for example, on Parachutes the acoustic is very important, and I used the patch back then. There was no insert on the solo guitar. I did have a Dimension D SDD320 chorus on it, which spreads the sound naturally, and which went to a Watkins Copicat Echo unit with a fairly short delay. Otherwise it's totally dry, no reverb, hardly any EQ. Again, it was so well recorded that it didn't need a lot of work."

Effects Processors

API 5502 Dual Equalizer

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this Sound on Sound interview about the production of Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends.

Guitars: EMI Chandler TG1, Lexicon PCM42, API 525, API 5502, Roland Dimension D SDD320, Watkins Copicat

"Normally I send each side of a stereo guitar to my EMI Chandler TG1 panned left and right and coming back on the console, but I didn't in this case, so I must have felt that it sounded bad. It might have taken away from the tightness of the guitars. They had already recorded it very tightly. So instead I didn't add anything to their stereo chorus verse guitar. I also had a mono verse guitar, which I sent to a PCM42 delay set at 224ms and panned to the opposite side, and every time the guitar strums it goes over to the right. On the acoustic guitar I did what I normally do, which is to send it through my acoustic patch, an API 525 going into an API 5502. That's a great combo and I have been using that for years. It makes the acoustic guitar very natural and full and gives it great presence without it sounding processed. In this song it's not very evident, because the acoustic guitar isn't very important, but, for example, on Parachutes the acoustic is very important, and I used the patch back then. There was no insert on the solo guitar. I did have a Dimension D SDD320 chorus on it, which spreads the sound naturally, and which went to a Watkins Copicat Echo unit with a fairly short delay. Otherwise it's totally dry, no reverb, hardly any EQ. Again, it was so well recorded that it didn't need a lot of work."

Effects Processors

WEM Watkins Copicat

Avg price: $627.55

Mentioned by mixing engineer Michael Brauer as being used on "Violet Hill" in this Sound on Sound interview about the production of Viva la Vida & Death and All of His Friends.

Guitars: EMI Chandler TG1, Lexicon PCM42, API 525, API 5502, Roland Dimension D SDD320, Watkins Copicat

"Normally I send each side of a stereo guitar to my EMI Chandler TG1 panned left and right and coming back on the console, but I didn't in this case, so I must have felt that it sounded bad. It might have taken away from the tightness of the guitars. They had already recorded it very tightly. So instead I didn't add anything to their stereo chorus verse guitar. I also had a mono verse guitar, which I sent to a PCM42 delay set at 224ms and panned to the opposite side, and every time the guitar strums it goes over to the right. On the acoustic guitar I did what I normally do, which is to send it through my acoustic patch, an API 525 going into an API 5502. That's a great combo and I have been using that for years. It makes the acoustic guitar very natural and full and gives it great presence without it sounding processed. In this song it's not very evident, because the acoustic guitar isn't very important, but, for example, on Parachutes the acoustic is very important, and I used the patch back then. There was no insert on the solo guitar. I did have a Dimension D SDD320 chorus on it, which spreads the sound naturally, and which went to a Watkins Copicat Echo unit with a fairly short delay. Otherwise it's totally dry, no reverb, hardly any EQ. Again, it was so well recorded that it didn't need a lot of work."

Amplifiers used by Jonny Buckland on Parachutes

Combo Guitar Amplifiers

Fender '65 Twin Reverb

Avg price: $1,972.57

From a Sound On Sound Magazine interview with Ken Nelson, on the recording of the album Parachutes:

Ken Nelson explains how he got around this problem: "Johnny has a Fender Twin Reverb, and he has all these delays going into it, and it was quite a delayed sort of sound, and I was thinking 'How am I going to get around that?' I just wanted to have the option of a bit more dryness. They had another Twin Reverb, a slightly different version, and I said 'What would be great would be if you could use both amps, one having all your delays going into it, and one that's completely dry,' because I'm not a great one for effects.

Amplifiers used by Chris Martin on Parachutes

Acoustic Guitar Amplifiers

Marshall AS80 Acoustic Amp

Avg price: $237.08

"Acoustic guitar amps are very unusual, but this Marshall amp proved extremely useful for rehearsing and small gigs early in the band's career. This was used through the club shows and the early Parachutes gigs to ensure that Chris's acoustic guitar could be heard above the drum kit!" reads Lot 7 in Coldplay's End of Decade Clearout Sale Catalogue, which includes a picture of the amp.

Guitars used by Chris Martin on Parachutes

Acoustic-Electric Guitars

Takamine EN15 Acoustic Guitar

At 0:57 in this music video, Chris Martin can be seen playing a Takamine EN15 Acoustic Guitar.

Classical & Nylon-String Guitars

Vincente Tatay Thomas Classical Acoustic Guitar

The very first guitar that Chris Martin bought before the Takamine Acoustic. He even wrote his hit songs with this guitar such as "Yellow" and "Trouble" (and yes, the song "Trouble" was actually first written and recorded on the guitar from their early demos).

The online article also quotes: "Martin took this guitar with him when he went to University College London in 1996 and met Jonny Buckland. The pair planned to form a band over the coming year, resulting in the formation of Coldplay.

Martin used this during the composition of many of Coldplay’s earliest songs, and during the recording of the No.1 album Parachutes."

Acoustic-Electric Guitars

Takamine EN18

You can see Chris Martin during an early gig using this guitar. He often used it live and on their debut album 'Parachutes'. His was in a Satin Finish.

Keyboards and Synthesizers used by Chris Martin on Parachutes

Digital Pianos

Kawai MP9000

Chris listed Kawai MP9000 amongst his equipment in Coldplay's self published E-Zine in 2003. It was used extensively for touring throughout the Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head tours in 2001 and 2003.

Drum Sets used by Will Champion on Parachutes

Drum Sets

Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute

Avg price: $2,724.49

Mentioned in this 2010 article from the official Yamaha website.

The British quartet Coldplay-comprised of Chris Martin (vocals/piano), Jon Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drums), and Guy Berryman (bass)-released a handful of EP's before storming onto the U.S. rock scene after releasing their full-length debut Parachutes (Capitol) in November 2000. Champion can be seen and heard playing a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute drum kit.

"I've been playing my Yamaha kit for about two years," says Champion of his sparkle finish Yamaha kit. "I like the feel and construction as well as the great response."

Drum Sets

Yamaha Stage Custom

Avg price: $801.59

In this live performance of ‘Shiver‘, Will can be seen playing a 1998 Yamaha Stage Custom Drum