Paddy McAloon

Playing DeArmond X-135 live

Prefab Sprout - Cars and Girls live at the Fleadh Festival, 2000

Takamine used live in Munich 1985 30:31

Also featured on a touring gear list manifest here. http://www.sproutology.co.uk/sproutbait/the-definitive-prefab-sprout-gear-list/

Paddy playing a Fender Stratocaster Live in Munich 1985.

In this image (c.1985) you can see Paddy playing a black Squier Stratocaster.

Paddy McAloon used the Boss CE-3 Chorus pedal during the 1985 tour, as detailed in "The Definitive Prefab Sprout Gear List" on Sproutology.

“But I got a synthesizer, a Roland JX3P, and I programmed into it a variation on their string sound which you didn’t have to hold down — you just hit the chord and put a long release on.

An important consideration for Paddy McAloon in his approach to home recording is his compromised health: he suffers from acute tinnitus in his right ear and a degenerative eye condition, the latter informing his choice of a Soundtracs Topaz desk. “It’s small enough for me to see,” he states, with no little amusement.

(The picture on this page shows the Soundtracs model)

Among the outboard sound modules McAloon likes to use when choosing final sounds are an EMU Proteus orchestral unit, Korg TR–Rack and two Roland Sound Canvases. The results are recorded to his Tascam MX2424 hard-disk recorder. “I use a lot of sounds that I suppose were designed for dance music,” he points out. “But I use them way out of context. I’ll use one part of the sound and treat it, put it through a delay or put flange on it. I’m trying to disguise the lack of finesse that may exist in the original sound sources.

0:44 Prefab Sprouts - Electric Guitars video

Paddy McAloon used the Boss OC-2 Octaver during the 1985 tour, as detailed in "The Definitive Prefab Sprout Gear List" on Sproutology.

Prefab Sprout - The Golden Calf, Get Fresh May 7th 1988

Charvel Model 3

Heights & Lows It was around this time that Paddy McAloon’s home recording setup began to develop, when he acquired a Fostex B16 half–inch tape 16–track machine and Seck desk to sketch out demos. After the double album Jordan: The Comeback in 1990, McAloon embarked upon the demos for its intended follow–up, Let’s Change The World With Music using his newly purchased Atari STE 1040 and C–Lab Creator–Notator, only to have them rejected by his paymasters at CBS.

Heights & Lows It was around this time that Paddy McAloon’s home recording setup began to develop, when he acquired a Fostex B16 half–inch tape 16–track machine and Seck desk to sketch out demos. After the double album Jordan: The Comeback in 1990, McAloon embarked upon the demos for its intended follow–up, Let’s Change The World With Music using his newly purchased Atari STE 1040 and C–Lab Creator–Notator, only to have them rejected by his paymasters at CBS.

Seen on his Topaz mix desk photo, he clearly marks a channel dedicted to his Akai S2000 sampler

On his home studio Topaz mix desk he has a channel dedicated to his Korg X5D keyboard.

Among the outboard sound modules McAloon likes to use when choosing final sounds are an EMU Proteus orchestral unit, Korg TR–Rack and two Roland Sound Canvases. The results are recorded to his Tascam MX2424 hard-disk recorder. “I use a lot of sounds that I suppose were designed for dance music,” he points out. “But I use them way out of context. I’ll use one part of the sound and treat it, put it through a delay or put flange on it. I’m trying to disguise the lack of finesse that may exist in the original sound sources.

For the vocal recording, Malcolm lent McAloon his Neumann U47 and left him to get on with it. “I don’t like judging my singing,” says Paddy, “which means I sing too many takes. It’s the thing that actually puts me off pushing the red button on a recording machine — the fact that I’m gonna have to judge my singing.”

The Definitive Prefab Sprout Gear List I’m currently mining a rich seam of photocopies of old paperwork, and having previously posted a partial 1985 gear list, I’ve come upon the entire carnet for the 1986 Italian tour, which has some fascinating detail.

Boss DD-2 Digital Delay Pedal (featured in the gear list photo)

In the YouTube video titled "Prefab Sprout: Cars and Girls at the Fleadh," Paddy McAloon is seen performing with a Shure Beta 87A condenser microphone.

In the 1985 Munich concert video by Rich Flint, Paddy McAloon is seen playing a Fender Pink Paisley Telecaster at the 3:29 mark.

2:13 Prefab Sprout - Electric Guitars video

2:28 Prefab Sprout - The Sound of Crying video

1:31

Prefab Sprout - I Remember That video

Prefab Sprout - Looking for Atlantis video 0:58

Paddy McAloon used the Boss TU-12 Chromatic Tuner during the 1985 tour, as detailed in "The Definitive Prefab Sprout Gear List" on Sproutology.

Paddy McAloon used the Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus amplifier during the 1985 tour, as listed in "The Definitive Prefab Sprout Gear List" on Sproutology.

Prefab Sprout - Johnny Johnny (The Tube 1986)

At the Shepherd's Bush concert in 2000, Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout played a DeArmond X-155, as captured in a photo shared by Rozonda Salas on Pinterest.

Heights & Lows It was around this time that Paddy McAloon’s home recording setup began to develop, when he acquired a Fostex B16 half–inch tape 16–track machine and Seck desk to sketch out demos. After the double album Jordan: The Comeback in 1990, McAloon embarked upon the demos for its intended follow–up, Let’s Change The World With Music using his newly purchased Atari STE 1040 and C–Lab Creator–Notator, only to have them rejected by his paymasters at CBS.

The Gretsch 6120 Double Cut can be seen at 0:20 in the music video for Don't Sing.