Paul 'Wix' Wickens

"I also have a Korg Kronos at the back as a spare, in case my rig goes down. I’ve been through the show song by song and I’ve got something from the internal Kronos sounds that I can substitute. I can’t recreate my rig exactly because it took 28 years to develop!"

I had an Akai weighted motherboard on the bottom, and then a Roland A-50 I think, which was a non-weighted controller. I had two controllers that didn’t make a noise going into a Roland U-110 module. I also had a Roland S-770 sampler because I liked the sonics of it, as well as a few other modules.

Wickens at the the Fred Walecki Benefit Concert on August 8, 2000.

Wix can be seen playing an Epiphone casino throughout this performance of Helter Skelter on The Late Show With David Letterman on top of the Ed Sullivan theatre

In this live performance video, at 13:12, Paul can be seen playing a Duesenberg Starplayer TV Fullerton DTF-VW.

In this live performance video, at 50:52, Paul can be seen playing an Allodi Accordion.

For orchestral stuff, there’s great libraries around, although some of the streaming libraries are so big and so unwieldly that I’d like to get smaller versions of them. So I’m sticking with that, and a lot of combinations of things. I still use the Akai S5000 software, although I’ve now got a couple of versions of Apple MainStage, and they’re playing some samples and doing some sounds.

"I have an old Yamaha Motif 7. I do use a couple sounds out of that still, but mainly that’s a controller."

"And I’ve got a Kurzweil PC2 that I use sounds out of and as a controller as well."

"I use B4 and I also use [GSI] VB3. That thing’s fabulous for certain things. I have to say, I think VB3 is the best sounding emulation. I know people like David Rosenthal have got a real Leslie and all that on stage, and I come from that generation. But what I need from an organ is it to sit in the middle of everything else. There are a few things, like “Let Me Roll It” that are organ heavy."

Wickens at the the Fred Walecki Benefit Concert on August 8, 2000.

Wix can be seen using a Gibson Hummingbird throughout the performance of Helter Skelter at Live 8

In this live performance video, at 13:12, Paul can be seen with a Ernie Ball Polypro Guitar Strap.

In this live performance video, at 1:22:03, Paul can be seen playing a red Kazoo.

"I had an Akai weighted motherboard on the bottom, and then a Roland A-50 I think, which was a non-weighted controller. I had two controllers that didn’t make a noise going into a Roland U-110 module. I also had a Roland S-770 sampler because I liked the sonics of it, as well as a few other modules."

I had an Akai weighted motherboard on the bottom, and then a Roland A-50 I think, which was a non-weighted controller. I had two controllers that didn’t make a noise going into a Roland U-110 module. I also had a Roland S-770 sampler because I liked the sonics of it, as well as a few other modules.

"I got rid of the U-110, but I’ve got some of the old JV-5080s and 1080s, and I’ve got cards for them."

I got rid of the U-110, but I’ve got some of the old JV-5080s and 1080s, and I’ve got cards for them.

"For orchestral stuff, there’s great libraries around, although some of the streaming libraries are so big and so unwieldly that I’d like to get smaller versions of them. So I’m sticking with that, and a lot of combinations of things. I still use the Akai S5000 software, although I’ve now got a couple of versions of Apple MainStage, and they’re playing some samples and doing some sounds."

"I use B4 and I also use [GSI] VB3. That thing’s fabulous for certain things. I have to say, I think VB3 is the best sounding emulation. I know people like David Rosenthal have got a real Leslie and all that on stage, and I come from that generation. But what I need from an organ is it to sit in the middle of everything else. There are a few things, like “Let Me Roll It” that are organ heavy."

"I’ve also got a little Novation that I do some of the analog sounds on, as well as an old [E-Mu] Proteus Ultra. The thing about that is that has another sonic signature. You’re mixing strings out of that with your samples, and the samples I’m using are not streaming. They’re out of the S5000, so I use them as a base and I add to them with other cards. And for me, it’s the combination rather than one thing trying to do it that makes the difference. In the studio, if you’re trying to recreate an orchestra, it’s fine. But we’re making big pictures. Some of the finesse that you would put in the studio you’re not going to hear. People want to hear the signature sound playing a signature part."

"Keyboardist and musical director Paul "Wix" Wickens and his keyboard tech, Howard “DJ” Howes, have been using a QSC TouchMix-30 Pro professional digital mixer and K.2 Series loudspeakers as part of Wickens’ stage rig. 'Wix requires his own set of speakers onstage just like a guitarist requires an amp,' said Howes. 'He wants to hear his sound coming from the backline as opposed to the monitors or front-of-house.'"

As a result, Howes got his hands on the K.2 Series loudspeakers: “We previously had an association with another speaker company and the sound was never quite what we wanted. I mentioned the K.2 Series to Wix. As he wanted something on the bigger side onstage, we chose two K12.2s and two KSubs. Out of the box, we got instant clarity. We didn’t have to EQ them—we just let the crossovers do their work. The K.2s have a lot of presence and sit very well in a live environment.”

As a result, Howes got his hands on the K.2 Series loudspeakers: “We previously had an association with another speaker company and the sound was never quite what we wanted. I mentioned the K.2 Series to Wix. As he wanted something on the bigger side onstage, we chose two K12.2s and two KSubs. Out of the box, we got instant clarity. We didn’t have to EQ them—we just let the crossovers do their work. The K.2s have a lot of presence and sit very well in a live environment.”

Paul 'Wix' Wickens is shown using the Arturia KeyLab 88 in a user-uploaded photo on the Arturia website.