Alan Moulder

"The effects returns on the SSL are pretty much hard-wired, and I would have used a selection of them. On the left side are the Elysia compressor, Fatso Jr tape simulator and compressor, Neve 33609 compressor, Ridge Farm Boiler compressor, Distressor, Dbx 160 compressor, AMS DMX150s delay, Eventide 2016 and H3500 effect units, and EMT plate reverb, and on the right the Drawmer compressor, Valley People Dynamite compressor, Marshall Time Modulator which is an '80s short delay and phaser, Delta Lab Effectron which is a very old digital delay, Thermionic Culture Vulture, Dbx 120 [subharmonic synthesizer] and Eventide H910 Harmonizer.”

John Paul Jones' bass parts were re-amped through Alan Moulder's custom Audio Kitchen bass amp, miked with a Neumann U47 FET. "The bass pedal was also DI'ed, and so I re-amped that through the Audio Kitchen, adding some RBass, RVox and also Sound Toys Filter Freak…"

When it comes to effects plug-ins, Moulder fancies Waves. “I use the L1 a lot for getting things to cut through and sit in mixes,” he says. “The Renaissance EQ I like for digital equalizing and their De-esser works well. I use the McDSP stuff a lot for filtering and their new multi-band compressors and analog channels are good, too.

"The more reliable Otari MTR90 II is the favoured machine, whereas the Studer A800 MKIII is on hand if needed."

"Drums: NI Battery, Waves Renaissance Bass, Avid Reverb One, Valhalla Room, IK Classik Reverb, Elysia Mpressor, Empirical Labs Fatso and Distressor, Neve 33609, Dbx 160 and 120, Valley People Dynamite, Drawmer DS201."

"Trent Reznor: Alan Moulder shows up to work with me and immediately demands I check out the Quad Fromage (which somehow I was unaware of) and well, the rest is history. Really excellent tools that have been inspiring to work with."

Image 5 of 14 ValhallaRoom was used on the drums

When it comes to effects plug-ins, Moulder fancies Waves. “I use the L1 a lot for getting things to cut through and sit in mixes,” he says. “The Renaissance EQ I like for digital equalizing and their De-esser works well. I use the McDSP stuff a lot for filtering and their new multi-band compressors and analog channels are good, too.

"Opposite the left-hand mirrored wall are the two isolation booths, one of which contains Flood and Alan’s collection of vintage analogue synthesizers, including the Roland System 700 modular, EMS VCS3 and Moog Minimoog. There are also a couple of guitar racks, one holding a Fender bass, identical to the one owned by U2’s Adam Clayton."

"The main recording system, located in a space at the back of the control room is a Protools HD3 Accel rig running on an Intel 8-core Mac Pro. The converters are clocked by a Rosendahl Nanosync and there are 48 outputs and 24 inputs."

"As far as monitoring goes, Alan still relies on Yamaha NS10s and Auratone speakers, although these have recently been joined on the Neve’s meter bridge by Dynaudio BM15As."

"As far as monitoring goes, Alan still relies on Yamaha NS10s and Auratone speakers, although these have recently been joined on the Neve’s meter bridge by Dynaudio BM15As."

"One thing that’s gets used on his mixes all the time at the moment is the EMT 140 Plate reverb, and apparently the studio has several of them. The reason why the huge EMTs can’t be seen anywhere in the studio however, is because they are in a room up on the roof! 'We actually had to hire a crane to lift them up there,' laughs Alan."

Assault & Battery is graced with a 72-channel SSL G+ 4000-series desk, which is still crucial to Moulder's way of working. "It sounds better, and also… I'm old! It's what I'm used to. It feels right. And I like being able to immediately go to several buttons at once and change things. I bought this desk from Trent Reznor, who had it in his studio in New Orleans, and when I worked on it, I really felt that it had something about it. All desks sound different, and I really like the sound of this one. All the music passed through the desk, but in terms of how I worked, I did rides on the desk for more general 'feel' moves and in the box for detailed things, like picking out the drum hits in 'Good Times, Bad Times'.”

"As I said before, the session was extremely well-presented, with everything grouped and trimmed and in many cases treated with EQ and compression. As a rule, I didn't change the trimming, EQ and compression that were already in the mix. I also set my own EQ and compression and effects for the entire session, and then made adjustments for each individual song, though a lot of these involved simply changing levels. The effects returns on the SSL are pretty much hard-wired, and I would have used a selection of them. On the left side are the Elysia compressor, Fatso Jr tape simulator and compressor, Neve 33609 compressor, Ridge Farm Boiler compressor, Distressor, Dbx 160 compressor, AMS DMX150s delay, Eventide 2016 and H3500 effect units, and EMT plate reverb, and on the right the Drawmer compressor, Valley People Dynamite compressor, Marshall Time Modulator which is an '80s short delay and phaser, Delta Lab Effectron which is a very old digital delay, Thermionic Culture Vulture, Dbx 120 [subharmonic synthesizer] and Eventide H910 Harmonizer.”

"Drums: NI Battery, Waves Renaissance Bass, Avid Reverb One, Valhalla Room, IK Classik Reverb, Elysia Mpressor, Empirical Labs Fatso and Distressor, Neve 33609, Dbx 160 and 120, Valley People Dynamite, Drawmer DS201."

"Drums: NI Battery, Waves Renaissance Bass, Avid Reverb One, Valhalla Room, IK Classik Reverb, Elysia Mpressor, Empirical Labs Fatso and Distressor, Neve 33609, Dbx 160 and 120, Valley People Dynamite, Drawmer DS201."

"The effects returns on the SSL are pretty much hard-wired, and I would have used a selection of them. On the left side are the Elysia compressor, Fatso Jr tape simulator and compressor, Neve 33609 compressor, Ridge Farm Boiler compressor, Distressor, Dbx 160 compressor, AMS DMX150s delay, Eventide 2016 and H3500 effect units, and EMT plate reverb, and on the right the Drawmer compressor, Valley People Dynamite compressor, Marshall Time Modulator which is an '80s short delay and phaser, Delta Lab Effectron which is a very old digital delay, Thermionic Culture Vulture, Dbx 120 [subharmonic synthesizer] and Eventide H910 Harmonizer.”

John Paul Jones' bass parts were re-amped through Alan Moulder's custom Audio Kitchen bass amp, miked with a Neumann U47 FET

He got his first experience with computer sequencing while producing a solo album with his now wife, Toni Halliday, before she was in Curve. “We did the album together and I had to learn Steinberg’s Pro 24 program to do the demos,” says Moulder.

Moulder runs ProTools, Logic, Reason and Reaktor on a Power Mac in the studio, and on a PowerBook for remote editing.

Moulder runs ProTools, Logic, Reason and Reaktor on a Power Mac in the studio, and on a PowerBook for remote editing.

Moulder runs ProTools, Logic, Reason and Reaktor on a Power Mac in the studio, and on a PowerBook for remote editing.

When it comes to effects plug-ins, Moulder fancies Waves. “I use the L1 a lot for getting things to cut through and sit in mixes,” he says. “The Renaissance EQ I like for digital equalizing and their De-esser works well. I use the McDSP stuff a lot for filtering and their new multi-band compressors and analog channels are good, too.

"Opposite the left-hand mirrored wall are the two isolation booths, one of which contains Flood and Alan’s collection of vintage analogue synthesizers, including the Roland System 700 modular, EMS VCS3 and Moog Minimoog."

"Opposite the left-hand mirrored wall are the two isolation booths, one of which contains Flood and Alan’s collection of vintage analogue synthesizers, including the Roland System 700 modular, EMS VCS3 and Moog Minimoog."

"The main recording system, located in a space at the back of the control room is a Protools HD3 Accel rig running on an Intel 8-core Mac Pro."

The more reliable Otari MTR90 II is the favoured machine, whereas the Studer A800 MKIII is on hand if needed.

"We’ve been using Neumann U47s and Shure SM57s – the usual mics – and it seems to work pretty well."

"We’ve been using Neumann U47s and Shure SM57s – the usual mics – and it seems to work pretty well."