Craig Potter

"We used a pair of Coles 4038 ribbon mics in a Blumlein (crossed) pair for most of the drum recordings – either over the drummer’s head, or out in front of the kit (which gives a very different sound, and we used this mic position for the songs when we wanted a bit more room sound on the kit). Danny Evans, our studio engineer, used these mics in this position a lot for Guy’s solo album and showed me this technique when Alex Reeves , who played on Guy’s album himself, came in to record. The 4038s have a warmth which was perfect for the kit sound we were looking for, and set up as a Blumlein pair, they give an amazing stereo image, picking up the elements of the kit in a very natural and balanced way. Normally the mics in a Blumlein would be set up at ninety degrees to each other, but by altering the angle between the two mics, it’s also possible to affect the stereo width of the recording."

"Likewise, the growling, portamento bass in 'Some Riot' was something that had to be crafted in the studio. 'That was a harmonica sample in a Korg Triton. When we play 'Switching Off' live, which is off Cast Of Thousands, I use that with an organ sound to create this kind of wind–organ type effect, like the old wind organs that have got a fan in them. It's had all the attack taken off so it's a slow fade–in, and then I actually played that live in the big room, so it's very much a big, roomy sound. There were two Fender Twins 30 feet apart and two mics pretty much facing them, 20 foot back. I was playing it and I was using the pitch–bend on it, but every time it bent down I was pushing the volume up, so you only really get the gritty distortion when it's actually moving from note to note, rather than on the actual note itself.'"

"With the release this week of new album 'Build A Rocket Boys!' and UK tour kicking off in Glasgow next week, Elbow have added a Nord Stage to their live rig. Craig Potter, Elbow's keyboard player and producer says, 'I'm so impressed by the Nord Stage 88 that it's made its way into our full time live set up. I have a feeling it'll be there for some time!' The timing of the tour's rehearsal period meant it was a Nord Stage EX added to the live rig which has now been superceded by the Nord Stage 2 Series."

"Working always with the album as a whole in mind, the total recallability of the band's Pro Tools HD rig was as important as any instrument. 'The way we put an album together is that if it goes cold at all in the writing or recording process, then we move on to another song,' says Craig Potter. 'We jump around between songs all the time, and then eventually it all comes together.'"

"I am a fan of saturation. The Waves SSL 4000–series stuff, I like the EQ on that, you can get distortion out of it that sounds like saturation. We have to use that subtly, but it works well on Guy [Garvey], not necessarily for air but for brightness. I like the McDSP AC1 and AC2 plug–ins and the DUY Tape's good, but they're all very subtle things, it depends where you put them in the chain. If you put them first, you can bring stuff out with EQ. I'm not scared of heavily compressing stuff, I do it quite a lot, but settings–wise, it's different all the time."

"I am a fan of saturation. The Waves SSL 4000–series stuff, I like the EQ on that, you can get distortion out of it that sounds like saturation. We have to use that subtly, but it works well on Guy [Garvey], not necessarily for air but for brightness. I like the McDSP AC1 and AC2 plug–ins and the DUY Tape's good, but they're all very subtle things, it depends where you put them in the chain. If you put them first, you can bring stuff out with EQ. I'm not scared of heavily compressing stuff, I do it quite a lot, but settings–wise, it's different all the time."

"I am a fan of saturation. The Waves SSL 4000–series stuff, I like the EQ on that, you can get distortion out of it that sounds like saturation. We have to use that subtly, but it works well on Guy [Garvey], not necessarily for air but for brightness. I like the McDSP AC1 and AC2 plug–ins and the DUY Tape's good, but they're all very subtle things, it depends where you put them in the chain. If you put them first, you can bring stuff out with EQ. I'm not scared of heavily compressing stuff, I do it quite a lot, but settings–wise, it's different all the time."

"I am a fan of saturation. The Waves SSL 4000–series stuff, I like the EQ on that, you can get distortion out of it that sounds like saturation. We have to use that subtly, but it works well on Guy [Garvey], not necessarily for air but for brightness. I like the McDSP AC1 and AC2 plug–ins and the DUY Tape's good, but they're all very subtle things, it depends where you put them in the chain. If you put them first, you can bring stuff out with EQ. I'm not scared of heavily compressing stuff, I do it quite a lot, but settings–wise, it's different all the time."

"Re–amping and distortion are likewise more important to Craig Potter's own keyboard sounds than experimentation with synthesis or sampling. 'I don't have many old analogue synths, I have a few, but I usually just use piano and bits of organ,' he says. 'I suppose I'm just a big fan of distortion, really. I distort everything! Piano distortion I love. We just chuck a 58 or a 57 in the piano and then we run that out, make sure there's plenty of doors in the way so it doesn't feed back, crank it up through an amp — I love that sort of thing. So it is basically piano that I play, bit of organ, some synths. We've got the Microkorg we used for the bass on 'Bones Of You' and we've got a Nord, little bits and bobs.'"

"Re–amping and distortion are likewise more important to Craig Potter's own keyboard sounds than experimentation with synthesis or sampling. 'I don't have many old analogue synths, I have a few, but I usually just use piano and bits of organ,' he says. 'I suppose I'm just a big fan of distortion, really. I distort everything! Piano distortion I love. We just chuck a 58 or a 57 in the piano and then we run that out, make sure there's plenty of doors in the way so it doesn't feed back, crank it up through an amp — I love that sort of thing. So it is basically piano that I play, bit of organ, some synths. We've got the Microkorg we used for the bass on 'Bones Of You' and we've got a Nord, little bits and bobs.'"

"Re–amping and distortion are likewise more important to Craig Potter's own keyboard sounds than experimentation with synthesis or sampling. 'I don't have many old analogue synths, I have a few, but I usually just use piano and bits of organ,' he says. 'I suppose I'm just a big fan of distortion, really. I distort everything! Piano distortion I love. We just chuck a 58 or a 57 in the piano and then we run that out, make sure there's plenty of doors in the way so it doesn't feed back, crank it up through an amp — I love that sort of thing. So it is basically piano that I play, bit of organ, some synths. We've got the Microkorg we used for the bass on 'Bones Of You' and we've got a Nord, little bits and bobs.'"

"With the release this week of new album 'Build A Rocket Boys!' and UK tour kicking off in Glasgow next week, Elbow have added a Nord Stage to their live rig. Craig Potter, Elbow's keyboard player and producer says, 'I'm so impressed by the Nord Stage 88 that it's made its way into our full time live set up. I have a feeling it'll be there for some time!' The timing of the tour's rehearsal period meant it was a Nord Stage EX added to the live rig which has now been superceded by the Nord Stage 2 Series."

"One of my go-to bits of gear when mixing is the Altiverb EMT 140 Wendy Carlos plate reverb. It's by no means the only verb I use, but if I'm not trying to sit the various elements in a room that others are sat in, then this is pretty much what I get up first. I'll often use the pre-delay that comes with the plugin, or put my own delay in front of it. If I want something with a little more movement, I'll chuck a tape delay before the Altiverb. It's a really lovely reverb. We’ve also used Altiverb to make an impulse response of the big room at Blueprint, which has come in handy now and again as we have used that room quite a bit over the years."

"I heard about this via a couple of friends on Facebook who have bad backs, and recommended this as a way of being able to mix for long periods without ending up in massive pain – something I’ve got plenty of experience with! It’s a desk that you can lift up so you can stand and mix as well as lay flat for sit-down mixing. It enabled me to walk rather than crawl out of the studio on many occasions whilst making the album – but there is a downside that I hadn’t thought about. You’re supposed to take a decent amount of breaks when mixing, and sitting down meant I had to do that, but with this, I can mix for a lot longer on each stretch. Then again, the last mixing session on Little Fictions turned into a twenty-two hour overnight marathon, so it probably saved me from a fair amount of physical pain. It also means I can do a little dance when the mix is going well. That’s how I know we’re getting there, when the little dance starts coming in."

Visible in this Twitter post by Elbow bandmate Pete Turner.

Visible in this picture from Getty Images, used in this 2011 MusicRadar interview with Elbow bandmate and brother Mark Potter. Also more clearly visible in this photo.