Dan Deacon

Prominently in the center of his setup, we see Dan using a Casio SK-8 as his keyboard of choice.

In front of Dan in this photo, an OP-1 can be seen. Also, in this tweet Dan asks, "anyone know where to get replacement keys for the OP-1? i've lost several plus two of the dial caps (volume + blue)."

A Wavetek Model 30 is visible in this April 5, 2008 photograph by Milo Winningham, the Pitchfork In the Studio documentary on Bromst at 2:10, this May 25, 2012 Instagram post, this press photo from this August 19, 2012 NPR article, and this photo of Deacon's rig from this January 2013 Sound on Sound interview. It is also mentioned in this November 7, 2013 Tumblr repost and in this June 9, 2021, reply to Instagram user frankspigner on a June 7, 2021 post.

NPR, August 19, 2012, "First Listen: Dan Deacon, 'America'" by Bob Boilen

Sound on Sound, January 2013, "Dan Deacon: Performing Electronica Live"

Dan's musical contribution is the manipulation of various sound sources, including his own voice, the output from a [Wavetek] oscillator, the feed from the live drums and pre-mixed backing tracks bounced down onto an iPod. For these tasks, he uses an array of carefully chosen processors and effects, wired up so as to maximise their performance potential.

Deacon's touring pedal board includes a Wavetek Oscillator, a Digitech Whammy, an Ibanez PM7 phase modulator and a Casio keyboard. He also has a small Behringer mixer on stage, which he uses to process the drum submix coming from the front-of-house desk.

Tumblr, November 7, 2013

wow!!!!! sick watercolor of my wavetek 30 signal generator!

Instagram, June 9, 2021, reply to frankspigner on a June 7, 2021 post

frankspigner What happened to the Wavetek 180 that you found at Purchase?

dandeacon @frankspigner I’ve had a few wavetek 180s over the years but sadly most of them are toast now. I have one that stays in my studio. I toured with a wavetek 30 for a while and really loved that little osc. It’s a table top version

According to the following sources, Deacon used a Wavetek Model 180 in the 2000s. He had rescued it from the garbage at SUNY Purchase and repaired it.

NBC, WSAV-TV, Coastal Sunrise, March 30, 2005) (@ 1:55)

Dan Deacon: Well this is a function generator, which makes sine waves and square waves and a pulse and I run that through the–

Lyndy Brannen: I mean, this is something that would've been in a TV repair shop thirty-five years ago.

Deacon: Sure. I found that in the garbage and I fixed it up. But um, I run that through a pitch shift and harmonizer and a ring modulator and delay and, uh... other than that I run my voice through that, and that's basically... I have a vocoder underneath it.

Brannen: Vocoder, ring modulator, these are all things that have been around for a long time.

Deacon: Yeah. Well, the vocoder's... that guy is relatively new, but that signal– the Wavetek is a wonderful old guy.

Pitchfork, "Guest Lists: Dan Deacon" (May 15, 2007)

__ >> Favorite Piece of Musical Equipment __

Casiotone MT-400V

I really like my Wavetek 180 signal generator. It's really been the most fun thing, but I guess it's only fun through other pedals. As a stand alone instrument you can't do that much with it, since it's just one droning square wave. But that paired up with the Line6 delay pedal has been my favorite piece in the world. But I guess…a nice Casiotone is always an endless mammoth of sound that can be fun. Especially the MT-400V, which is the one that I've been using for the longest and that's my favorite piece of gear that I have.

And if anyone has the filter, microphone adapter, I would love to trade something for it. I don't have it. Anyone? Please?

Associated Press, asap, "Dan Deacon's electronic jungle" by Otis Hart, Ray Zablocki and Peter Hamlin (2007) (pictured up close; had an explanatory video that is no longer extant online) (.swf Archives: One, Two, Three, Four)

Photo by keinsignal on Flickr, taken July 2, 2007, "Dan Deacon's equipment" (visible)

NPR, April 22, 2009, "On Tour With Dan Deacon And His Veggie Oil Van"

PAUL [guest caller from Boston]: How did you decide on a process or a series of equipment to use initially?

Mr. DEACON: Well, that's a good question. I found a signal generator, a Wavetek 180, in the garbage at my college, and I was fascinated with it. I had been writing computer music for a while and wanted to figure out a way how to do it live and finding this oscillator really opened up a lot of doors, but, you know, it was just one tone and everything was just a straight gliss, I couldn't really go from step to step and... just started thinking what I could use to, you know, modify and modulate the sound to get it to do what I wanted and... I thought a pitch shift pedal and a loop pedal would do exactly that, so I could change the pitch and I could layer them together and create, you know, harmony and melody, and noise various levels of density. And at some point, I added a ring modulator, and that sort of started it from there. And once I had the pitch shift pedal and the ring modulator and the loop pedal, I started thinking less about using the oscillator, more about using the voice and started making the performance very based around vocal manipulation - that's when the vocals were added.

Reddit, u/dandeacondotcom, AMA reply to u/_karass (October 17, 2017)

_karass What's the most useful piece of music/recording gear you own (besides laptop)?

dandeacondotcom Whammy Pedal or Wavetek 180. waketek was vital to me wanting to perform electronic music live but i no longer use it. the whammy, has never left my setup and i use it on every album and at every show.

Instagram, June 9, 2021, reply to frankspigner on a June 7, 2021 post

frankspigner What happened to the Wavetek 180 that you found at Purchase?

dandeacon @frankspigner I’ve had a few wavetek 180s over the years but sadly most of them are toast now. I have one that stays in my studio. I toured with a wavetek 30 for a while and really loved that little osc. It’s a table top version

According to the following sources, Deacon used a Casiotone MT-400V in the 2000s. It had belonged to his friend Nick, with whom he traded another keyboard for it.

NBC, WSAV-TV, Coastal Sunrise, March 30, 2005) (@ 0:31)

Lyndy Brannen: There's nothing really new in here, I mean this Casiotone, how long have you been carrying this thing around?

Dan Deacon: Um, I gue–, well, it was my friend Nick's, who I grew up with and he's had it since he was, you know, as long as he can remember and I traded it for a different keyboard but, it's a beautiful beast, I really love it.

Pitchfork, "Guest Lists: Dan Deacon" (May 15, 2007)

__ >> Favorite Piece of Musical Equipment __

Casiotone MT-400V

I really like my Wavetek 180 signal generator. It's really been the most fun thing, but I guess it's only fun through other pedals. As a stand alone instrument you can't do that much with it, since it's just one droning square wave. But that paired up with the Line6 delay pedal has been my favorite piece in the world. But I guess…a nice Casiotone is always an endless mammoth of sound that can be fun. Especially the MT-400V, which is the one that I've been using for the longest and that's my favorite piece of gear that I have.

And if anyone has the filter, microphone adapter, I would love to trade something for it. I don't have it. Anyone? Please?

Associated Press, asap, "Dan Deacon's electronic jungle" by Otis Hart, Ray Zablocki and Peter Hamlin (2007) (pictured up close; had an explanatory video that is no longer extant online) (.swf Archives: One, Two, Three, Four)

Photo by keinsignal on Flickr, taken July 2, 2007, "Dan Deacon's equipment" (visible)