David Ball

"I would say the only similarity was to do with the tempo of Northern Soul and our faster numbers. On ‘Tainted Love’ I used a Roland Compurhythm CR78 drum machine, I first used a TR808 on ‘Bedsitter’, the follow-up single. I think that was possibly the first record in the UK Top 10 to use an 808."

Dave Ball used the Korg 800DV, also known as the Maxikorg and K3, all over early Soft Cell material and live performances.

"We also use quite a lot of old stuff, because I've still got things like a PPG 2.2, and we've used a Prophet 5, Juno 106 and Jupiter 8 because there's a lot of arpeggiated stuff. A big problem with a lot of modern sequencers is that you have to write arpeggiation in yourself- there isn't actually a machine which arpeggiates, which is a shame because it's nice when it's more random. We use S1000s, S900s, and an FZ1. I tend to use the FZ1 as my main sampler just because that happened to be the one that I bought."

"The sampler we used was a Synclavier MkII that belonged to our producer, Mike Thorne. I only used the sampler for the bass guitar on the track ‘Martin’ on the bonus 12” single."

"We also use quite a lot of old stuff, because I've still got things like a PPG 2.2, and we've used a Prophet 5, Juno 106 and Jupiter 8 because there's a lot of arpeggiated stuff. A big problem with a lot of modern sequencers is that you have to write arpeggiation in yourself- there isn't actually a machine which arpeggiates, which is a shame because it's nice when it's more random. We use S1000s, S900s, and an FZ1. I tend to use the FZ1 as my main sampler just because that happened to be the one that I bought."

Dave Ball used a Yamaha FB-01 on the Grid album "Electric Head," according to the liner notes.

In this 1999 interview, producer Mike Thorne details how the Delta Lab DL4 digital delay was used to mangle a “snare-ish” noise to create the the opening ‘bing bing’ sound on the song, Tainted Love.

David Ball, known for his work with Soft Cell, utilized the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer both in the studio and during live performances, as evidenced by a photo from Pauldakeyne.

"In retrospect I actually prefer the TR808 drum machine on the previous album, as opposed to the Oberheim DMX and Linn Drum MkII on ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’."

"In retrospect I actually prefer the TR808 drum machine on the previous album, as opposed to the Oberheim DMX and Linn Drum MkII on ‘The Art Of Falling Apart’."

"We also use quite a lot of old stuff, because I've still got things like a PPG 2.2, and we've used a Prophet 5, Juno 106 and Jupiter 8 because there's a lot of arpeggiated stuff. A big problem with a lot of modern sequencers is that you have to write arpeggiation in yourself- there isn't actually a machine which arpeggiates, which is a shame because it's nice when it's more random. We use S1000s, S900s, and an FZ1. I tend to use the FZ1 as my main sampler just because that happened to be the one that I bought."

"We've got a virtual modular system in Reaktor on the Mac, and we've got a System 100, and we're cross-patching them. That, to me, is perfect, because you're getting the best of both worlds."

"My first synth was a Mini Korg 800DV, followed by a Korg Synthe-Bass SB-100 and I had Rhythm Master drum machine that played presets like Bossa Nova, then I got a Boss Dr Rhythm which was programmable."

"I would say the only similarity was to do with the tempo of Northern Soul and our faster numbers. On ‘Tainted Love’ I used a Roland Compurhythm CR78 drum machine, I first used a TR808 on ‘Bedsitter’, the follow-up single. I think that was possibly the first record in the UK Top 10 to use an 808."

"A lot of it's the usual stuff, like an Atari with C-Lab software, although I still use an old Alesis MMT8 because I don't like screens"

"We also use quite a lot of old stuff, because I've still got things like a PPG 2.2, and we've used a Prophet 5, Juno 106 and Jupiter 8 because there's a lot of arpeggiated stuff. A big problem with a lot of modern sequencers is that you have to write arpeggiation in yourself- there isn't actually a machine which arpeggiates, which is a shame because it's nice when it's more random. We use S1000s, S900s, and an FZ1. I tend to use the FZ1 as my main sampler just because that happened to be the one that I bought."

"We also use quite a lot of old stuff, because I've still got things like a PPG 2.2, and we've used a Prophet 5, Juno 106 and Jupiter 8 because there's a lot of arpeggiated stuff. A big problem with a lot of modern sequencers is that you have to write arpeggiation in yourself- there isn't actually a machine which arpeggiates, which is a shame because it's nice when it's more random. We use S1000s, S900s, and an FZ1. I tend to use the FZ1 as my main sampler just because that happened to be the one that I bought."

"We also use quite a lot of old stuff, because I've still got things like a PPG 2.2, and we've used a Prophet 5, Juno 106 and Jupiter 8 because there's a lot of arpeggiated stuff. A big problem with a lot of modern sequencers is that you have to write arpeggiation in yourself- there isn't actually a machine which arpeggiates, which is a shame because it's nice when it's more random. We use S1000s, S900s, and an FZ1. I tend to use the FZ1 as my main sampler just because that happened to be the one that I bought."

Dave Ball played a Korg M1 on the Grid album "Electric Head," according to the liner notes.

Dave Ball played a Yamaha CS-5 on the Grid album "Electric Head," according to the liner notes.

Dave Ball used a Roland MKS-70 on the Grid album "Electric Head," according to the liner notes.

Dave Ball used an Alesis HR-16 on the Grid album "Electric Head," according to the liner notes.

Dave Ball used an Atari 1040ST on the Grid album "Electric Head," according to the liner notes.

"We've got a virtual modular system in Reaktor on the Mac, and we've got a System 100, and we're cross-patching them. That, to me, is perfect, because you're getting the best of both worlds."

"My first synth was a Mini Korg 800DV, followed by a Korg Synthe-Bass SB-100 and I had Rhythm Master drum machine that played presets like Bossa Nova, then I got a Boss Dr Rhythm which was programmable."

Quotes from an article about the recording of "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret" "It was at Mediasound, in Studio C, that recordings for Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret subsequently took place. This time around, Don Wershba was the engineer, and he sat alongside Mike Thorne behind what was, undoubtedly, no run-of-the-mill console.

“At that time, the Studio C setup was, in a word, hideous, but it was also the only one available for Mike to use whenever he wanted,” Wershba explains. “Located in the basement, it had some horrendous tube equipment because it was really just a voice-over room. It had a pair of Trident Fleximix PA consoles that were not set up for recording — they had no monitor section. However, since Mediasound was then one of the best studios around and Mike intended to do a lot of work there on a long-term basis, it actually hand-built a 24-track monitor section with pan pots, aux sends and no EQ. It was beautiful and the two 12-channel boards were stitched together.”

A 24-track, 3M tape machine was used for the Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret recording sessions, while Wershba usually monitored on Yamaha NS10s, even though he had the option of listening through Altec 604Es.

Engineer Don Wershba (left) and Mixing Engineer Harvey Goldberg in Central Park, early 1980s “It was a very small control room, but it was loaded with gear,” he continues. “This included [Teletronix] LA2As, [Urei] 1176s, Pultec and Lang EQ, EMT plates, some outboard Neve compressors, [an Eventide] 910 Harmonizer and an early Lexicon digital delay modulation device, which we used a lot because Mike liked it and he was always looking for unusual sounds. Then again, because we weren’t really into outboard mic preamps at that time, I probably just used the mic preamp in the console on Marc’s vocals… and I now apologise for that. Who knew?”"