David Ferguson

David Ferguson (keyboards): Korg 800 DV, Micro Korg, Mini Korg, Logan String Melody, Wasp synthesiser, Roland 101 Echo, Stylophone, Yamaha 100W amp, Roland rhythm box, Coloursound fuzz, MXR blue box, Boss 6channel mixer and many tapes and tape loops.

David Ferguson (keyboards): Korg 800 DV, Micro Korg, Mini Korg, Logan String Melody, Wasp synthesiser, Roland 101 Echo, Stylophone, Yamaha 100W amp, Roland rhythm box, Coloursound fuzz, MXR blue box, Boss 6channel mixer and many tapes and tape loops.

David Ferguson (keyboards): Korg 800 DV, Micro Korg, Mini Korg, Logan String Melody, Wasp synthesiser, Roland 101 Echo, Stylophone, Yamaha 100W amp, Roland rhythm box, Coloursound fuzz, MXR blue box, Boss 6channel mixer and many tapes and tape loops.

David Ferguson (keyboards): Korg 800 DV, Micro Korg, Mini Korg, Logan String Melody, Wasp synthesiser, Roland 101 Echo, Stylophone, Yamaha 100W amp, Roland rhythm box, Coloursound fuzz, MXR blue box, Boss 6channel mixer and many tapes and tape loops.

David Ferguson (keyboards): Korg 800 DV, Micro Korg, Mini Korg, Logan String Melody, Wasp synthesiser, Roland 101 Echo, Stylophone, Yamaha 100W amp, Roland rhythm box, Coloursound fuzz, MXR blue box, Boss 6channel mixer and many tapes and tape loops.

David Ferguson (keyboards): Korg 800 DV, Micro Korg, Mini Korg, Logan String Melody, Wasp synthesiser, Roland 101 Echo, Stylophone, Yamaha 100W amp, Roland rhythm box, Coloursound fuzz, MXR blue box, Boss 6channel mixer and many tapes and tape loops.

David Ferguson (keyboards): Korg 800 DV, Micro Korg, Mini Korg, Logan String Melody, Wasp synthesiser, Roland 101 Echo, Stylophone, Yamaha 100W amp, Roland rhythm box, Coloursound fuzz, MXR blue box, Boss 6channel mixer and many tapes and tape loops.

In the wake of Random Hold's break‑up, David's gear consisted of "bits and pieces. I think I had a PPG Wave 2.2 and a Linndrum, and a 4‑track Portastudio."

In the wake of Random Hold's break‑up, David's gear consisted of "bits and pieces. I think I had a PPG Wave 2.2 and a Linndrum, and a 4‑track Portastudio."

"My favourite piece of gear of all time is the Alesis Microverb." This could be seen as a strange admission for a man at the top of his profession, who can afford a corresponding level of equipment. But David is adamant: "It's just the best reverb in the world. Well, it's not actually the best reverb in the world, but I like it. In fact, it wasn't until I heard TC's M5000 that I was tempted by any other reverb. I'd been so impressed by the M5000's reverbs that the second the Wizard appeared I bought one. It does everything, and somehow it's got character. That's what it is with the Microverb. It's clearly technically not a very good reverb, but it has character."

With his background as keyboardist with Random Hold, you might expect David to have a soft spot for synths, and he does — but they're mostly antique: "All through Random Hold I had a Minikorg, Microkorg and an 800DV. I loved the noises they made. Currently the only two synthesizers I use are the Wavestation SR and a Yamaha AN1x, which is all right, though very limited."

With his background as keyboardist with Random Hold, you might expect David to have a soft spot for synths, and he does — but they're mostly antique: "All through Random Hold I had a Minikorg, Microkorg and an 800DV. I loved the noises they made. Currently the only two synthesizers I use are the Wavestation SR and a Yamaha AN1x, which is all right, though very limited."

"Sample libraries, to me, have become much more important than gear. I buy virtually everything Time & Space put out, apart from the dance‑orientated CDs. I've got the Peter Siedlaczek ones, the Miroslav Vitous stuff, Heart of Asia, Heart of Africa, Ultimate Piano, Mediterranean Instruments... When we were doing the music for Bravo Two Zero, there were some scenes where they wanted Iraqi radio playing, and it was so useful to be able to get a drum loop off Mediterranean Instruments and put a little bouzouki thing over the top. We were able to come up with a pretty convincing forgery really quickly."

"Sample libraries, to me, have become much more important than gear. I buy virtually everything Time & Space put out, apart from the dance‑orientated CDs. I've got the Peter Siedlaczek ones, the Miroslav Vitous stuff, Heart of Asia, Heart of Africa, Ultimate Piano, Mediterranean Instruments... When we were doing the music for Bravo Two Zero, there were some scenes where they wanted Iraqi radio playing, and it was so useful to be able to get a drum loop off Mediterranean Instruments and put a little bouzouki thing over the top. We were able to come up with a pretty convincing forgery really quickly."

Since samples are the core tools of David's trade, he spends a lot of time with his samplers: "The samplers I use most are the Roland S760s. I've got two, and an SP700, which is the playback machine." Clearly he prefers the Roland 'way'. "I find that the Rolands sound so musical — I think they've got the best tone. Roland obviously spent a lot of time developing their sample library, which is very good. For instance, with the Orchestral Percussion CD‑ROM, the effects you can get are great, like having the timpani crescendo via the modulation wheel. I rarely use the Rolands to actually sample; in fact, Akais are quicker for that, but I find the Roland file management system better."

David's a Mac user, running Emagic's Logic Platinum sequencer on a G3 266 computer. He graduated to Mac Logic in the same way as many musicians — via Notator on the Atari — and still has a lingering fondness for a program that progress tells us is outdated. "I adored Notator. Now I'm reasonably quick with Logic, but I don't think its front window is as good. They felt they had to follow the Cubase line, and I think that was a mistake.

David's a Mac user, running Emagic's Logic Platinum sequencer on a G3 266 computer. He graduated to Mac Logic in the same way as many musicians — via Notator on the Atari — and still has a lingering fondness for a program that progress tells us is outdated. "I adored Notator. Now I'm reasonably quick with Logic, but I don't think its front window is as good. They felt they had to follow the Cubase line, and I think that was a mistake."

David's a Mac user, running Emagic's Logic Platinum sequencer on a G3 266 computer. He graduated to Mac Logic in the same way as many musicians — via Notator on the Atari — and still has a lingering fondness for a program that progress tells us is outdated. "I adored Notator. Now I'm reasonably quick with Logic, but I don't think its front window is as good. They felt they had to follow the Cubase line, and I think that was a mistake."

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.

David Ferguson's equipment list:

Apple G3 266 computer, 96Mb RAM/4Gb HD. Akai S3000XL sampler. Alesis ADAT XT digital recorder/BRC remote. Alesis Microverb effects. Bit 99 synth. Drawmer DS201 Gate & LX20 compressor. Emagic Logic Platinum 2.6 sequencer. Emu Proteus 1, 2 & 3 sound modules. ("On the album, the 'Hall Strings' preset from Emu's first Proteus module is used a lot, because it's a great marcato string sound.") Emu Proformance piano module. Ensoniq VFX synth. FriendChip Timecode Refresher. Iomega Jaz drive. Korg 1212 PCI card. Korg DRV3000 effects. ("Weird and sometimes wonderful.") Korg Wavestation SR synth. Lexicon MPX1000 effects. Logan String Melody keyboard. ("The last of Random Hold.") Mackie 32:8:2 mixer. Oberheim DPX1 sample player. Roland D550 synth. Roland S760 samplers/SP700 playback unit. Sony 600Mb optical drive. Sony DTC690 DAT recorder. Spirit Absolute 2 monitors. SPL Vitalizer enhancer. Symetrix 511A noise reduction. Tascam DA30 MkII DAT recorder. TC M2000 Wizard effects. Yamaha AN1x synth. Yamaha SPX50 effects.