Front 242

In 80s footage of a live Front 242 performance appearing in the Belpop TV program about the band you can clearly see Patrick performing on an Emulator II.

Speaking @ Red Bull Music Academy in Barcelona, 2008 session, band member Patrick Codenys stated:

So, basically, we did almost one album per technology. You could say the first album was analog, second one was analog but another development, third album was DX7, algorithm, first digital, and each time we were starting an album it was basically partly the instruments who were trying to tell us what expression, what aesthetic we could try to find in that machine.

Per the liner notes of Front 242's 2003 album Pulse:

Some of the tools used: Clavia Nordlead 2, NordModular, Ddrum4, Korg Z1, Lassence Ventury II, Roland System 100, Vdrum, JD990, Yamaha VL1, Sherman filterbank, Roland Rss, Line 6 EchoPro, Ableton live and Mac computers

Front242 lists the Korg R3 on their official website as part of their live performance equipment.

On their official site, Front242 lists the V-Synth amongst their live performance equipment.

Per "Rock This Town" publication, special issue 1991:

In 1991, the setup was as follows: [Rock This Town special issue 1991]

Sound studio: Analog Synths: Roland System 100/100M/101 (+Roland Midi interface MPU-101);YAMAHA CS-40M (in the Take One video); Oberheim Matrix 1000; Digital Synths: Yamaha DX-7 (2); Ensonic VFX; Roland DDR30; Yamaha tg77; Korg Wavestation; Sequencer: Atari 1040 (Sequ. Cubase 2.0); Samplers: AkaiS9000 (2); AkaiS1000 (8Mg + Hard Drive Mfile 44); AkaiS1000PB (4Mg); Emulator II; akai 1100, e-mu Procussion, roland s-10 for live use @ the mixing desk; Effects: Lexicon 480L; Yamaha SPX90 II (2); Roland SRV-2000; Roland SDE-3000; Alesis Midiverb II; Alesis Quadraverb; ART DRX; spx 1000 (x2); Eventide h3000 se; Mixing: Table TAC Scorpion 32/16; Recorder TASCAM MS16 tracks; Recorder DAT Luxman; Speakers Yamaha NS 10M pro ATC SCM50; QUAD ampli (for NS-10M); Diverse: compressor/limiter, noise gate, parametric eq. Live: Backline: Akai S9000; Roland DDR30; Simons & Roland Pads; Emulator II; TASCAM238 8

Graphic Studio: Commodore Amiga 2500 (6Mg + Hard Drive 40Mg); Commodore Amiga 500; Digitizer SNAPSHOT; Camera Sony CCD V-200E; Laserprint NEC Silentwriter LC890; Monitor NEC Multisync 2A.

Per "Rock This Town" publication, special issue 1991:

In 1991, the setup was as follows: [Rock This Town special issue 1991]

Sound studio: Analog Synths: Roland System 100/100M/101 (+Roland Midi interface MPU-101);YAMAHA CS-40M (in the Take One video); Oberheim Matrix 1000; Digital Synths: Yamaha DX-7 (2); Ensonic VFX; Roland DDR30; Yamaha tg77; Korg Wavestation; Sequencer: Atari 1040 (Sequ. Cubase 2.0); Samplers: AkaiS9000 (2); AkaiS1000 (8Mg + Hard Drive Mfile 44); AkaiS1000PB (4Mg); Emulator II; akai 1100, e-mu Procussion, roland s-10 for live use @ the mixing desk; Effects: Lexicon 480L; Yamaha SPX90 II (2); Roland SRV-2000; Roland SDE-3000; Alesis Midiverb II; Alesis Quadraverb; ART DRX; spx 1000 (x2); Eventide h3000 se; Mixing: Table TAC Scorpion 32/16; Recorder TASCAM MS16 tracks; Recorder DAT Luxman; Speakers Yamaha NS 10M pro ATC SCM50; QUAD ampli (for NS-10M); Diverse: compressor/limiter, noise gate, parametric eq. Live: Backline: Akai S9000; Roland DDR30; Simons & Roland Pads; Emulator II; TASCAM238 8

Graphic Studio: Commodore Amiga 2500 (6Mg + Hard Drive 40Mg); Commodore Amiga 500; Digitizer SNAPSHOT; Camera Sony CCD V-200E; Laserprint NEC Silentwriter LC890; Monitor NEC Multisync 2A.

Per "Rock This Town" publication, special issue 1991:

In 1991, the setup was as follows: [Rock This Town special issue 1991]

Sound studio: Analog Synths: Roland System 100/100M/101 (+Roland Midi interface MPU-101);YAMAHA CS-40M (in the Take One video); Oberheim Matrix 1000; Digital Synths: Yamaha DX-7 (2); Ensonic VFX; Roland DDR30; Yamaha tg77; Korg Wavestation; Sequencer: Atari 1040 (Sequ. Cubase 2.0); Samplers: AkaiS9000 (2); AkaiS1000 (8Mg + Hard Drive Mfile 44); AkaiS1000PB (4Mg); Emulator II; akai 1100, e-mu Procussion, roland s-10 for live use @ the mixing desk; Effects: Lexicon 480L; Yamaha SPX90 II (2); Roland SRV-2000; Roland SDE-3000; Alesis Midiverb II; Alesis Quadraverb; ART DRX; spx 1000 (x2); Eventide h3000 se; Mixing: Table TAC Scorpion 32/16; Recorder TASCAM MS16 tracks; Recorder DAT Luxman; Speakers Yamaha NS 10M pro ATC SCM50; QUAD ampli (for NS-10M); Diverse: compressor/limiter, noise gate, parametric eq. Live: Backline: Akai S9000; Roland DDR30; Simons & Roland Pads; Emulator II; TASCAM238 8

Graphic Studio: Commodore Amiga 2500 (6Mg + Hard Drive 40Mg); Commodore Amiga 500; Digitizer SNAPSHOT; Camera Sony CCD V-200E; Laserprint NEC Silentwriter LC890; Monitor NEC Multisync 2A.

Per this feature from gearnews.de dated May 04, 2021:

Centrally on the geography album are synthesizers such as Roland's System 100 and 100m, Yamaha's CS synthesizer (CS-40M, CS-15). The "Operating Tracks" bass from the Moog Source can also be heard.

In an undated interview for Steelberry Clones, Daniel B. of Front 242 stated:

In principal Daniel loves everything analog and in general none is better then the other – “it all boils down to what you need and what you have set out to accomplish”. When we ask again he does mention the Moog Voyager and the Virus, as well as the Oberheim. “Favorites change from song to song”, Daniel says. For example if Daniel wants to make use of a synth bass, he would never go for a KORG C1, but mostly he will end up in a fairly mixed environment – the difference always sits in the details.

According to their official site, Front242 performs live using a Juno-D synthesizer.

Used live on 2017 tour

Front 242 utilizes the Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer during their live performances, as evidenced by a photo from the Amphi Festival 2014 on Wikimedia Commons.

Per "Rock This Town" publication, special issue 1991:

In 1991, the setup was as follows: [Rock This Town special issue 1991]

Sound studio: Analog Synths: Roland System 100/100M/101 (+Roland Midi interface MPU-101);YAMAHA CS-40M (in the Take One video); Oberheim Matrix 1000; Digital Synths: Yamaha DX-7 (2); Ensonic VFX; Roland DDR30; Yamaha tg77; Korg Wavestation; Sequencer: Atari 1040 (Sequ. Cubase 2.0); Samplers: AkaiS9000 (2); AkaiS1000 (8Mg + Hard Drive Mfile 44); AkaiS1000PB (4Mg); Emulator II; akai 1100, e-mu Procussion, roland s-10 for live use @ the mixing desk; Effects: Lexicon 480L; Yamaha SPX90 II (2); Roland SRV-2000; Roland SDE-3000; Alesis Midiverb II; Alesis Quadraverb; ART DRX; spx 1000 (x2); Eventide h3000 se; Mixing: Table TAC Scorpion 32/16; Recorder TASCAM MS16 tracks; Recorder DAT Luxman; Speakers Yamaha NS 10M pro ATC SCM50; QUAD ampli (for NS-10M); Diverse: compressor/limiter, noise gate, parametric eq. Live: Backline: Akai S9000; Roland DDR30; Simons & Roland Pads; Emulator II; TASCAM238 8

Graphic Studio: Commodore Amiga 2500 (6Mg + Hard Drive 40Mg); Commodore Amiga 500; Digitizer SNAPSHOT; Camera Sony CCD V-200E; Laserprint NEC Silentwriter LC890; Monitor NEC Multisync 2A.

In an undated interview with Steelberry Clones, Daniel B. of Front 242 discussed his progression in music tech over the years:

According to Daniel – they wanted to maximize the experience, and be analog as far as they could. Together the trio has a huge set of gear and as Daniel puts it: “Why not use them?”. So apart from the song “Brush”, which was not analog at all, actually it is not even synths – Brush was more about looping in a delay, Nothing But Noise features synths like the Virus Polar and the Juno 16 a lot. Although he let us know that on future releases it will be a more mixed environment. “We are always working on new stuff”, says Daniel – meaning that we can expect more Nothing But Noise productions going forward.

note: the only "Polar" Virus Access ever released was the Ti2 model.

In an undated interview with Steelberry Clones, Daniel B. of Front 242 discussed his progression in music tech over the years:

Note: the article cites a "Juno 16" which is not a product name Roland has ever used. It's a typo, as evidenced by the fact that Daniel B. lists a Juno 106 (a synth that does actually exist) among the gear he uses in side project Nothing But Noise

According to Daniel – they wanted to maximize the experience, and be analog as far as they could. Together the trio has a huge set of gear and as Daniel puts it: “Why not use them?”. So apart from the song “Brush”, which was not analog at all, actually it is not even synths – Brush was more about looping in a delay, Nothing But Noise features synths like the Virus Polar and the Juno 16 a lot. Although he let us know that on future releases it will be a more mixed environment. “We are always working on new stuff”, says Daniel – meaning that we can expect more Nothing But Noise productions going forward.

Per this feature from gearnews.de dated May 04, 2021:

Centrally on the geography album are synthesizers such as Roland's System 100 and 100m, Yamaha's CS synthesizer (CS-40M, CS-15). The "Operating Tracks" bass from the Moog Source can also be heard.

Per this feature from gearnews.de dated May 04, 2021:

Centrally on the geography album are synthesizers such as Roland's System 100 and 100m, Yamaha's CS synthesizer (CS-40M, CS-15). The "Operating Tracks" bass from the Moog Source can also be heard.

Per this gearnews.de feature, dated May 04, 2021:

(translated to English from its original German)

"Don't Crash" is released and the "No Comment" album, which stands for the early EBM sound like hardly any other. This was also due to the change of instruments. After an apparently short interlude with a PPG wave, there was now one thing above all else: sampling and dynamic FM sounds. This will accompany us very strongly here. Hundreds of imitators did the same.

Per this May 04, 2021 feature from gearnews.de:

Live concerts of Front 242 are very different from other bands of the time, because the member Daniel B (ressanutti) always stays off stage behind the desk and had devices for multitrack recordings, Mac, TG-77 and emu samplers on board and later rather small take-away synths, such as the MFB Synth II or the Korg R3, to He is not only the producer, but a member.

Per this May 04, 2021 feature from gearnews.de:

Now a more technological phase begins and there are several interesting mixes with strong use of the TR-909. The nineties are almost at the end and Front by Front has long been recorded. Their sound with the "emulator" as the center was still considered THE appearance. In the phase after that, the emulator disappeared. A Nord Lead is spotted on stage but also a Korg M1 or a Korg Z1

Per this May 04, 2021 feature from gearnews.de:

Now a more technological phase begins and there are several interesting mixes with strong use of the TR-909. The nineties are almost at the end and Front by Front has long been recorded. Their sound with the "emulator" as the center was still considered THE appearance. In the phase after that, the emulator disappeared. A Nord Lead is spotted on stage but also a Korg M1 or a Korg Z1

Per this May 04, 2021 feature from gearnews.de:

Now a more technological phase begins and there are several interesting mixes with strong use of the TR-909. The nineties are almost at the end and Front by Front has long been recorded. Their sound with the "emulator" as the center was still considered THE appearance. In the phase after that, the emulator disappeared. A Nord Lead is spotted on stage but also a Korg M1 or a Korg Z1

Per this May 04, 2021 feature from gearnews.de:

There is a photo of the clear studio from that time in the transition to the two absolutely different-floating-sounding albums (Evil) Off or (Fuck) up evil. There is a Korg Z1 perched and the 2003 album Pulse is released. The Nord Modular & G2 series is clearly involved here. There are some contemporaries in the studio.

Per this May 04, 2021 feature from gearnews.de:

There is a photo of the clear studio from that time in the transition to the two absolutely different-floating-sounding albums (Evil) Off or (Fuck) up evil. There is a Korg Z1 perched and the 2003 album Pulse is released. The Nord Modular & G2 series is clearly involved here. There are some contemporaries in the studio.

Per this gearnews.de feature from May 04, 2021:

(translated to English from its original German)

The one central synthesizer is a Roland FA-06 Universal Rampler Synth that can technically perform all emulator tasks. A computer with a DAW and the rather unprofiled Roland Gaia form today's set together with the Korg R3, which Daniel B. has with him at the desk. It is almost obvious that the Roland Gear could be an endorsement.

Per the liner notes of Front 242's 2003 album Pulse:

Some of the tools used: Clavia Nordlead 2, NordModular, Ddrum4, Korg Z1, Lassence Ventury II, Roland System 100, Vdrum, JD990, Yamaha VL1, Sherman filterbank, Roland Rss, Line 6 EchoPro, Ableton live and Mac computers

Per the liner notes of Front 242's 2003 album Pulse:

Some of the tools used: Clavia Nordlead 2, NordModular, Ddrum4, Korg Z1, Lassence Ventury II, Roland System 100, Vdrum, JD990, Yamaha VL1, Sherman filterbank, Roland Rss, Line 6 EchoPro, Ableton live and Mac computers