Howard Jones

On the right side of Howard Jones, you can see that customised keytar

http://www.matrixsynth.com/2005/11/howard-jones-20th-anniversary-concert.html

"My TX rack I used quite a bit. I MIDI'd my MiniMoog and that is fabulous. It really sounds great, and the MIDI on it is really fast. My old Juno 60 is still there, which isn't MIDI'd at the moment but I plan to get it done. The TR808 I used, which is MIDI'd, and a bit of the D50 - there are some good guitar-type sounds in there. I also like the Roland MKS50, which is a rack-mounted analogue synth module. The Korg SG1 piano is very good, and has some excellent sounds, and obviously the Mac. For effects I used the Lexicon 224 digital reverb, AMS, Yamaha SPX90, Klark Teknik reverb, Korg digital delays... the usual things, nothing exotic."

Howard Jones triggers Roland TR 808 at his live 20th anniversary concert.

"The drums on 'Fresh Air Waltz' are actually Linn 9000 drums, but I put them through a speaker in the vocal booth, with the curtains drawn, so it's very lively. That was miked up and that gives it a real live sound. I think that worked quite well, that type of natural acoustic."

"My TX rack I used quite a bit. I MIDI'd my MiniMoog and that is fabulous. It really sounds great, and the MIDI on it is really fast. My old Juno 60 is still there, which isn't MIDI'd at the moment but I plan to get it done. The TR808 I used, which is MIDI'd, and a bit of the D50 - there are some good guitar-type sounds in there. I also like the Roland MKS50, which is a rack-mounted analogue synth module. The Korg SG1 piano is very good, and has some excellent sounds, and obviously the Mac. For effects I used the Lexicon 224 digital reverb, AMS, Yamaha SPX90, Klark Teknik reverb, Korg digital delays... the usual things, nothing exotic."

"On this tour, I’m actually using the Arturia KeyLab 88 controller because it’s got all of the faders and knobs, and now I have everything on one surface. I’d been looking for something like that for ages, and finally Arturia came out with it. I’m really enjoying it."

Macbook Pro is listed as part of Howard's rig.

iConnectivity iConnectAudio4+ is listed as part of Howard's rig.

The hardware is impressive: an E-series 48-channel SSL with total recall; Westlake BBSM10 and NS10 monitors; a recently acquired Mitsubishi 850 32-track; 24-track Studer A800III; Studio 3 synchroniser; Sycologic MIDI Matrix; Studer A820 2-track; Technics DAT player; Macintosh II computers; a whole range of effects, including Lexicons, AMS, Focusrite PSU121, Teletronics LA24 limiter/compressor ("they're like gold dust. It sounds great on my voice"), SPX90s and so on.

The hardware is impressive: an E-series 48-channel SSL with total recall; Westlake BBSM10 and NS10 monitors; a recently acquired Mitsubishi 850 32-track; 24-track Studer A800III; Studio 3 synchroniser; Sycologic MIDI Matrix; Studer A820 2-track; Technics DAT player; Macintosh II computers; a whole range of effects, including Lexicons, AMS, Focusrite PSU121, Teletronics LA24 limiter/compressor ("they're like gold dust. It sounds great on my voice"), SPX90s and so on.

The hardware is impressive: an E-series 48-channel SSL with total recall; Westlake BBSM10 and NS10 monitors; a recently acquired Mitsubishi 850 32-track; 24-track Studer A800III; Studio 3 synchroniser; Sycologic MIDI Matrix; Studer A820 2-track; Technics DAT player; Macintosh II computers; a whole range of effects, including Lexicons, AMS, Focusrite PSU121, Teletronics LA24 limiter/compressor ("they're like gold dust. It sounds great on my voice"), SPX90s and so on.

The hardware is impressive: an E-series 48-channel SSL with total recall; Westlake BBSM10 and NS10 monitors; a recently acquired Mitsubishi 850 32-track; 24-track Studer A800III; Studio 3 synchroniser; Sycologic MIDI Matrix; Studer A820 2-track; Technics DAT player; Macintosh II computers; a whole range of effects, including Lexicons, AMS, Focusrite PSU121, Teletronics LA24 limiter/compressor ("they're like gold dust. It sounds great on my voice"), SPX90s and so on.

As if this isn't enough, Jones' collection of sound sources is breathtaking. Inhale deeply for an (incomplete) overview: Fairlight Series III; Yamaha TX816 rack; Akai S1000; Roland Super JX, MKS50, D50, Jupiter 8, Juno 60, D550, and MKS20 digital piano; Korg Wavestation; Prophet T8; MiniMoog; Vocoder VP330; Yamaha KX88 and TG77; and somewhere in a corner his old 808 drum machine. Still there?

"By some bizarre mistake, they delivered another one to my house so I had two Moogs – I used one for bass and one for leadline. Somebody gave me a really old primitive drum machine, a Bentley Rhythm Ace which was made by Roland. I had a Fender Rhodes electric piano as well so I started to develop this idea of a proper one man electronic show. I kept upgrading, I got a CR78 and then a TR808. Then I got a Pro-One which had a sequencer in it. Gradually, it started to evolve into quite a big rig and made a hell of a racket!"

"By some bizarre mistake, they delivered another one to my house so I had two Moogs – I used one for bass and one for leadline. Somebody gave me a really old primitive drum machine, a Bentley Rhythm Ace which was made by Roland. I had a Fender Rhodes electric piano as well so I started to develop this idea of a proper one man electronic show. I kept upgrading, I got a CR78 and then a TR808. Then I got a Pro-One which had a sequencer in it. Gradually, it started to evolve into quite a big rig and made a hell of a racket!"

"The Prophet T8, DX7 and Emulator II were very much part of ‘Dream Into Action’ plus I was still using the Juno and Jupiter 8. They were often all MIDI-ed up together. I was using that Roland JSQ60 sequencer and when you overloaded it with too many notes, it would do weird things and I love it when stuff can’t cope with what you put in."

"I think the snare and the bass sound are absolutely horrific, we used to have to eq them to death to get anything. The rest of the sounds I love, you can't get them anywhere else — it's just that bass and snare that are bad. Now when I use the 808 I don't use its bass and snare, I get them to trigger the Drumulator's bass and snare, a hybrid of the Drumulator and the 808. The 808's hi-hats are great, and the congas — they don't sound anything like congas, but they have such a character to them."