Neil Arthur

1. What is on your wishlist gear wise?

“A new MIDI controller and an update for the MPC X to allow third-party plugins and better integration between it and Ableton Live.”

Neil can be seen playing an Epiphone Coronet in this video.

“In around 1983 or 84 when I bought a BBC B computer and a sequencer called a UMI, developed in part by Lynton Naiff, who I’d first met when he scored the orchestral parts for the song Waves that was on our first album.”

In an interview with MusicRadar, Neil Arthur of Blancmange discusses using the Korg MS-20 V2 Software Synthesizer, describing it as a tool that "does what it says on the box."

"Yes, in a kind of a mental sense I carry ‘Sad Day’ with me everywhere I go. It’s a template actually. Quite often when I start off putting things together, I don’t know that I’ve got it until it’s done. With ‘Sad Day’ this process was so minimal. Mark Cox who was in the 4AD post punk band Rema Rema lent us a Korg Mini-Pops and then Laurence Stevens [graphic designer and early Blancmange drummer] lent us a WASP Synthesizer. So, I’m playing the bass on the WASP and Stephen has his keyboard and then my £18 Toledo Gibson SG copy doing the guitar! It was two guitar parts – the melody and that Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! And I still play guitar like that and if I can get away with playing one string, I definitely will."

The MKS-80 is pictured and discussed in this interview with Neil.

The SR-88 is pictured and discussed in this interview with Neil.

The TR808 is pictured and discussed in this interview and kit list with Neil.

"I’ve got a Mute synth which features on ‘Acid’, I do a solo on a Mute synth. The first one, that you have to spit on, which nobody else wants to play because of me, and Oogoo who plays keyboards with Blancmange has got one of those as well."

GForce impOSCar2 is discussed in this interview with Neil.

GForce Oddity is discussed in this interview with Neil.

The Dubrq Stylophone is pictured and discussed in this interview with Neil.

In an interview on KitMonsters, Neil Arthur discusses using a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.

"I add things occasionally, like the Roland Boutique stuff, and I even bought the littleBits thing from Korg, so I’m into that stuff."

"I used to have a studio doing film and TV music and writing songs, but I did find I was using less and less gear and I even got rid of my mixing desk. I now have a Mackie Big Knob, a pair of Mackie 824s, a Mac, MOTU interface, a Joe Meek preamp, a couple of mics (AKG and Shure Beta 57, which is what I use on stage), and I have a reflection filter and that’s it. I use a lot of software instruments in Logic (which drives me crazy) and Ableton (which is lovely for ideas). There’s some classic stuff not used as much. I have a rackmount Super Jupiter which I do still use."

"I love the Gforce stuff – the Oddity 2 is my favourite. Obviously, you want to find your own sound, but there are some bloody good presets in there. I really like my Super Jupiter module. There’s also the new Roland Boutique modules. I have the JX and JP ones. I was thinking of incorporating them into the Blancmange setup to see if we could get Blancmange in a smaller box, but you have to daisychain them together to get the polyphony."

"I love the Gforce stuff – the Oddity 2 is my favourite. Obviously, you want to find your own sound, but there are some bloody good presets in there. I really like my Super Jupiter module. There’s also the new Roland Boutique modules. I have the JX and JP ones. I was thinking of incorporating them into the Blancmange setup to see if we could get Blancmange in a smaller box, but you have to daisychain them together to get the polyphony." The Roland JX-03 is the Roland Boutique JX module to which Neil was referring.

"I love the Gforce stuff – the Oddity 2 is my favourite. Obviously, you want to find your own sound, but there are some bloody good presets in there. I really like my Super Jupiter module. There’s also the new Roland Boutique modules. I have the JX and JP ones. I was thinking of incorporating them into the Blancmange setup to see if we could get Blancmange in a smaller box, but you have to daisychain them together to get the polyphony." The JP-08 is the Roland Boutique JP module to which Neil was referring.

The Tech 21 SansAmp Classic is pictured and discussed in this interview with Neil.

Ableton Live is pictured and discussed in this interview with Neil.

The Korg NanoKey2 is pictured and discussed in this interview with Neil.

ArKaos VJ is discussed in this interview with Neil.

Novation Launchpad S is pictured and discussed in this interview with Neil.

Neil lists various other plug-ins used across the album: “We’ve got Waves, Logic’s Bass Amp, ES1… I tell you what I do use: Audio Damage Filterstation; Smart Electronix LiveCut, that gets used quite a lot. It gives you a random, weird, chop-up on different parts of audio. I like that and it was used on [the last and most recent Blancmange album]Blanc Burn and on this record.”

Neil lists various other plug-ins used across the album: “We’ve got Waves, Logic’s Bass Amp, ES1… I tell you what I do use: Audio Damage Filterstation; Smart Electronix LiveCut, that gets used quite a lot. It gives you a random, weird, chop-up on different parts of audio. I like that and it was used on [the last and most recent Blancmange album]Blanc Burn and on this record.”

Neil says in this interview that both he and Stephen Luscombe programmed the Linndrum for the album "Happy Families."

"And I’ve got an old Japanese Telecaster. It’s not worth anything - stays in tune, it works."

"I started actually recording 'Semi Detached' in January 2014 and finished mixing in the early summer, then there were edits and remixes that got signed off in late December. Essentially the recording was done in several stages. The first I did on my own, cobbling together the structure and sounds by hook or by crook along with a guide vocal. Then I took them to Adam Fuest's studio, up in the Brecon Beacons, where we added David Rhodes' guitar and I then added lead vocals. During that process the files were transferred from Logic and Ableton into Cubase to prepare for mixing. I then took them back and added backing vocals. Finally me and Adam mixed the lot at his place and went and had a pint!"

A photo of the multitrack of "Living on the Ceiling" from Happy Families Too shows that it was recorded in Logic Pro 9.

“As a limited-ability musician, it’s enabled me to get ideas down relatively quickly. That said, they’ve driven me mad over the three or four decades I’ve tried to use them. They are always right. Initially with the UMI, it was all step-time inputting.

"Eventually I moved on to an Atari with the E-magic Notator. Then the early Logic programs on PC, integrating it with the Soundscape digital recorder, which was fab for film work. Then later and up until now I’ve used a Mac with Logic Pro and Ableton.”