Paddy McAloon

An important consideration for Paddy McAloon in his approach to home recording is his compromised health: he suffers from acute tinnitus in his right ear and a degenerative eye condition, the latter informing his choice of a Soundtracs Topaz desk. “It’s small enough for me to see,” he states, with no little amusement.

(The picture on this page shows the Soundtracs model)

Among the outboard sound modules McAloon likes to use when choosing final sounds are an EMU Proteus orchestral unit, Korg TR–Rack and two Roland Sound Canvases. The results are recorded to his Tascam MX2424 hard-disk recorder. “I use a lot of sounds that I suppose were designed for dance music,” he points out. “But I use them way out of context. I’ll use one part of the sound and treat it, put it through a delay or put flange on it. I’m trying to disguise the lack of finesse that may exist in the original sound sources.

Heights & Lows It was around this time that Paddy McAloon’s home recording setup began to develop, when he acquired a Fostex B16 half–inch tape 16–track machine and Seck desk to sketch out demos. After the double album Jordan: The Comeback in 1990, McAloon embarked upon the demos for its intended follow–up, Let’s Change The World With Music using his newly purchased Atari STE 1040 and C–Lab Creator–Notator, only to have them rejected by his paymasters at CBS.

Heights & Lows It was around this time that Paddy McAloon’s home recording setup began to develop, when he acquired a Fostex B16 half–inch tape 16–track machine and Seck desk to sketch out demos. After the double album Jordan: The Comeback in 1990, McAloon embarked upon the demos for its intended follow–up, Let’s Change The World With Music using his newly purchased Atari STE 1040 and C–Lab Creator–Notator, only to have them rejected by his paymasters at CBS.

Seen on his Topaz mix desk photo, he clearly marks a channel dedicted to his Akai S2000 sampler

Heights & Lows It was around this time that Paddy McAloon’s home recording setup began to develop, when he acquired a Fostex B16 half–inch tape 16–track machine and Seck desk to sketch out demos. After the double album Jordan: The Comeback in 1990, McAloon embarked upon the demos for its intended follow–up, Let’s Change The World With Music using his newly purchased Atari STE 1040 and C–Lab Creator–Notator, only to have them rejected by his paymasters at CBS.