Paul Hardcastle

"Yeah, I used to do that. Two tape recorders. Bung it all onto one. Play it back into the other one with a 'live overdub'. I used to get some really weird sounds doing that. Not good sounds, just weird. Things would get so hissed up and distorted they'd take on a whole new character. Eventually I thought, 'this is ridiculous, how can I have a career in music when all I've got is two cassette recorders?' So I saved up all my money and bought a Teac 144 Portastudio which in comparison was like an SSL. God knows what I'd do with one now. I've got an ACES 24 channel desk now which isn't the best desk in the world but it gets me by."

The fact is we're not really interested in Paul Hardcastle's tormented conscience. We want to know what gear he's got. So it's up to the spare bedroom to take in the-hardware. The first thing you trip over is a Linn LM-1, followed swiftly by a DX7, JX8P, Emulator II, Prophet 5, Mini Moog and the ACES desk along the back wall.

"I do everything in here. The only thing I don't do is mix. Actually I've just got some Roland gear, the SDD 3000 and the SRV 2000 reverb so I might even start doing a spot of mixing here. At the moment I do it all at Sound Suite in Camden with Alvin Clark who's probably the best person in the world to work with. It's not SSL but it doesn't need to be. I mean it's very nice having SSL with gates on every channel but you can get by without them. 19 was all done here."

"I do everything in here. The only thing I don't do is mix. Actually I've just got some Roland gear, the SDD 3000 and the SRV 2000 reverb so I might even start doing a spot of mixing here. At the moment I do it all at Sound Suite in Camden with Alvin Clark who's probably the best person in the world to work with. It's not SSL but it doesn't need to be. I mean it's very nice having SSL with gates on every channel but you can get by without them. 19 was all done here."

"I got out the old TR808 and set up a dance rhythm: I think the 808 is such a good machine. It's very precise and it's like the backbone of Electro. The handclaps on it are great. We gated those to reduce the length so there was space between them. Most of the samples were AMS and Emulator. The drum sound was mainly TR808. We beefed the snare up with AMS and had it triggering the snare on the Linn 2. I used very heavy delay on the bass drum. The thing is I could have programmed the beats in but they wouldn't have faded into the mix in the same way. There's this bit in the Destruction Mix where this bloke is getting his brain's blown-out — "You're 18 and you're wearing somebody's brains" — and to illustrate that we used this backward droning bell that I'd sampled on the Emulator. It seemed to go really well with the words. I mean we could have used a Major 7th or something but it didn't seem very apt."

"I got out the old TR808 and set up a dance rhythm: I think the 808 is such a good machine. It's very precise and it's like the backbone of Electro. The handclaps on it are great. We gated those to reduce the length so there was space between them. Most of the samples were AMS and Emulator. The drum sound was mainly TR808. We beefed the snare up with AMS and had it triggering the snare on the Linn 2. I used very heavy delay on the bass drum. The thing is I could have programmed the beats in but they wouldn't have faded into the mix in the same way. There's this bit in the Destruction Mix where this bloke is getting his brain's blown-out — "You're 18 and you're wearing somebody's brains" — and to illustrate that we used this backward droning bell that I'd sampled on the Emulator. It seemed to go really well with the words. I mean we could have used a Major 7th or something but it didn't seem very apt."

"Everyone tried to dive in. I could have got actors in but as I've explained to everyone it would have lost that feel it had and it wouldn't have been believable. We used a sample of this bloke from Sound Suite screaming, that we built up with Lexicon 224X — it sounded like a woman in the end. Even he was joking about suing the other day."

Moving on, a rack of modules provides a fair range of sounds to back up the Synclavier. One of the newest additions is an Emu Procussion, below which are a Roland MKS70, MIDIMoog ("it still goes out of tune; I was told it wouldn't"), Oberheim Matrix 6R, Korg DVP1, a slot for a Yamaha G10 guitar controller unit ("great with the TX802"), Roland D110, Roland P330, Yamaha TX81Z ("great for little clavs and so on"), and a Roland Planet P ("actually, I don't think I even turn that on any more").

Moving on, a rack of modules provides a fair range of sounds to back up the Synclavier. One of the newest additions is an Emu Procussion, below which are a Roland MKS70, MIDIMoog ("it still goes out of tune; I was told it wouldn't"), Oberheim Matrix 6R, Korg DVP1, a slot for a Yamaha G10 guitar controller unit ("great with the TX802"), Roland D110, Roland P330, Yamaha TX81Z ("great for little clavs and so on"), and a Roland Planet P ("actually, I don't think I even turn that on any more").

A second rack is filled with effects units. These are topped by a record deck ("my biggest effects unit"), below which are two Korg SRV3000s, a Yamaha Rev 7, an SPX90, Lexicon PCM70 ("I really love that, especially for vocals), BSS compressor, Digitech Smartshift, and Drawmer gates. Not a huge selection "but I use the Synclavier for effects. Its voice structure is a little like that [pointing to the D110] in that it has partials; if I want a delay I can take a sound, set different delays for each parts — put some attack on, say, the third delay, make it so that the original sound comes in last, and fade in each delay like a backwards echo. Sometimes it does sound a bit too clean though."

A second rack is filled with effects units. These are topped by a record deck ("my biggest effects unit"), below which are two Korg SRV3000s, a Yamaha Rev 7, an SPX90, Lexicon PCM70 ("I really love that, especially for vocals), BSS compressor, Digitech Smartshift, and Drawmer gates. Not a huge selection "but I use the Synclavier for effects. Its voice structure is a little like that [pointing to the D110] in that it has partials; if I want a delay I can take a sound, set different delays for each parts — put some attack on, say, the third delay, make it so that the original sound comes in last, and fade in each delay like a backwards echo. Sometimes it does sound a bit too clean though."

A second rack is filled with effects units. These are topped by a record deck ("my biggest effects unit"), below which are two Korg SRV3000s, a Yamaha Rev 7, an SPX90, Lexicon PCM70 ("I really love that, especially for vocals), BSS compressor, Digitech Smartshift, and Drawmer gates. Not a huge selection "but I use the Synclavier for effects. Its voice structure is a little like that [pointing to the D110] in that it has partials; if I want a delay I can take a sound, set different delays for each parts — put some attack on, say, the third delay, make it so that the original sound comes in last, and fade in each delay like a backwards echo. Sometimes it does sound a bit too clean though."

A second rack is filled with effects units. These are topped by a record deck ("my biggest effects unit"), below which are two Korg SRV3000s, a Yamaha Rev 7, an SPX90, Lexicon PCM70 ("I really love that, especially for vocals), BSS compressor, Digitech Smartshift, and Drawmer gates. Not a huge selection "but I use the Synclavier for effects. Its voice structure is a little like that [pointing to the D110] in that it has partials; if I want a delay I can take a sound, set different delays for each parts — put some attack on, say, the third delay, make it so that the original sound comes in last, and fade in each delay like a backwards echo. Sometimes it does sound a bit too clean though."

"The M1R gets used for its Bottle Bell patch, but I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed by Studio Electronics' MIDIMini analogue synth, as the tuning drifts quite badly. However, I also have their SE1 analogue synth which is great for bass. Surprisingly, the little Peavey Spectrum Bass also has some great bass sounds that I use — patches three and four. My Vintage Keys is only used occasionally, mainly for the Wurlitzer piano, while the Korg X3 is left set to patch 10, a kind of Rhodes sound. The JV1080 also has a lovely electric piano sound on it, but I'm a bit disappointed with the Technics WSA1R as it doesn't have many really usable sounds. I've just bough a Yamaha CS2X for a bit of fun, for sequencing and so on, and the Trinity I still like."

"The M1R gets used for its Bottle Bell patch, but I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed by Studio Electronics' MIDIMini analogue synth, as the tuning drifts quite badly. However, I also have their SE1 analogue synth which is great for bass. Surprisingly, the little Peavey Spectrum Bass also has some great bass sounds that I use — patches three and four. My Vintage Keys is only used occasionally, mainly for the Wurlitzer piano, while the Korg X3 is left set to patch 10, a kind of Rhodes sound. The JV1080 also has a lovely electric piano sound on it, but I'm a bit disappointed with the Technics WSA1R as it doesn't have many really usable sounds. I've just bough a Yamaha CS2X for a bit of fun, for sequencing and so on, and the Trinity I still like."

Paul Hardcastle, a renowned keyboardist, composer, and music producer, is confirmed to use the Roland GI-10, a guitar-to-MIDI interface, in his music production setup. In an interview with Soundonsound for the article titled "Paul Hardcastle: King Of The Castle," Hardcastle shares detailed insights into his gear preferences and workflow. He specifically mentions the Roland GI-10, stating, "There's a Roland GI‑10 guitar‑to‑MIDI box under here somewhere as well, which I have used to control MIDI instruments from guitar. You have to play incredibly carefully, but it does work. You can get some interesting results if you pick the right sounds, but if you don't play really carefully, you get loads of rogue notes." This direct quote from the artist unequivocally confirms his use of the Roland GI-10, illustrating both its capabilities and the nuanced technique required to effectively utilize it in music creation.

Paul Hardcastle, an esteemed keyboardist, composer, and music producer known for his contributions to electronic and jazz genres, has confirmed the use of an SPL Vitalizer within his studio setup. In a detailed conversation with Soundonsound for the article "Paul Hardcastle: King Of The Castle," Hardcastle revealed, "I have an SPL Vitalizer which I used to use for processing complete mixes, but now all my album material is mastered in Hollywood, so I don't use it for that anymore, though I might still use it on an individual sound or submix, or for a smaller project I'm finishing here." This statement underscores the SPL Vitalizer's role in his music production process, highlighting its use in enhancing individual sounds or submixes despite a shift in his mastering approach for album material.

Paul Hardcastle, a renowned keyboardist, composer, and music producer, has confirmed his use of the Roland DEP-5 effects processor. In an interview with Soundonsound titled "Paul Hardcastle: King Of The Castle," Hardcastle shared insights into his studio setup, stating, "There's an old Roland DEP5 effects box which has the benefit of real knobs on the front panel." This quote directly evidences Hardcastle's use of the Roland DEP-5, highlighting his appreciation for its physical interface and implying its role in his music production process.

Paul Hardcastle, a renowned keyboardist, composer, and music producer known for his work in electronic and jazz genres, has confirmed the use of the Lexicon Vortex, a signal processor known for its modulation and echo effects. In an interview with Soundonsound titled "Paul Hardcastle: King Of The Castle," he stated, "Another cheap box that is quite fun is the Lexicon Vortex, which produces some nice modulation and echo effects." This quote serves as direct evidence of Hardcastle's utilization of the Lexicon Vortex in his studio setup, highlighting its role in his sound design and production work.

Paul Hardcastle utilizes the Roland SRV-330 Dimensional Space Reverb, a device celebrated for its exceptional reverb quality and its ability to expand stereo width through the RSS system. This preference is corroborated by a detailed interview featured in "Soundonsound" under the title "Paul Hardcastle: King Of The Castle," where Hardcastle elaborates on his studio setup, including the integration of the Roland SRV-330 alongside other gear such as a BSS box for compression and de-essing, and a Drawmer DS201 for gating purposes.

Paul Hardcastle utilizes the Drawmer DS201 Dual Noise Gate in his studio setup, particularly valuing its capabilities for gating hi-hats and similar sounds. This is confirmed by his discussion of his equipment in the "Paul Hardcastle: King Of The Castle" article by Soundonsound, where he mentions, "a Drawmer DS201 looks after gating — that's really good for gating hi‑hats and that kind of thing."

Paul Hardcastle, the renowned keyboardist, composer, and music producer, uses a Lexicon MPX100 effects processor. He expressed his satisfaction with the device, stating, "I also picked up one of the little MPX100s. I went into the shop, liked what I heard and thought I had to have one." This information was confirmed in an interview published by Soundonsound in the article titled "Paul Hardcastle: King Of The Castle."

"The Lexicon PCM70 has always sounded fantastic, but I also picked up one of the little MPX100s. I went into the shop, liked what I heard and thought I had to have one. And this thing, the TC Electronic G Force, is brilliant. It's a guitar effects unit — it doesn't have a great preamp or overdrive section, but I can use my Boogie V Twin pedals for that — but the effects are so good, it's probably the best unit I've got. You can even write your own scrolling advertising slogans across the display, though this one still has the message the shop programmed into it."