Squarepusher

Jenkinson likes the challenge of coaxing unfound sounds from gear, even as he recognizes the shortcomings of something like the QY700’s timing in comparison to a digital sequencer. He doesn’t crave perfection, which he considers an old-school approach. Exact timing would only retain its meticulous nature for so long once the outboard units are coupled with the self-taught programmer’s “hacks,” which he cobbles together in SuperCollider, Pure Data, and Reaktor.

"I unearthed the 909 and was surprised by how good the straight-out-of-the-box sounds sounded on my monitors," Tom says, in this article.

"To this day, nobody believes that the tracks on Big Loada were a single pass of me sequencing my Akai S950 from my DR660," Tom says, in this article.

"...I bought the DSP4000, and I'm still finding new things to do with that and with the Orville," says Tom, in this article.

"If it's possible to single out one piece of gear as being crucial to Jenkinson's way of working, it's the Eventide Orville multi?effects unit," Tom says, in this article.

"Jenkinson seems to prefer having a desk at the centre of his studio, a role which is currently occupied by a Euphonix CS3000," reads the caption to this photo, found in this article.

In this Sound On Sound interview, on the "Jumble Sale Studio" section, a bunch of Jenkinson's gear is mentioned. Among them, the Neve 1073 Mic Preamp. "It's a ragtag collection of stuff, and there's no discernible overall 'vintage' rationale behind the collection as a whole. The most significant pieces are a Roland TR909, TB303, SH101, V-Synth XT and V-Bass 99, Neve 1073 mic pre, AKG BX15 spring reverb, TC Electronics D2 delay, DBX 1066, a self?made mechanical reverb, Tom Jenkinson's custom?made spring reverb."

However, it is not specified that the item that Tom uses is actually the Neve 1073 DPD, which can be spotted in the interview's second picture, right under the fan.

In this Sound On Sound interview (Jumble Sale Studio section), upon detailing and explaining how he made his own spring reverb, he mentions that the AKG BX-15 and AKG BX-20 spring reverb units were also extensively used on the album "Hello Everything". He even specifies certain tracks. Quote from Tom himself: "The reverb uses four pairs of Accutronics type 1, 4, 8 and 9 springs. The stereo input stages incorporate a soft-clip circuit, high shelving EQ and spring selectors that send the input to a given pair of springs. There are four output stages to which the springs can be assigned. Each output stage has signal invert, volume and pan controls. The springs can be used in parallel or series, where one spring signal is fed into another. The circuit grounding uses star topology. It was used extensively on the album Hello Everything, in conjunction with my AKG BX15 and BX20 reverbs. It is clearly audible at the starts of 'Bubble Life', 'Circlewave' and 'Plotinus'.”

In this Sound On Sound interview (Jumble Sale Studio section), upon detailing and explaining how he made his own spring reverb, he mentions that the AKG BX-15 and AKG BX-20 spring reverb units were also extensively used on the album "Hello Everything". Quote from Tom himself: "The reverb uses four pairs of Accutronics type 1, 4, 8 and 9 springs. The stereo input stages incorporate a soft-clip circuit, high shelving EQ and spring selectors that send the input to a given pair of springs. There are four output stages to which the springs can be assigned. Each output stage has signal invert, volume and pan controls. The springs can be used in parallel or series, where one spring signal is fed into another. The circuit grounding uses star topology. It was used extensively on the album Hello Everything, in conjunction with my AKG BX15 and BX20 reverbs. It is clearly audible at the starts of 'Bubble Life', 'Circlewave' and 'Plotinus'.”

In this Sound On Sound interview, precisely on the "Jumble Sale Studio" section, a bunch of Jenkinson's gear is mentioned. Among them, the TC Electronics D-Two Delay. The item can also be seen in the photo gallery of the interview, along with other pieces in a rack (from top to bottom, TC Electronics D-Two Delay, DBX 1066, Drawmer LX-20 and the Eventide Orville). It is the 8th photo, here's a quick link to it: http://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/S/Sq_09.jpg?3CE8TrbIbKGqUfDboUWA_6We1exoFnHv=&itok=6tgbEa6N

From the interview: "It's a ragtag collection of stuff, and there's no discernible overall 'vintage' rationale behind the collection as a whole. The most significant pieces are a Roland TR909, TB303, SH101, V?Synth XT and V?Bass 99, Neve 1073 mic pre, AKG BX15 spring reverb, TC Electronics D2 delay, DBX 1066, a self?made mechanical reverb, Tom Jenkinson's custom?made spring reverb: "The reverb uses four pairs of Accutronics type 1, 4, 8 and 9 springs. The stereo input stages incorporate a soft-clip circuit, high shelving EQ and spring selectors that send the input to a given pair of springs. There are four output stages to which the springs can be assigned. Each output stage has signal invert, volume and pan controls. The springs can be used in parallel or series, where one spring signal is fed into another. The circuit grounding uses star topology. It was used extensively on the album Hello Everything, in conjunction with my AKG BX15 and BX20 reverbs. It is clearly audible at the starts of 'Bubble Life', 'Circlewave' and 'Plotinus'.” Tom Jenkinson's custom?made spring reverb: "The reverb uses four pairs of Accutronics type 1, 4, 8 and 9 springs. The stereo input stages incorporate a soft-clip circuit, high shelving EQ and spring selectors that send the input to a given pair of springs. There are four output stages to which the springs can be assigned. Each output stage has signal invert, volume and pan controls. The springs can be used in parallel or series, where one spring signal is fed into another. The circuit grounding uses star topology. It was used extensively on the album Hello Everything, in conjunction with my AKG BX15 and BX20 reverbs. It is clearly audible at the starts of 'Bubble Life', 'Circlewave' and 'Plotinus'.” Axon AX100 MIDI bass module, MOTU 24I/O audio interface, Dynaudio Acoustics M1 monitors, Yamaha CS80, TX81Z and FS1R synths and QY700 sequencer. A huge amount of gear has also been and gone, like the Yamaha VSS80 8?bit toy keyboard sampler shown in some late '90s television footage of Jenkinson."

"Tom Jenkinson much prefers to work with hardware sequencers, and specifically his Yamaha QY700," reads the caption to this photo, in this article.

On the 4th picture of this Sound On Sound interview's photo gallery (quick link to it: http://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/S/Sq_04.jpg?FJWDrszhVCYZoz7AyanIBRkc_WklqCie=&itok=RqQrtYnL) , there is a mixer next to the drum kit. Through careful comparison, one can conclude that the mixer is the Mackie CR1604-VLZ.

In the "Old School" section of this interview, Jenkinson explains his experiences with recording mediums throughout the years. According to Tom Jenkinson himself, "[...] As for recording, I used tape recorders exclusively until 2001. I first had a Fostex M80 quarter?inch eight?track, and in the late '90s I obtained a half?inch Tascam MSR16. I still use that, though it's being repaired at the moment. I have to say that I'm not obsessive about it. Recording to tape, or to a computer?based multitrack, is a means to an end. I mix and match now. I've used Sonic Foundry's Vegas, and more recently Nuendo, but I don't endorse or recommend them. There's no love in it for me, they really are just tools."

In the "Old School" section of this interview, Jenkinson explains his experiences with recording mediums throughout the years. According to Tom Jenkinson himself, "[...] As for recording, I used tape recorders exclusively until 2001. I first had a Fostex M80 quarter-inch eight-track, and in the late '90s I obtained a half-inch Tascam MSR16. I still use that, though it's being repaired at the moment. I have to say that I'm not obsessive about it. Recording to tape, or to a computer-based multitrack, is a means to an end. I mix and match now. I've used Sonic Foundry's Vegas, and more recently Nuendo, but I don't endorse or recommend them. There's no love in it for me, they really are just tools."

This 1996 interview offers a pretty close look at Tom Jenkinson's "full time residential studio", as he refers to it. At 1:32 into this video, his Roland TR-606 is shown with what appears to be a custom Squarepusher sticker on it.

"I made my first records using the Boss DR660," says Tom, in this article.

This 1996 interview offers a pretty close look at Tom Jenkinson's "full time residential studio", as he refers to it. At 2:00 into this video, his Roland TR-707 can be spotted at the background with what appears to be a Roland Memory Cartridge present on the 707's respective slot.

This particular piece of gear already visually appeared in his work previously. Tom also released a record under the alias "Chaos A.D". The album is named "Buzz Caner", and features a pretty curious cover (link: http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/jukebox.php?image=display.jpg&group=Chaos%20A.D.&album=Buzz%20Caner). At the top left portion of it, there is a photograph of a guy (presumably Tom) tweaking a Roland TB-303. In this photograph, the 707 can also be spotted, along with what possibly is a 101 behind it.

This piece of equipment makes some appearences during this 2001 interview video. The most notable shots, which even shows Tom operating it, occur in the 1:42 and 1:54 marks.

In this 1996 interview, Tom Jenkinson briefly explains his (at the time) layer-by-layer method of making music (1:53 mark). The mixer that he utilizes appears to be a Soundcraft Spirit Folio 12/2 Mixer with switched (and even missing) faders. After comparing with the original product, the different colored faders can be noticed.

Right at the intro of the video, behind Tom we can see a lot of gear in a rack. One of those pieces is the Tascam DA-20 mkII. From the top to the bottom, it is the 3rd unit.

Right at the intro of the video, behind Tom we can see a lot of gear in a rack. One of those pieces is the Tascam DA-88. At the 0:05 mark, from the top to the bottom, it is the 1st unit.

Right at the intro of the video, behind Tom we can see a lot of gear in a rack. One of those pieces is the Tascam CD-RW2000. It can be clearly spotted in the 0:19 mark, in which, from the top to the bottom, it is the 4th unit.

In this session, Squarepusher performs alongside drummer Alex in his own private studio, as he describes at the introduction scene. Throughout the video, there's a mixer that can be seen in Tom Jenkinson's main desk (which features a computer monitor). Many hints indicate that the mixer is indeed the Mackie 24.8.2: * In the Sound On Sound interview, Tom mentions having the Mackie 28.8 before having the Euphonix CS3000. It's very likely that there was a mistake in this interview, as there is no such Mackie 28.8 mixer. * 0:27 into this video we get a zoom at the mixer's panel, showing the levels as well as some buttons and (partiatly) knobs, which greatly resembles the ones seen in the 24.8.2. * In the Hello Everything album cover, there's a picture of a pair of hands operating a mixer. Again, the knobs, faders, buttons and overall design do match the ones of the 24.8.2.

This MIDI controller can be spotted 0:12 into this video. At the left portion of the screen, there's a rack with an Eventide DSP4000 on the top position (black knob, white keys/numpad). In the piece that is found under it, there can be spotted 4 horizontal rows of knobs, and "Doepfer" written at the bottom right of the unit. This camera angle still reveals other few letters written on the piece: "[...]oller". All these evidences point to the Doepfer Drehbank MIDI Controller.

This picture, taken from the Squarepusher's Sound On Sound interview, reveals an AXON AX100 MIDI Module that Tom uses with his bass. It's found in the right portion of the picture, near the two bass guitars. It's a blue rack module made by Blue Chip. This is the main visual difference between this AX100 and the AX100MKII, which was actually made by Terratec.

This interview contains in-studio pictures taken from Tom Jenkinson himself. One of those pictures, precisely the third one, reveals this RME 32-channel Digital/Analog Interface.

The 6th picture of this interview shows lots of Jenkinson's rack modules. On the right portion of the picture, there are 3 particular pieces together: The bottom piece is the Yamaha TX81Z, the middle one is the Yamaha FS1r (which can also be seen together in other pictures such as this one, below the TB-303). Finally, the top one is the MOTU MIDI Express 128 MIDI Interface, as hinted by several facts: - The blue MOTU brand at the left. - One MIDI connection at the left part of the unit's panel. - A single green light, indicating that the "Computer I/O" LED seen in the unit is lit. - The white and illegible names near the green LED greatly resembles the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT display names present on the actual machine.