Stephen Luscombe

STEPHEN LUSCOMBE

RSD Studiomaster 4 Roland Space Echo Boss CE-2 chorus pedal Jupiter 8 synth Poly 6 synth TR909 drum machine TDK metal tape

"We've used the RSD for a couple of years and it's much better than the others — you get more control, there are six inputs, and it takes Cannons. We put everything down in stereo... first two tracks in stereo, then the other two tracks in stereo, then bounce them down to another hi-fi cassette deck, an Aiwa, and transfer that back to two tracks on the Studiomaster.

"We've done up to 16 tracks that way — four passes — and there's hardly any hiss, the quality is excellent, you can hear everything really well, even the vocals. I think it's because everything stays in stereo and things are clearer and easier to pick out.

"Part of the secret is not to eq until the end; get the balance right first then eq on the final mix — let the ear decide. We do put a wee bit of treble on for each generation as it goes to the other tape recorder, and maybe a bit of bass as well. We've got such good results, we don't even bother going to a demo studio any more.

"We tried using some of the Fuji metal tape and the quality was excellent on playback but we found we had trouble recording over it again, it wouldn't take another pass, so now we've gone back to the TDK metal.

"I've just got a Sync Track (MPC's device that lets you drive drum machines and sequencers from tape) which can be quite good. It means that you don't have to put the drums down at the beginning. We can put the sync code on one track and record on the other three then when we bounce down to the Aiwa we can use the sync to add the drums in stereo — you're getting five tracks in the mix.

"We don't use really good monitors, we use a pair of old speakers that a friend gave us from his hi-fi system: I reckon if things sound good on those, they'll sound even better on a pair of professional monitors."