Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland's Studio Equipment
Visible in this photo of Stewart Copeland's "hotel rig" (or "suitcase studio") from around the Synchronicity tour, featured in the Police Vintage gallery section of his website. Also visible in a photo of his "Rhythmatist" writing setup (though it looks reversed) here
From Down Beat magazine May 1984 issue:
On the road Copeland figures out his new charts on his "suitcase studio" - a Yamaha HandySound HS-5O1 polyphonic mini-synth, a Casio PT2O monophonic mini-synth (that also plays chords), a BOSS Dr Rhythm, the Scholz Rockman (for studio effects), a Fostex X-15 Multi-tracker cassette recorder, Sanyo C mini-monitor speakers, and Sony headphones, plus a Fender Stratocaster for that dose of heavy metal.
At 13:41 Copeland mentions buying a Roland Space Echo at the store "Manny's".
Visible in this photo of Stewart Copeland's "hotel rig" (or "suitcase studio") from around the Synchronicity tour, featured in the Police Vintage gallery section of his website.
From Down Beat magazine May 1984 issue:
On the road Copeland figures out his new charts on his "suitcase studio" - a Yamaha HandySound HS-5O1 polyphonic mini-synth, a Casio PT2O monophonic mini-synth (that also plays chords), a BOSS Dr Rhythm, the Scholz Rockman (for studio effects), a Fostex X-15 Multi-tracker cassette recorder, Sanyo C mini-monitor speakers, and Sony headphones, plus a Fender Stratocaster for that dose of heavy metal.
This article states that Stewart Copeland uses a MOTU 2408 Mk. 3 audio interface.
In this photo of Stewart Copeland's Worried Rabbit studio from 1985, a Linn 9000 drum machine is visible.
In this Modern Drummer interview from 1982, Jeff Seitz mentions Stewart Copeland used a Tama DS-200 drum synthesizer, triggered by Tom-toms and the bass drum microphone to enhance the sound.
This article states that a Mac Pro is Stewart Copeland's "main recording machine."
Find it on:
This article states that Stewart Copeland's master controller is an M-Audio ProKeys 88 MIDI controller.
This article states that Stewart Copeland uses a DigiDesign ProControl.
Stewart Copeland has used an Oberheim DMX drum machine (available at the time at Tres Virgos studio facility) to record the Rumble Fish soundtrack in March 1983. He later used the DMX to program drum rhythms for the sequences Sting wrote in Los Angeles for the Synchronicity tour in order to keep in time with them, and clocked the DMX to Sting's DSX sequencer live on "Synchronicity I", "Walking In Your Footsteps", "King Of Pain" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger". He referred to it as "Mr. Oberheim". Source: The PoliceWiki, Down Beat May 1984, Jeff Seitz
Stewart had this to say about the DMX in Home Studio Recording magazine:
I've been using the Oberheim DMX up till now, and that in my opinion has the best sound, the best bass drum and the best snare sound. The cymbals on all of them are crap, you need to overdub live cymbals for that. But the triggering and so on, where you put down a trigger track on channel 1 and then you can overdub anything you want just by syncing it back in, are great. In the old days you would have to record your drum box first, then put everything else on top of it. Now you record just 4 beats in a bar and a sync pulse track.
In this 1983 article, Stewart Copeland mentions having an Otari 24-track recorder at his home studio, and it's visible in one of the photos included.
In this article, Stewart Copeland mentions mixing down the Rumblefish soundtrack onto the Sony PCM-F1 recorder, which he bought for £800.
In this Modern Drummer interview, roadie Jeff Seitz mentions Stewart Copeland using an AMS DMX 15-80 digital delay.
In this Modern Drummer interview from 1982, roadie Jeff Seitz mentions Stewart Copeland using a Deltalab DL4 delay for delay effects, replacing the Roland Echo.
This is a community-built gear list for Stewart Copeland.
- Find relevant music gear like Microphones, Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Pedals, Drum Sets, Cymbals, Snare Drums, Drumsticks, and other instruments and add it to Stewart Copeland.
- The best places to look for gear usage are typically on the artist's social media, YouTube, live performance images, and interviews.
- To receive email updates when Stewart Copeland is seen with new gear, follow the artist.
Discography
Wall Street (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
1987
The Equalizer & Other Cliffhangers
1988
Noah's Ark
1990
Rumble Fish (Original Soundtrack)
1992
Spyro
1998
Orchestralli
2004
La Notte della Taranta (Live in Melpignano 17.08.2003)
2004
Divine Tides
2021
Police Deranged For Orchestra
2023
Police Beyond Borders
2023
Stewart Copeland: Wild Concerto
2025