Stock Aitken Waterman

They take turns behind the desk, Aitken laying a guide keyboard line down from a Roland D50, and Stock building a rhythm pattern with a Linn 9000 and a Roland TR727.

Equipment used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken & Waterman's PWL Studio, included "The Linn 9000, which most sequences and drums were done on, was run from a [Friendchip] SRC synchroniser, and a [Yamaha] DX7 was used for virtually all of the bass lines. There was also a [Roland] Juno 106; a [Yamaha] Rev 5 and Rev 7; Dbx 160 compressors; SDE 3000 delays; an Emulator; and the wonderful Publison Infernal Machine 90, which was the first sampler that could actually pitch?change without really affecting the time signature. You could time?stretch things and make them fit reasonably well — It was a little choppy, but for the time it was phenomenal. Other than that, there was an AMS delay/harmoniser, which always had a number of kick and snare samples, and that was pretty much it."

They take turns behind the desk, Aitken laying a guide keyboard line down from a Roland D50, and Stock building a rhythm pattern with a Linn 9000 and a Roland TR727.

Equipment used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken & Waterman's PWL Studio, included "The Linn 9000, which most sequences and drums were done on, was run from a [Friendchip] SRC synchroniser, and a [Yamaha] DX7 was used for virtually all of the bass lines. There was also a [Roland] Juno 106; a [Yamaha] Rev 5 and Rev 7; Dbx 160 compressors; SDE 3000 delays; an Emulator; and the wonderful Publison Infernal Machine 90, which was the first sampler that could actually pitch?change without really affecting the time signature. You could time?stretch things and make them fit reasonably well — It was a little choppy, but for the time it was phenomenal. Other than that, there was an AMS delay/harmoniser, which always had a number of kick and snare samples, and that was pretty much it."

Equipment used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken & Waterman's PWL Studio, included "The Linn 9000, which most sequences and drums were done on, was run from a [Friendchip] SRC synchroniser, and a [Yamaha] DX7 was used for virtually all of the bass lines. There was also a [Roland] Juno 106; a [Yamaha] Rev 5 and Rev 7; Dbx 160 compressors; SDE 3000 delays; an Emulator; and the wonderful Publison Infernal Machine 90, which was the first sampler that could actually pitch?change without really affecting the time signature. You could time?stretch things and make them fit reasonably well — It was a little choppy, but for the time it was phenomenal. Other than that, there was an AMS delay/harmoniser, which always had a number of kick and snare samples, and that was pretty much it."

The PWL complex is well-equipped, no doubt about it, with two out of three studios identically equipped with SSL desks, Sony 24-track digital machines, and generous amounts of outboard equipment. These are supported by the most comprehensive collection of keyboards this writer has ever witnessed in a studio: Fairlight III, Kurzweil, PPG Waveterm, Roland JX8P, Publison Infernal Machine (which Stock describes as "a Godsend"), Emulator II, DX7II, and so on.

Equipment used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken & Waterman's PWL Studio, included "The Linn 9000, which most sequences and drums were done on, was run from a [Friendchip] SRC synchroniser, and a [Yamaha] DX7 was used for virtually all of the bass lines. There was also a [Roland] Juno 106; a [Yamaha] Rev 5 and Rev 7; Dbx 160 compressors; SDE 3000 delays; an Emulator; and the wonderful Publison Infernal Machine 90, which was the first sampler that could actually pitch?change without really affecting the time signature. You could time?stretch things and make them fit reasonably well — It was a little choppy, but for the time it was phenomenal. Other than that, there was an AMS delay/harmoniser, which always had a number of kick and snare samples, and that was pretty much it."

The PWL complex is well-equipped, no doubt about it, with two out of three studios identically equipped with SSL desks, Sony 24-track digital machines, and generous amounts of outboard equipment. These are supported by the most comprehensive collection of keyboards this writer has ever witnessed in a studio: Fairlight III, Kurzweil, PPG Waveterm, Roland JX8P, Publison Infernal Machine (which Stock describes as "a Godsend"), Emulator II, DX7II, and so on.

The PWL complex is well-equipped, no doubt about it, with two out of three studios identically equipped with SSL desks, Sony 24-track digital machines, and generous amounts of outboard equipment. These are supported by the most comprehensive collection of keyboards this writer has ever witnessed in a studio: Fairlight III, Kurzweil, PPG Waveterm, Roland JX8P, Publison Infernal Machine (which Stock describes as "a Godsend"), Emulator II, DX7II, and so on.

They take turns behind the desk, Aitken laying a guide keyboard line down from a Roland D50, and Stock building a rhythm pattern with a Linn 9000 and a Roland TR727.

The PWL complex is well-equipped, no doubt about it, with two out of three studios identically equipped with SSL desks, Sony 24-track digital machines, and generous amounts of outboard equipment. These are supported by the most comprehensive collection of keyboards this writer has ever witnessed in a studio: Fairlight III, Kurzweil, PPG Waveterm, Roland JX8P, Publison Infernal Machine (which Stock describes as "a Godsend"), Emulator II, DX7II, and so on.

Equipment used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken & Waterman's PWL Studio, included "The Linn 9000, which most sequences and drums were done on, was run from a [Friendchip] SRC synchroniser, and a [Yamaha] DX7 was used for virtually all of the bass lines. There was also a [Roland] Juno 106; a [Yamaha] Rev 5 and Rev 7; Dbx 160 compressors; SDE 3000 delays; an Emulator; and the wonderful Publison Infernal Machine 90, which was the first sampler that could actually pitch?change without really affecting the time signature. You could time?stretch things and make them fit reasonably well — It was a little choppy, but for the time it was phenomenal. Other than that, there was an AMS delay/harmoniser, which always had a number of kick and snare samples, and that was pretty much it."

Equipment used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken & Waterman's PWL Studio, included "The Linn 9000, which most sequences and drums were done on, was run from a [Friendchip] SRC synchroniser, and a [Yamaha] DX7 was used for virtually all of the bass lines. There was also a [Roland] Juno 106; a [Yamaha] Rev 5 and Rev 7; Dbx 160 compressors; SDE 3000 delays; an Emulator; and the wonderful Publison Infernal Machine 90, which was the first sampler that could actually pitch?change without really affecting the time signature. You could time?stretch things and make them fit reasonably well — It was a little choppy, but for the time it was phenomenal. Other than that, there was an AMS delay/harmoniser, which always had a number of kick and snare samples, and that was pretty much it."

This article states that a Lexicon 224x was used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken and Waterman's PWL Studio.

This article states that a Lexicon 224x was used on Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," which was recorded at Stock, Aitken and Waterman's PWL Studio.

The PWL complex is well-equipped, no doubt about it, with two out of three studios identically equipped with SSL desks, Sony 24-track digital machines, and generous amounts of outboard equipment. These are supported by the most comprehensive collection of keyboards this writer has ever witnessed in a studio: Fairlight III, Kurzweil, PPG Waveterm, Roland JX8P, Publison Infernal Machine (which Stock describes as "a Godsend"), Emulator II, DX7II, and so on.