Thomas Leer

"Private Plane was written and recorded over a 3 day period in my tiny flat in Finsbury Park, London. It was recorded on a TEAC A3440 4-track recorder and a little ALICE mixing board.

The only FX used were a WATKINS COPYCAT tape echo unit, ELECTRO HARMONIX DrQ filter, an old ROLAND drum machine (the preset variety) and a STYLOPHONE 350S.

The process was simply a case of laying the tracks down one at a time, applying FX as I went along, and then mixing them all down onto a REVOX A77 mastering machine."

Both Thomas Leer and Claudia Brücken have home studio setups, although Brücken's is at an early stage in its development. Having lost his Fairlight, Leer has had to settle for a less elaborate, though still useful, personal system. He now owns an Amstrad PC running Voyetra Sequencer Plus software, linking it up to an Akai S900, Yamaha DX7 and Roland Jupiter 6 - the only surviving keyboard from his 1984 line-up.

"Private Plane was written and recorded over a 3 day period in my tiny flat in Finsbury Park, London. It was recorded on a TEAC A3440 4-track recorder and a little ALICE mixing board.

The only FX used were a WATKINS COPYCAT tape echo unit, ELECTRO HARMONIX DrQ filter, an old ROLAND drum machine (the preset variety) and a STYLOPHONE 350S.

The process was simply a case of laying the tracks down one at a time, applying FX as I went along, and then mixing them all down onto a REVOX A77 mastering machine."

"I usually start with the drums and then add the bass", explains Leer. "The drum sounds can vary - lately I've been using a Roland TR626, but the sounds aren't particularly brilliant on that, so I supplement it with samples from the Akai. The way I write can vary from song to song. Sometimes the chords will all be there in my head, and I'll sit down at the keyboard and pick them out - building the rhythm around them. Other times I will just be looking for inspiration, so I'll start with a rhythm part and fiddle around until something starts happening. Then again, sometimes Claudia will give me the completed lyrics, and they'll trigger off a rhythmic or melodic idea."

"Private Plane was written and recorded over a 3 day period in my tiny flat in Finsbury Park, London. It was recorded on a TEAC A3440 4-track recorder and a little ALICE mixing board.

The only FX used were a WATKINS COPYCAT tape echo unit, ELECTRO HARMONIX DrQ filter, an old ROLAND drum machine (the preset variety) and a STYLOPHONE 350S.

The process was simply a case of laying the tracks down one at a time, applying FX as I went along, and then mixing them all down onto a REVOX A77 mastering machine."

"Private Plane was written and recorded over a 3 day period in my tiny flat in Finsbury Park, London. It was recorded on a TEAC A3440 4-track recorder and a little ALICE mixing board.

The only FX used were a WATKINS COPYCAT tape echo unit, ELECTRO HARMONIX DrQ filter, an old ROLAND drum machine (the preset variety) and a STYLOPHONE 350S.

The process was simply a case of laying the tracks down one at a time, applying FX as I went along, and then mixing them all down onto a REVOX A77 mastering machine."

At this time, Leer had his own Fairlight Series II on which had built up a considerable sound library. But that comfortable situation was to come to an untimely end when the Fairlight was reclaimed by Arista on his leaving the label. Leer retains a great deal of sentimentality for his old Fairlight but he's not so enthusiastic about the Series III, however, preferring the older model's grainy, eight-bit sound quality.

Both Thomas Leer and Claudia Brücken have home studio setups, although Brücken's is at an early stage in its development. Having lost his Fairlight, Leer has had to settle for a less elaborate, though still useful, personal system. He now owns an Amstrad PC running Voyetra Sequencer Plus software, linking it up to an Akai S900, Yamaha DX7 and Roland Jupiter 6 - the only surviving keyboard from his 1984 line-up.

Both Thomas Leer and Claudia Brücken have home studio setups, although Brücken's is at an early stage in its development. Having lost his Fairlight, Leer has had to settle for a less elaborate, though still useful, personal system. He now owns an Amstrad PC running Voyetra Sequencer Plus software, linking it up to an Akai S900, Yamaha DX7 and Roland Jupiter 6 - the only surviving keyboard from his 1984 line-up.

Both Thomas Leer and Claudia Brücken have home studio setups, although Brücken's is at an early stage in its development. Having lost his Fairlight, Leer has had to settle for a less elaborate, though still useful, personal system. He now owns an Amstrad PC running Voyetra Sequencer Plus software, linking it up to an Akai S900, Yamaha DX7 and Roland Jupiter 6 - the only surviving keyboard from his 1984 line-up.

"When I get my proper equipment set up, I'm going to give her my old Roland MSQ700 and my Jupiter", says Leer, obviously in a generous mood. "Then we can both write at home and just bring the sequencers in."