Tom Robinson

For nestling in one corner of the storage room, next to boxes of Shure SM58s (still his favourite mike in defiance of the engineer who makes him use one of the two Neumann 87s the studio has on loan) is an archetypal home recordist's set-up. A Casio CZ101 synth, Roland and Korg drum machines, a Yamaha QX7 sequencer, and a Fostex 250 Portastudio. The only outboard gear is an Accessit reverb — "too semi pro for Mick to pinch for the studio." Nearby rests the original TRB Fender P Bass and two guitars, a Fender Tele and a Squier copy. Typically, Tom prefers the sound of the copy.

"The other useful piece of gear that Tandy do is the PZM, and what a bargain that is! Until I borrowed a couple of Neumann U87s, I used those for vocals and they are amazing. Even the popping is minimal if you stick on that little foam Hitler moustache thing that they give you. I find you have to sing close up to it if you aren't going to record the room sound but it's not a problem. They're also great for congas; I just stick a pair on the glass screen in front of the player."

"The other useful piece of gear that Tandy do is the PZM, and what a bargain that is! Until I borrowed a couple of Neumann U87s, I used those for vocals and they are amazing. Even the popping is minimal if you stick on that little foam Hitler moustache thing that they give you. I find you have to sing close up to it if you aren't going to record the room sound but it's not a problem. They're also great for congas; I just stick a pair on the glass screen in front of the player."