Author: Amelia Lawn

The club has undergone a refresh! We’ve made some exciting new additions to our collection and we just had to share our top five favourites with you. From vintage classics to modern favourites, there’s nothing quite like delving into a new piece of equipment and figuring out how to get creative with it. 

Here’s a very small insight into some of our favourite new gear!

Eventide H3000

It seems only fitting to start with something that’s been described as the “holy grail” of multi-effects units. Since its inception in 1987, Eventide’s iconic H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer and its later iterations have proved to be unique creative tools and staples of many studios – including now Ten87! We were so excited to get our hands on this unit.

The H3000 can handle everything, from pitch manipulation and harmonisation, to complex delays and a myriad of reverbs, to dynamic processing tools.

The diatonic pitch shifting (which Eventide pioneered) is one of the most exciting and fun features to play around with. It makes it easier to maintain musicality and avoid dissonance when using the unit to add harmonisation, and works equally well on instruments as it does on vocals.

Navigating through the menu and generally using the unit becomes second nature very quickly, the creative possibilities the H3000 has to offer are endless, and we are very excited to add this to our collection!

Teenage Engineering OP-1

The OP-1 has become a cult favourite for many electronic and crossover artists in both the studio and live, including Bon Iver, James Blake and Flume.

The tiny device manages to pack in a lot. Not only is it a synthesiser; it’s a complete portable recording an

d production unit. The intuitive interface and colour-coded controls make it a breeze to navigate, even for beginners.

While it really does function amazingly as a standalone piece of gear, it’s also something that’s fun and simple to incorporate into more extensive recording sessions, as both a jumping off point for creativity, or for adding a few final touches to an almost finished composition.

One of our favourite parts is the tombola sequencer, which allows you to throw notes into a visual tombola and create random sequences, from ambient synth sounds to percussive progressions.

This unit feels as though it could inspire endless creativity and experimentation. The most portable of our picks today, you could quite literally take the OP-1 wherever you wanted, however we think the club is a pretty good home for this little toy!

Rhodes MK8

The latest and greatest evolution in the legendary line of Rhodes electric pianos, the MK8 seems to have taken everything musicians love about the classic Rhodes and elevated it to new heights.

Here are a few reasons why the MK8 feels like the perfect addition to our live room:

The Rhodes MK8 is all about that classic, warm, and punchy sound that’s been a staple in countless hits across multiple genres. This piano manages to retain the vintage Rhodes sound we all know and love while also bringing a bunch of modern enhancements to the table. The range of tones it offers means that it works equally well as a lead instrument and for a softer chordal sound. It’s also extremely customisable – from different hammer tips to various preamp settings there are so many possible sounds you can get out of this instrument – whilst simultaneously feeling super intuitive and overall just comfortable to use! Plus, it looks beautiful!

We really couldn’t ask for more out of this piano. Sleek, versatile, reliable and simply one of the best sounding instruments we’ve heard, we think it’s safe to say you’ll love it too…

AEA A440 Ribbon Microphone

Released as AEA’s version of the legendary RCA 44 mic, the A440 is one of our favourite mics we’ve tried to date.

The A440 is an active ribbon microphone and houses a built-in preamp which gives it a few advantages over other ribbon mics. Firstly, it delivers a stronger signal than a lot of other ribbon mics which means there’s less risk of noise. The built-in electronics also ensure a consistent performance regardless of the preamp you use, making it more versatile in different recording setups. We’ve loved using it on strings, vocals and guitars especially! Additionally, most ribbon mics are notoriously delicate, and while we will not be throwing this microphone around, the A440 is a much more sturdy and reliable choice than most ribbon mics out there.

If you’re looking for a warm, rich, smooth sound, we think we’ve found the mic for you!

AMS S-DMX

We’ve given a few rave reviews to some of the newer pieces of gear and touched on the benefits that new technology and manufacturing can bring to the table, but sometimes you just can’t beat a vintage classic, and so we thought we’d round off the line up with another recording veteran – the AMS S-DMX.

The best way to describe the unit is that it just seems to add depth and character to everything it touches. The vintage vibe is undoubtedly present, the textures it can provide your sounds with are so unique, and it performs beautifully whether you want to subtly enhance or dramatically change your recordings. We tried it on guitars, vocals and synths; and after hearing what it can do, we’re going to be using it on everything else too.

If you love experimenting with sound, the AMS S-DMX Effects Processor is a piece of gear that’s 100% worth checking out. It’s a piece of history that continues to influence modern music with its distinctive sound, and spending a bit of time in the studio with it is going to provide you with some crazy sonic rewards.