The album was initially recorded into Logic Audio Platinum (v5.3.0) running on a Dual 1GHz Powermac G4 (mirrored drive door model with 1.25 GB RAM, running OS 9 - Mike says 9.4, which doesn't exist; the latest is 9.2.2), with Digidesign Pro Tools (v5.3.1) being used for various pieces of editing, and to provide the half-speed recording capability needed to create the double speed guitars which were very much a feature of the original Tubular Bells. Material was then transferred to a Fairlight Merlin hard disk recorder, from which tracks were mixed down, via Mike's Neve Capricorn digital mixing desk.
The track titles are simply Mike's working titles for the sections they refer to. The division of the album into tracks was done as a result of popular demand rather than any particular desire of Mike's, and as a result Mike chose not to spend any further time thinking up new names for all the sections.
| Miscellaneous stringed instruments |
| Mike Vanden 'MJV' F4 style Mandolin |
Originally bought from John Alvey Turner's music shop. Sold via Chandler Guitars in December 2007.
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Also used in Amarok, Voyager
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| Percussion instruments |
| Cymbals |
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| Glockenspiel |
3 octave concert glockenspiel sold at piano auctions, December 2007. Not the one used on Tubular Bells and Hergest Ridge, but probably all albums after that. |
Also used in Ommadawn
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| Tambourine |
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| Tubular Bells |
The 'toy' set bought for the making of Tubular Bells II. |
Also used in Tubular Bells II
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| Triangle |
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| Tympani |
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| Drum machines and electronic percussion |
| Boss Dr Rhythm |
Digital drum machine. |
Used for drums. |
| Electric guitars |
| 1963 Fender Stratocaster, fiesta red |
s/n L08044. Mike once said in an interview (The Raft) that this was his favourite guitar and that he'd never sell it. However, he finally decided to part company with it in December 2007 and sold it through Chandler guitars, fetching £30,000.
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Also used in Discovery, Amarok, Tubular Bells II, The Songs of Distant Earth, Voyager, Tubular Bells III, Light + Shade
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| 1965 Fender Telecaster |
Neck date of November 1965 (s/n L807280). This guitar used to be owned by Marc Bolan. Mike added an extra pickup - made by Bill Lawrence - to it, with the help of his dad in their garden shed. Mike later took all the finish off the guitar, leaving it as bare wood. The guitar was offered through Chandler for £20,000 but wasn’t sold. It was then to be auctioned off by Bonhams on June 20, 2007 (Lot 391) with an estimate of £25,000 - 35,000. Next attempt was on January 15, 2008 (Lot 361, estimate £10,000 - 15,000). The last attempt was made on December 16, 2009 (Lot 277, estimate £8,000 - 12,000). All attempts failed due to low bids and the guitar was withdrawn. It was sold in January 2010 by charity SANE to English guitarist Keith Smart. Video
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Also used in Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Five Miles Out, Amarok
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| PRS Custom 24, Dark Cherry Sunburst – with Roland GK-2AH pickup |
Modified by Chandler Guitars and Richard Barrie to include a built-in Roland synth pickup. Sold by Chandler Guitars to an English fan in February 2006.
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Used with VG-8
Also used in Voyager, Tubular Bells III
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| 1988 or 1989 PRS McCarty Hollowbody II, McCarty Sunburst |
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Played through Twin Reverb for distorted guitars |
| 1989 PRS Signature, Vintage Yellow |
A particularly high grade, limited edition, version of the Custom 24. In Vintage Yellow.
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Used through GP-8
Also used in Earth Moving, Amarok, Tubular Bells II, The Songs of Distant Earth, Voyager, Tubular Bells III, Light + Shade, Return To Ommadawn
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| Nylon-string guitars |
| 1974 Jose Ramirez 1A Traditional |
s/n 7987
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Also used in Hergest Ridge, The Orchestral Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Amarok, Voyager, Light + Shade
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| 1975 Jose Ramirez 1A Flamenco |
s/n 8666. Sold through Chandler to a French Fan and later resold to a German fan.
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Also used in Amarok, Tubular Bells II
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| Steel-string acoustic guitars |
| 1960 Martin 00-21NY |
Sold via Chandler Guitars to a Scottish fan in December 2007.
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Also used in Amarok, Voyager
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| 1984 Ovation 1687-2 Adamas – Reverse Red Burst |
Electroacoustic guitar with carbon fibre top.
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Also used in Crises, Discovery
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| 1985 Taylor K-22 |
Koa-bodied acoustic guitar, sold via Chandler Guitars to a fan in February 2006.
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| Bass guitars |
| 1991 Wal Custom bass |
s/n W3557. Sold to a German fan via Chandler Guitars in February 2006.
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Also used in Tubular Bells II, Tubular Bells III, Guitars
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| Guitar effects |
| Roland GP-8 |
Guitar effects processor used for Mike's trademark 90s distorted guitar sound. Sold via ebay in December 2007. |
Also used in Amarok, Tubular Bells II, The Songs of Distant Earth
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| Roland VG-8 |
Guitar modelling processor, able to model the sounds of different guitars and other instruments. It uses a GK-series synth pickup to provide the unit with an uncoloured signal, but the VG-8 is not technically a synthesiser as it purely remodels the signal from the pickup. One was sold via ebay in December 2007, but he lists one as having been used on Tubular Bells 2003, so presumably he had a spare!
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Also used in Voyager, Tubular Bells III, Guitars, The Millennium Bell, Tres Lunas
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| Amps |
| Fender Twin Reverb |
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Also used in Ommadawn, Incantations, Exposed, Discovery, Return To Ommadawn
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| Mesa/Boogie |
To get his distorted guitar sound from this amp, Mike overloaded the input by running the guitar through a preamp first. The sound then went into the mixer, where the input was overloaded, then through the Vocal Stresser and a parametric EQ, then a gate and a limiter. (Guitarist, 1984) |
Also used in Exposed, Five Miles Out, Discovery
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| Pianos |
| Steinway Model B |
Studio grand piano. No 137655. When this piano was auctioned, it was listed as being a 6'11" piano, c.1910, with a rosewood case. |
Also used in Amarok
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| Steinway Model C |
Grand piano. The notes for Tubular Bells 2003 list an 8 foot Steinway grand. The model C is 7'5" 1/2", the Model D is 8'11 3/4" - it could be either of those! The frame was from the 1920s, but the piano was rebuilt. |
Also used in Voyager, Light + Shade
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| Organs |
| Farfisa Professional Organ |
Return To Ommadawn used a Farfisa sotware emulation.
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Also used in Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, Incantations, Crises, Amarok, Tubular Bells II, Return To Ommadawn
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| 1970 Hammond L.122 Organ |
Return To Ommadawn used an Hammond software simulation. |
Also used in Amarok, Heaven's Open, Tubular Bells II, Return To Ommadawn
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| Lowrey Organ |
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Also used in Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Amarok, Tubular Bells II
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| Synthesisers |
| Clavia Nord Lead |
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Used for bass and 'sequency synths'.
Also used in Tubular Bells III, The Millennium Bell, Tres Lunas
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| Korg Trinity |
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Also used in Voyager, Tubular Bells III, The Millennium Bell
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| Roland JD-990 |
Rackmountable module version of the JD-800, with slightly enhanced synthesis engine, but missing its numerous sliders! |
Used for pads.
Also used in The Songs of Distant Earth, Voyager, Tubular Bells III, The Millennium Bell, Tres Lunas
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| Roland JV-2080 |
Digital synth module |
Used for 'ethnic sounds' and bass.
Also used in Tres Lunas
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| Roland XP-50 |
Digital synthesiser workstation. Bought by a fan in 2008 from Chandler Guitars. Can be seen in the Millenium Bells DVD, used for the beats for Art In Heaven among other things.
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Used for pianos and percussion.
Also used in Voyager, Tubular Bells III, The Millennium Bell, Tres Lunas, Light + Shade
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| Samplers |
| Akai S-6000 |
Digital rackmount sampler. |
Used for playing back Mike's sample library.
Also used in Tres Lunas
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| Other keyboards |
| Parrot Piano Accordion |
Chinese-made 30 key, 32 bass piano accordion. |
Also used in Ommadawn
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| Microphones |
| AKG C12 |
Multi pattern large diaphragm valve condenser microphone. |
Used for piano. |
| Beyerdynamic M160 |
Ribbon microphone. |
Used on piano. |
| Bruel & Kjaer 4006 |
Small diaphragm omnidirectional condenser microphone.
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Also used in Amarok, Heaven's Open, Voyager
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| Bruel & Kjaer 4011 |
Small diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone. |
Used for piano, guitar amps, leslie speaker, glockenspiel, percussion and vocals.
Also used in Amarok, Heaven's Open, Voyager
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| Bruel & Kjaer 4040 |
Large diaphragm omnidirectional condenser microphone. Serial Number 001. |
Used for classical guitar, flamenco guitar and steelstring acoustic guitar.
Also used in Amarok, Heaven's Open, Voyager
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| Neumann M249 |
Large diaphragm, multi pattern valve condenser microphone. A broadcast version of the M49, with 7 pin tuchel connector for superior rejection of RF interference. |
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| Neumann U67 |
Large diaphragm, multi-pattern valve condenser microphone. |
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| Shure SM57 |
Dynamic cardioid microphone. |
Used for vocals and guitar amps.
Also used in QE2
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| Loudspeakers |
| Coastal Acoustics Boxer T4 |
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Also used in Tubular Bells II, The Songs of Distant Earth, Voyager, Tubular Bells III, Guitars, The Millennium Bell, Tres Lunas
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| Coastal Acoustics Boxer T2 |
Large studio monitoring speakers. |
Also used in Tres Lunas
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| Studio effects and outboard |
| Manor Module (mic preamp, EQ, compressor) |
Taken from the original Walsall Timing Developments mixer which was used to record Tubular Bells. Used for Mike's distinctive clean guitar sound. |
Also used in The Songs of Distant Earth
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| Belcaman C-102 |
Valve limiter. |
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| BSS DI Box |
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Used for the Telecaster. |
| Digidesign 888/24 |
8 channel 24 bit I/O unit for Digidesign Pro Tools. Sold via Chandler Guitars in September 2008.
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Mike used four of these for Tubular Bells 2003 |
| Digidesign Pro Tools Mix Plus card |
DSP card for Digidesign Pro Tools. |
Mike had two of these installed in his Power Mac G4 for Tubular Bells 2003. |
| Eventide DSP-4000 |
High end digital effects unit, part of Eventide's successful Harmonizer series. |
Also used in The Songs of Distant Earth
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| Lexicon 300 |
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Used for delays |
| MOTU 828 Firewire |
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Used with ASIO drivers for virtual synths and VST plugins. |
| Neve 1073 Mic Preamps |
Used on Amarok |
Mike used 5 of these.
Also used in Amarok
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| TC Electronic M-5000 |
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Also used in The Songs of Distant Earth
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| Urei 1176 Peak Limiter |
Mike originally borrowed some of these from the Manor Mobile, but later acquired his own. |
Also used in Ommadawn, Incantations, Platinum, Tubular Bells II
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| Urei 1178 dual channel peak limiter |
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Also used in Crises, Tubular Bells II
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| Yamaha SPX-1000 |
Multieffects processor. |
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| Mixing desks |
| AMS Neve Capricorn 33238 |
Digital mixing desk. |
Also used in The Songs of Distant Earth, Voyager, Tubular Bells III, Guitars, The Millennium Bell
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| Computers |
| Apple PowerMac G4 1GHz mirrored drive door |
With 1.25GB RAM, running OS 9.2 With Emagic Logic Audio Platinum 5.3.0 and Digidesign Pro Tools 5.3.1 |
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| Apple Powerbook 5300 |
Used for recalls and general word processing |
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| Apple PowerMac G4 466MHz |
With 1GB RAM, running OS 9.1, Logic Audio Platinum 4.8.1 and Pro Tools |
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| Sequencers |
| Emagic Logic Platinum |
5.3.0 |
Mike started with version 4.8.1 and upgraded to 5.3.0 during the recording. |
| Hard Disk Recorders |
| Digidesign Pro Tools |
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Mike used version 5.3.1 |
| Emagic Logic Platinum |
5.3.0 |
Mike started with version 4.8.1 and upgraded to 5.3.0 during the recording. |
| Fairlight Merlin |
Hard disk recorder. |
Recording at 24 bit, 48KHz
Also used in Tres Lunas
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| Computer software |
| Digidesign Pro Tools |
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Mike used version 5.3.1 |
| Emagic ES1 |
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Virtual bass |
| Emagic EVP88 |
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Virtual Wurlitzer electric piano |
| Emagic EXS24 |
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Used for strings, flutes and organs. |
| Emagic Logic Platinum |
5.3.0 |
Mike started with version 4.8.1 and upgraded to 5.3.0 during the recording. |
| Focusrite EQ and Compression plugins |
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| Line 6 Amp Farm |
TDM plugin for Pro Tools. |
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| Native Instruments Pro 53 |
Virtual Prophet V plugin, an update of the Pro52 |
Used for synth and organ sounds. |
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