Studio relax, Cocteau Twins style drums & gear

[@FabrizioDeSerio]

Paolo you are not only a musician. You are a time machine.

[@KozmykJ]

I made a Cassette tape for the car. Side A - 45 minutes of "Pearly Dewdrops' Drops" repeating. Side B - 45 minutes of "Iceblink Luck" repeating.

[@KozmykJ]

@ADMIN I learned to be careful in my choice of driving music. Awaken from going For the One by Yes would make me pull over to avoid losing control. They don't like it when you do that on the Motorway/Freeway.

[@theothertonydutch]

You know there's a thing called loop tapes that loop infinitely?

[@mikabreto]

Is joke. Over your head it flew. My repeating cassette would be quite different. Side A - 22 minutes of Summerhead, 23 minutes of Cherry-coloured Funk Side B - 22 minutes of Blue Bell Knoll, 23 minutes of Feathers Oar-Blades

[@r4x2]

The early Cocteau Twins, specifically Heads over Heels, completely changed my life. Thank you for doing this, Paolo!

[@kalamarbreath]

without this group something would be missing

[@TamagoTamago77]

your sound is so spot on, I fully expected to hear Liz Fraser’s angelic voice come in at any moment.

[@jpm9628]

I've been a Cocteau Twins fan for years. He totally nails the sound.

[@amberraining9546]

yess!!

[@mattkaz9604]

It's amazing how you can dial up such authentic period production. Very clever.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you like it!

[@UbikDedalus]

Maaaan Victorialand is such a classic. Personally my favourite of theirs as well! Great video as always!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks~~~!!!

[@bwest6275]

Love it! Super cool, really captures the period 🙌

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you like it!

[@matthewdeakin9939]

We all know Paolo could nail Liz Frazier’s vocals

[@apolloc.vermouth5672]

I had the pleasure of playing on a record made at the Cocteau Twins' studio in Richmond, London in the late 90s. I had a look inside the attic where they kept their gear, I found an Emu SP1200 but not a Drumulator.... guess they must have sold that by then. They let me use some of their guitars as well!

[@johnhatch6517]

THANK YOU!!!! I REALLY enjoyed seeing how their sound is made!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@richardleveille3254]

Thumbs up before watching, because , well, it’s Paolo doing Cocteau Twins!

[@callactm14]

Brilliantly done, very impressed, you totally nailed it

[@5argetech56]

No phony software emulators used here... The true hardware for an authentic production! Wonderful! :)

[@ssdelko]

Nice job! I got to see them twice in about 5 months in Chicago. November of ‘90 and then again March of ‘91. Seeing them live was like seeing how all the pieces fit together.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Cool!

[@METAMORA6329]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Great and informative content in your videos!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks for watching!

[@wallpurgesnight8209]

Love what you wrote for the end 💜 Such a pretty instrumental...

[@Zeal808]

I swear this video came exactly on time. Totally into Cocteau twins right now. Just ordered a new modulation pedal. Awesome video!

[@nycimagery]

These videos, and this genre of music are the absolute coolest!

[@TheJonathanlewis1000]

Sounds really authentic- great with the use of the period gear to get the accurate sound. Excellent drums

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you - if you'd like to find out about other drum machines and gear that they used over the years, a good source is cocteautwins.com/cocteau-twins-equipment-and-sounds.html

[@tarsooliveira2075]

you're always helping up to realize our dreams and thank you so much for this really.

[@LordCritish]

Excellent production again! You make it look so easy! Shoegaze and Cocteau Twins pretty much went under my radar all the 80s and 90s. I only really discovered Shoegaze (the genre that wouldn't die) in the early 2000s when I discovered a band named Bowery Electric, a short-lived band but still one of my favorite Shoegaze bands.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you, it helps to have the same drum machine that they used! :D Ahh, yes, I do remember Bowery Electric, I know a guitarist good friend of mine who's been living in NY for thirty years and I think he played in the same circles back then and introduced me to an album of that band in the early 2000s as well. Really cool band.

[@LordCritish]

​@@SynthManiaDotCom It's awesome that you know Bowery Electric! I keep an eye (ear) on Shoegaze every now and then. There's always something new coming out here and there and it never gets old, bands like Flyying Colours, Airiel, Fleeting Joys, The Death of Pop, Forsaken Autumn to name a couple of my favorites.

[@demonicsweaters]

Great stuff!

[@pjm8779]

My best friend had a Drumulator growing up. Such a great machine. The snare sounds huge with the RMX16. More powerful than the kick. Vox sounds great. Nice relaxing Cocteau jam!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you, PJ! I have a soft spot for the Drumulator, as it was used in a number of Italo Disco songs from the mid'-80s that I grew up with (actually, not only Italo Disco but also Pop / Rock). I put zif sockets in it recently, so I'd like to start experimenting with swapping home-brewed ROMs.

[@softlightsymphonyband]

One of my favorite bands and this video was great. Love seeing the old gear in use.

[@mheberling5939]

This is so rad. I subscribed right away!

[@StitchesAndBitches]

i love cocteau twins so much, especially garlands, something about garlands just scratches an itch in my brain, thank you for this nice lil video mister :)

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rodmorrison47]

Beautiful work. As an eighties Scottish teenager, this is really evocative.

[@luxces9158]

Sound great Paolo!!!

[@shakazulu5246]

Well this is first time i hear someone go so far with CT sound...i really like what you did here....big fan of CT

[@rayclanet9927]

Wow! thank you, Sir, for another great video filled with so much talent, knowledge and good taste! This work of love of yours is very appreciated!!!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you very much!

[@cortical1]

I've enjoyed the Twins since the mid-80s too. Thanks for this fun video romp!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@SoloElROY]

I swear I can hear a voice in your song! beautiful

[@mikaelsjoberg1894]

You are an amzing man - with an exceptionally god taste in all things music. I have a tip for you. Theres an old rackmountable Guitar preamp/processor from Roland called GP-100 They can do amazing fx-laden sounds,especially , chorus , reverb and echo sounds.And the clean fendery sounds are really good to. And they are fantastic for bass.Theres many on e-bay for sale.Every Indie-man should have at least one. I have two....:)

[@sigma5054]

dream setup awesome video

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@dissident4117]

Simply awesome. You are a real magician.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Wow, thank you

[@G.GordonMidi]

Was hoping you'd take a stab at some Cocteau style vocals! 🤪

[@toddtyler]

This is great, thank you so much!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you like it!

[@ryananthony4840]

I bought a Gallien Krueger 250ml last year to get that 80's sound.... The built-in chorus is AMAZING

[@autoazure]

Totally Fascinating video! Thank You!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@hendrikboser8238]

Amazing sound

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you think so!

[@budgietrousers8275]

I loved The Cocteau's

[@digoryjohns2018]

You do a great job with the Guthrie / Raymonde sound, Paolo. Now if you could find a Dream Goddess Heaven Machine to cover Elizabeth Fraser's voice... You'd be a very rich man.

[@rodrigomercadoelgueta8251]

I hear vocals in the last seconds or is it just my imagination. You do things on my mind.

[@eric_bones]

So good, I recently got a Roland MC-505 that I've been trying to manipulate enough to create drums sounds similar to these. Getting close, but your gear is epic!! Thanks for the video

[@giri.goyo_yt]

Excellent job! Exactly what I was looking for. You nailed it! Thank you.

[@luizaesoares3190]

Great return to 80's Paolo.

[@gustavox258]

I would love to see more videos like this, about various aspects of the sound of old bands

[@richimk-behringerdeepmind1453]

Very nice sounds. Very useful.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you think so!

[@seanmahoney7722]

Very new to synth and the gubbins that come with it... Probably a bit too long in the tooth at 31, But I'm glad that I discovered your channel! Diolch!

[@els1f]

I read that they used to take the drum machines into a bunch of different amplifiers and effects to play live and the the engineers at the time talked them out of recording them that way. I would love to have heard that!

[@theelectricdisco]

Awesome!! Absolutely nailed it!!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks a ton!

[@abyssopelagic4813]

Soooo cool, thanks!

[@cujocommander]

Brilliant ❤

[@CollapseReport]

The only you need is a Elisabeth with a heaven voice and its complete .

[@ggck.sounds]

amazing work, thank you

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you too!

[@kronossonork6994]

Serpentskirt - wonderful track

[@mauriciomandara5946]

Awesome!!! With 80’s effects !!! Thanks for sharing! ... the 4ad label had a great selection of bands back then and had my favorite artist/graphic designer Vaughan Oliver who worked and art directed all the covers for them. Very creative years !

[@oholm09]

I need those

[@TerekkiTerekki]

Loved all the 4AD design and imagery - RIP Vaughan

[@bhamadicharef]

Guitar sound like "The Cure"" too ... great video !

[@hoagy_ytfc]

Obviously, they switched kit quite often, but /THE/ Cocteau Twins sound for me is with the Rock set of samples in the Drumulator.

[@texacomann]

Cool music well done!

[@Rose_Arcana]

Nothing to do... but to like! You are a master.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Wow, thanks!

[@CollapseReport]

ooo this is cool i did't know you love the Cocteau Twins !

[@sigma5054]

Magnificent

[@jjgems6732]

So cool! Thanks for this!

[@zoevoid]

Aloha - I'd go see you in concert !!!!

[@rodmac8358]

I love your channel, mate!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Much appreciated!

[@barilochebarracuda846]

amazing! I love Cocteau Twins and keep trying to get that sound on an old yamaha FX500 effects unit... :) thanks Paolo!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you like it!

[@LTK33]

All their albums sound good(IMO) and that is rare, Robin Guthrie, that sound!

[@macdaddybender]

Great stuff. You nailed the sound perfectly and I loved how you used the classic reverb unit to get the snare sound.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@gullyfoyle6354]

My dear Paolo, you're the Doraemon of the synth community on YT! LOL XD ... look what the cat has dragged in...a Drumulator!! let's go for it ;) Cool vid and performance as usual. Auguri.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Rock on!

[@gullyfoyle6354]

@@SynthManiaDotCom Drumulator was a very important equipment for EMU back in those days, good sales saved the company from bankrupcy...years later, the second time, the saver would be called : Proteus. ;) Rock it!

[@JyotiMishra]

Another one of my fave bands! We have soo much '80s in common, Paolo! Well done on nailing the Cocteau's sound, mate. I dunno if I've asked you before but where you a fan of Secession?? How about the group Fashion who did Streetplayer?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks so much, Jyoti!!! And YES, I think you mentioned Secession in past conversations and I'm definitely fond of all those types of bands !!! :) And yes, Fashion's Streetplayer is great!!! One less-known band from the '80s I discovered fairly recently is Kym Amps kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKWmaq2imM6Ga80 Lots of DX7 used in very interesting, hypnotic ways!

[@JyotiMishra]

@@SynthManiaDotCom Just checked her out and it's lovely! THANK YOU! That Fashion sound, very funky but very synthy was one of my fave '80s trends, obviously also done by Heaven 17 and, later, Level 42. Please, please do a SYNTHFUNK track if you have time but in that style, not the Chromeo style. Much love and hugs!

[@softfocus9042]

impressive

[@JostSchwider]

Aw, Cocteau Twins... It's time to search for the good old recordings...

[@waxwaine]

Excelent, thanks. I feel second guitar riff should sound more distant, don't know how

[@merlinoner]

Great job.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@tubthump]

Fascinating stuff. Also, I see you have one of those invisible plectrums that Bernard Edwards had!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks! I just wish I could also play like him :^D

[@tubthump]

@@SynthManiaDotCom don't we all! After many years dabbling in bass I've only just discovered that "chucking" technique.

[@i_never_asked_for_an_alias]

Thank you DAVE !

[@TheDevilings]

Good job!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Yesss! No matter what, Paolo could get a good sound even from a bunch of pebbles and a plastic bag ;)

[@MuchasDistracciones]

loving this content

[@Icythot-m6i]

i was justthinking about this when cherry lflavoured funk came on, how they got their sound just woke up and this was suggested to me i didn't look up thjeir gear or anything lol so sick!

[@Uploader1992]

Super video! I applauded for COP 4,000.00 👏

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you!!

[@Strages_Powers]

wish I could just hang out and jam with you every time I see your videos lol

[@Rose_Arcana]

Me too... what a cool guy. What a cool studio.

[@bell1876]

wonderful

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Many thanks

[@undergroundradio87.9]

excellent.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks!

[@undergroundradio87.9]

@@SynthManiaDotCom welcome.

[@chadb1176]

This is incredible. Thank you for sharing! This might be blasphemy, but is there a cheaper drum machine available today that can recreate these sounds? I prefer not to use a computer.. just create/loop a drum part and noodle on top of it, a la Robin Guthrie style. Im dying for some inspiration. I appreciate any help.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Max budget? New or used?

[@chadb1176]

@@SynthManiaDotCom I am out of my expertise here.. but something in the $1000 range

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

For that budget I'd look at AKAI MPC One, Elektron Digitakt, Native Instruments Maschine Mk3, Roland TR-8S, or any other drum machine that can sample / load samples. Then, just load freely available Drumulator samples, and you're set. That said, at that point you could also easily get a used Drumulator for much less than $1,000 ---> www.ebay.com/itm/325643520908

[@Vincefromsin]

Well done. You nailed it! Now call Liz...

[@BlackMan614]

Yeah... will never forget... in the music store circa '84 - they had a 909 and a drumulator. I picked the drumulator - you could make a RCA cable that allowed it to be sync'd to MIDI clock. Had an Apple IIe with the passport interface. I never liked it. It sounded more "realistic" than a 909 but programming it was kinda a PITA, I think its timing was sloppy and well... face it. A 909 today goes for 10x what a drumulator does.

[@rorymackenzie5230]

How would you treat the other drums if you could have? Different amounts of reverb?

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Different eq and compression - especially for the bass drum. Gated reverb for the toms. But really at the end of the day it doesn't make a huge difference - it's just drums.

[@viddrone]

Cool!

[@Chungusisdantheman]

Can you please do a recreation of a song by Big Black, they used the same drum machine

[@MD_is_me]

Nailed it.

[@suitandtieguy]

U nailed it bro. However it would have been so lit if youd pretended 2 B lis fraser on top of it. I kno u can do it

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Ha!!! 😂 I could *maybe* sort of emulate a woman's singing by utilizing the VP-9000, which haven't used in a long while here in the studio! :-D but honestly I don't have much hope for my voice getting to 1/1000th of Liz Fraser's capabilities! :D

[@suitandtieguy]

@@SynthManiaDotCom you wouldn't need to be as good as her, it would just be really funny if you had put on a wig and done some awkward falsetto singing "SUGARCOOKIE" over and over again with different phrasing. All those layers of highly skilled effort and then just do a bit on top of it haha

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

I promise to you that I will keep this in mind for the next Cocteau Twins - inspired vid and I might just well do it :-D

[@suitandtieguy]

@@SynthManiaDotCom just think about that scene in I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka where Isaac Hayes is singing along to the radio in the car.

[@sandrabecht4489]

Vielen Dank👍🇩🇪

[@Latvian3Dman]

Cool relaxing... :) Shared around

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Awesome, thank you!

[@cmath8577]

One of the very few attempts at the 4AD Ivo Watts Russel Robin Guthrie sound that is in the ballpark

[@chickenlickin3820]

Get on, some nice vintage English reverberation! a classic :)

[@Fabriciogretter]

Que lindo

[@retro-dademusic6403]

@8:31 sounds straight out of season 4 Miami Vice 1987 😎