Songwriter, producer and vocalist Jessy Lanza shares some of her studio essentials.
Photos provided by Jessy Lanza and Winston Case.
1. SH-101
Really fun to play and improvise with. It sounds good no matter what and I love the arpeggiator.
2. ARP Odyssey
Is a classic and I’m lucky to own an original. This one is unpredictable but that’s what I like about it. It’s difficult to get the same sound out of it twice.
3. MPC 2000XL
Sampling into my MPC 2000XL has become a ritual. It’s slow going at times but I have a rhythm and the process of sampling vinyl direct in gets me into a good creative head space.
4. Roland Aerophone
I bought the Roland Aerophone for my live show since the track "Marathon" from my new album Love Hallucination has a sax solo on it. Since then it’s become one of my favourite pieces of gear. Playing it has helped me connect more with my live show as well. I played clarinet and sax through school and it’s been fun to practice again playing scales and shredding solos.
5. Nostalgia
I have a pic of my mom and also my dad's business card from when he did PA rentals. Makes me smile to look at the DJ Rashad card that came with my copy of Double Cup.
6. JX-8P
Has the preset "Soft Brass", which in my opinion is the best Roland synth preset that’s ever been made. I’ve written the majority of my songs with that preset. The synth itself is big and heavy and I’ve carried it around with me from place to place but I’ll never be able to part with it.
7. Yamaha Reface DX
A great addition to my live setup because it's very portable. It sounds good on its own but I like to play it through my Eventide Timefactor pedal with the digital delay setting to give my patches depth.
When I play live I also run my Roland Aerophone through the other channel on the Timefactor so all of my hardware instruments have a cohesive sound on stage.
8. Eventide H90
I recently got an Eventide H90 to replace the H9 I had been using for all of my vocal processing when I play live. The H90 lets you layer multiple effects so I'll be able to go a lot deeper into my vocal FX chain in my live show.
9. Telefunken M81
I always use a Telefunken M81 for my live vocals which makes singing live a lot more enjoyable. It's a supercardioid microphone so it's very directional and minimizes feedback. For a long time when I performed live feedback was a big issue for me but singing with the M81 has basically erased that problem.
Synth History Exclusive.
Photos provided by Jessy Lanza and Winston Case.