Three Questions With Daniel Lanois
- Danz
- Apr 23
- 2 min read
Legendary producer and musician Daniel Lanois is next up in the 3Qs series.
He was kind enough to answer ahead of his upcoming Reflections performance here in LA. Link.
Alongside Brian Eno, Lanois helped shape the ambient genre and co-produced several of U2’s most iconic records, including The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. In addition to a prolific solo career, he’s produced and collaborated with artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Harold Budd and more.
Without further ado...
Synth History: Can you tell me some of your go-to pieces of gear used throughout the years?
Daniel Lanois: With regards to vintage gear, I’ve remained loyal to one vintage piece of equipment which is the AMS harmonizer. It’s a stereo pitch shifter VCO machine that I use to this day. Otherwise, I keep an arsenal of vintage mics that you might think of as nice old camera lenses—as a photographic analogy The RCA BK5, for example, is a vintage ribbon mic that I use on vocals to this day.
Synth History: You’ve released several solo albums as well as produced for a number of artists. What is one piece of advice you’d offer solo musicians who also produce, when it comes to approaching collaboration?
Daniel Lanois: I’ve had a recording studio of sorts since I was 13, my brother and I were advocates of house sound, these were sounds that we invented and dialled in as offerings to musicians who walked in and wanted fast results.
We always had instruments in our studio already mic'd up ready to roll. Preparation leads to good work done, no wasted time.
Synth History: What is one fond memory you can recall from working on an album, either your own or as a producer, that people might not know about?
Daniel Lanois: I have fond memories of working with Brian Eno on instrumental records. For example, check out ‘The Pearl’, a beautiful Harold Budd album made in my studio in Canada. A nice example of heartfelt music made with love.
Synth History: What is your all-time favorite synthesizer?
Daniel Lanois: The Yamaha CS-80 is an all time favorite synthesizer of mine, but it’s a vintage piece and so the oscillators drift.
Daniel Lanois performs a solo ambient set on May 3rd with Total Blue at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles as part of Reflections. Tickets.
Synth History Exclusive.
Photos provided by Daniel Lanois.
