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Deep Purple equipment

Last update: May 2, 2003

This section contains information about the equipment the band uses.

• What instruments do they use?
• What is their live sound setup?
• What is their stage monitor setup?

What instruments do they use?

• Don Airey
  • Hammond C3 organ (previously owned by Jon Lord, and before him Christine Perfect of Fleetwood Mac fame)
  • Kurzweil PC2 master keyboard
  • Kurzweil K2000 synthesizer
  • Korg TR rack synthesizer
  • Emulator Proteus 2 rack synthesizer
  • Warp Factor Vocoder
  • Minimoog
  • Analog Solutions Mini modular rack synthesize
  r
  • Technosaurus Cyclodon sequencer
  • Sherman filter bank
  • Mooger Fooger control processor
  • Mooger Fooger ring modulator

  The Hammond goes through 2 x 147 Leslies + Hughes & Kettner Puretone amp & 4 x 12 cabinet, and the various keyboards through a Behringer 16 channel Digital Mixer & Behringer Virtualiser reverb

• Ian Gillan
  • Hohner harmonicas

  Thorsten Nickel made these observations about Ian's harmonicas:

  "to my ears, it sounds like Big Ian used a diatonic harp, a so called blues harp in key of D, playing a drawbending note on hole 4, which is anE down to Eb. From the harpists point of view, that could be 3rd position, if a minor scale (with minor chord) is played. The played bending note itself is a typical blue note, just for a blusy effect here." "(It also could have been a harp in key of A, getting E and Eb on hole 2 (2nd position), but here these bending notes would sound too low for my ears ... Another useful harp could be key of G with those drawbendings on hole 6, or a harp in key of F , especially low F, with its drawbwndings on hole 3 and blowbendings on hole 10 !)" "If he didn't change the harmonica brand since the last album, he still uses the black Hohner Pro Harp MS (=Special 20 , too) -- the booklet does not gives credits to the harmonica brand. mmh, maybe I am wrong, but I say: it is definitely a harp in key of D."

• Roger Glover
  • Vigier Excess basses
  • Dunlop picks

• Steve Morse
  • Musicman guitars
  • Peavey amps
  • Ernie Ball strings

  Steve Morse explained the difference between the standard Ernie Ball Musicman guitar and the Steve Morse signature model:

  "The pickups, like I described in the other response, the body of the SM is a light poplar, with totally weird switching that is perfect for changing while you're soloing (my opinion, of course). Rosewood neck for good feel when sweaty, tone control that just hits perfectly, allowing wah effects with no pedals required. The body is not contoured, so it doesn't melt into your body, but has enough shape to support your right arm during practice sitting down. The balance is exact so that you can set it on your leg while sitting and it won't move if you lift both hands (less fatigue). Oh yeah, it costs more, and is pretty rare because they only make a certain number to order."

• Ian Paice

  Ian's original setup was Ludwig Silver Sparkle with all oversized drums except for his 6 1/2" x 14" snare. He used a 26" bass drum, 18" and 20" floor toms and a 16" tenor tom. He then went to air brushed Ludwig Melodics during the Come Taste The Band era. I'm not sure if he continued with them into Paice-Ashton-Lord or Whitesnake. He returned to the Silver sparkle setup in WS but more of a setup like he has now. He has Pearl Custom Exports now, and is on his 3rd stage kit - 1st being woodgrain, 2nd white, and now he's back to silver sparkle. He uses his signature Pro-Mark sticks.

  The most recent detailed lists we have are the following:

  1. STAGE KIT (Pearl Maple Shells)
     • Bass drum
       • 26" x 16"

     • Tom-toms
       • 10" X 8"
       • 12" X 10"
       • 13" X 11"
       • 14" X 13"
       • 15" X 14"
       • 18" X 16" floor
       • 18" X 16" floor

     • Snare drum
       • 14" X 6-1/2" brass shell

     • Paiste cymbals
       • 22" ride (2002)
       • 22" crash
       • 24" crash
       • 22" China
       • 8" splash
       • 15" Sound Edge Hi-Hats (2002 or 3000)

  2. STUDIO KIT
     • Bass drum
       • 24" x 16"

     • Tom-toms
       • 10" X 8"
       • 12" X 10"
       • 13" X 11"
       • 16" X 16" floor
       • 18" X 16" floor

     • Snare drum
       • 14" X 5" free floating wood

     • Paiste cymbals
       • 22" ride (2002 or 3000)
       • 21" crash
       • 22" crash
       • 20" China
       • 22" China
       • 15" Sound Edge Hi-Hats (2002 or 3000)

  courtesy of Roger Glover, 1999

  and this one, from a recent Web article:

  Pearl Masters Custom MMX in Silver Sparkle

  • Bass drum
    • 26" x 16"

  • Tom-toms
    • 10" x 9"
    • 12" x 10"
    • 13" x 11"
    • 14" x 13"
    • 15" x 14"
    • 16" x 16" floor
    • 18" x 16" floor

  • Snare drums
    • 14" x 5-1/2" Sensitone Custom Alloy Brass Shell
    • 14" x 5-1/2" Sensitone Custom Alloy Steel Shell

  • Paiste cymbals
    • 15" 2002 Sound Edge Hi-Hat
    • 15" 2002 Sound Edge Power Hi-Hat
    • 22" 2002 Ride
    • 22" 2002 Power Ride
    • 22" 2002 Crash
    • 24" 2002 Crash
    • 22" 2002 China
    • 8" 2002 Splash

  • Hardware
    • PowerShifter Eliminator Double-Bassdrum-Pedal P-2002C
      (with felt beater and Black Linear Action cam)
    • PowerShifter Eliminator Hi-Hat pedal

  • Sticks
    • pro mark Autograph-Series, Ian Paice model

  • Drum heads
    • Remo Ambassador (white coated), except the bass drum which uses a Remo Fibreskin III
      The bass drum is dampened with the Remo Muff'l (and some extra folded cloth when needed).
      There is no dampening on the snare or toms.

  Sticks magazine, Nov/2001 - http://www.sticks.de/magazine/0111/ian.htm

  Modern Drummer also had this diagram in a feature:

  

  courtesy of Jim Corrigan, 1999

What live sound setup do they use?

What stage sound setup do they use?

These are the monitor specifications as of the 2001 summer tour:

• Console
  • Midas XL3 / Heritage 3K / PM 4KM

• Processing
  • 8 channels 1/3 octave equalizer Klark Teknik / BSS / TC
  • 10 channels Drawmer DS 201 noise gates
  • 2 x SPX type reverbs
  • K.T. DN60 analyser

• Wedges
  • 5 x HK Audio VT 115X ( including listen wedge)
  • 2 x HK Audio SM 112

• Sidefills.
  • 2 x HK Audio VT 212 II (per side)
  • 4 x HK Audio HL 118

• Flown Monitors.
  • 2 x L-Acoustics Arcs

• Drumfills
  • 2 x HK Audio VT 212 II
  • 2 x HK Audio LP 118

• Mixes
  1. Sidefill stage left.
  2. Sidefill stage right.
  3. Rear stage left. ( 2x VT 115X)
  4. Rear stage right ( 2x VT 115X)
  5. Keyboards.
  6. Drums.
  7. Drum submix. (returns into input channel 12)
  8. FX (spx type, mono return into channel 13)

And here are the requirements from the 2002 tour, courtesy of monitor engineer Rob Hodgkinson:

• Console
• Preferred: Midas XL3, Heritage 3000, Yamaha PM4000
• Gamble, Yamaha PM3500, Allen and Heath GL4000 are not acceptable.
• Minimum of 32 inputs and 12 outputs.
• Pre/post fade switching on all sends.
• The console position is stage left, no more than 2 metres further offstage than the rear of the sidefills and no more than 2 metres upstage of the upstage edge of the sidefills (I like to listen to the stage, not rely on my solo wedge all the time so having the console away off in the wings is no use!).
• Sidefills
• We require an actively powered sidefill system of not less than 3.5kw for each side of the stage. As an example, 2 stacks of EAW 850 per side is about right.
• When ground stacked the sidefills will be placed 24 feet either side of downstage centre about 3 feet upstage.
• When flown, the points should be 22 feet either side of stage centre and 6 feet upstage.
• Preferred:
• V.Dosc. 3 per side plus 2 subs per side.
• HK Audio VT212. 2 per side plus subs
.
• Meyer MSL4. 2 per side plus subs
.
• EAW 850. 2 per side plus subs.
• Turbosound floodlight. 2 per side plus subs.
• Drumfill
• HK Audio VT 212 plus LP 118 sub. 2 of each with at least 3kw of amping.
• If this is not available, the requirement is the same as for the sidefills.
• Wedges
• 7 Biamped wedges, single 15” plus single 2” design. (Includes listen wedge)
• Note: If we are using flown sidefills we require another 2 pairs of wedges on 2 sends, one pair stage left and one pair stage right to cover the dead area directly underneath the fills.
• Front truss monitors
• We require 2 speakers to be suspended from the front truss above the downstage centre position. These need to be aimed so that they hit the stage about 1 metre back from downstage centre.
• Preferred: L-Acoustics Arcs
• Processing
• 1 Simple reverb, nothing too smooth or sophisticated sounding.
• Preferred: Yamaha SPX 90 II
• 8 channels of dedicated noise gates with frequency keying facilities (compressor gates will not do).
• Preferred: Drawmer DS201
• 2 Channels of compression (DBX or Drawmer)
• Equalisation
• 10 channels of 1/3 octave graphic equalisation.
• Preferred: BSS, Klark Teknik, TC Electronics
• 8 channels of this are to be inserted into console outputs 1 to 8.
• 2 channels are to be available for use as input channel inserts if required.
• Mix Assignments
1. Sidefill stage left
2. Sidefill stage right
3. Front truss monitors
4. Rear monitors stage left (1 pair in front of keyboard riser, facing downstage)
5. Rear monitors stage right (1 pair in front of drum riser, facing downstage)
6. Keyboards (1 pair)
7. Drums
8. Drum submix (XLR from output into input channel 12)
9. Effects send (mono return into input channel 13)
10. Keys submix (XLR from output into input channel 16)
11. In-ear mix (we carry)
12. Midstage left (if using flown sidefills)
13. Midstage right (if using flown sidefills)
• Insert Patching
• Noise gates are inserted on input channels 5 to 11 inclusive. This leaves 1 channel spare.
• Compressors are inserted on input channel 16 (key submix.) and output group 11.
• We have an Aphex aural exciter type 3. This needs to be inserted on the lead vocal and spare vocal channels. Please provide the necessary insert cabling. Inputs/outputs are XLR.