Stewart Copeland Rumbefish OST equipment

The Rumblefish soundtrack by Stewart Copeland was released in March 1984, accompanying the Francis Ford Coppola-directed film of the same name. It marks Stewart Copeland's first venture into composing film scores and soundtracks, which he did whilst still a member of The Police.

Initial work on the Rumblefish soundtrack took place during June/July 1982 at Long Branch Studios (Tulsa, Oklahoma, US) where the typewriter effects were recorded and so on. Main recording work was done at Tres Virgos studios (San Rafael, California, USA) during March 1983, following The Police's Synchronicity sessions, engineered by Robin Yeager.

Much of the mixing was completed at Stewart's Worried Rabbit home studio somewhere in Oxfordshire, England - likely late June/early July 1983, when son Jordan was born. "Don't Box Me In" was in fact a rough monitor mix from the Tres Virgos sessions; the master tape was accidentally erased by Stan Ridgway later on, so the rough mix was salvaged for the movie and album.

Drums & percussion

 * TAMA white kit (specifics unclear) - borrowed for Tres Virgos sessions
 * Unknown studio kit (Long Branch sessions) - possibly Camco drums?
 * Pearl 5” x 14” snare /w Chrome overbrass
 * 2 x TAMA Octobans
 * TAMA 22” Gong drum

Cymbals (Paiste, except where noted - Tres Virgos setup): (Other cymbals yet to be identified)
 * Paiste 602 13” hi-hat
 * 3 x 8” 2002 ice bell
 * 16” 602 thin crash
 * 16” 2002 medium crash
 * 18” 2002 medium crash
 * 22” 602 Chinese
 * 24” Rude Ride/Crash

Drum heads:
 * Remo Ambassador
 * Remo CS Black Dot (toms, kick)

Electronic percussion:
 * Oberheim DMX drum machine

Basses

 * Henk Van Zalinge Z-bass
 * Fender Precision bass - possibly confused with Fender Telecaster bass?

Guitars

 * Fender Telecaster
 * 1978 Fender Stratocaster natural(?)

Synthesizers

 * Oberheim OB-8
 * Roland RS-505 Paraphonic
 * Roland TB-303 bassline(?)
 * Sequential Circuits Prophet-5

Other instruments

 * Banjo
 * Typewriter

Microphones
Drums & percussion - Tres Virgos mic setup as follows:
 * Bass drum:
 * AKG D-12
 * Snare:
 * AKG 452 (top & bottom)
 * Hi-hat:
 * AKG 452
 * Toms:
 * 1 x AKG 452
 * Sennheiser MD421 - floor tom
 * Beyer 201's - possibly used for bottom of toms
 * Octobans:
 * 1 x AKG 452 or Neumann U87
 * Overheads:
 * AKG C414 EB
 * Room mics:
 * Neumann U87s
 * Other:
 * 4 x Crown PZM - placed on wall 12 feet away from kit

Xylophone (Tres Virgos)
 * 2 x AKG 414 EB

Piano (Tres Virgos)
 * 2 x Crown PZM
 * Neumann U87 - distant mic

Tape machines
Tres Virgos:
 * Ampex ATR-124 24-track - synchronised to MCI via Q-lock
 * Ampex ATR-102 2-track
 * MCI JH-24 24-track

Worried Rabbit:
 * Otari MTR-90 24-track
 * Sony PCM-F1 digital 2-track

Outboard gear
The following units were available at Stewart's 'Worried Rabbit' studio, used in much of the final mixing:
 * AMS DMX 15-80 digital delay/harmonizer
 * ITAM Stereo 10-band Graphic Equalizer
 * Marantz 1040 Stereo Amplifier
 * Roland SPA-240 power amplifier - drives JBL 4315 monitors
 * Roland SDE-2000 digital delay
 * Roland SRE-555 Chorus Echo
 * Orban 111B Dual Spring Reverb
 * Valley People Kepex II noise gates (x2)
 * Valley People Gain Brain compressors (x2)

At Tres Virgos Studios:
 * AMS RMX-16 digital reverb
 * Deltalab DL-4 digital delay
 * Eventide H949 Harmonizer
 * Fairchild EQ
 * Lexicon 224 digital reverb
 * Lexicon Prime Time digital delay
 * Pultec EQ
 * Marshall Time Modulator
 * Roland reverb/delay
 * Studio Technologies Echoplate I plate reverb
 * UREI LA-4 compressors (modified)
 * Valley People Kepex II noise gates
 * Valley People Gain Brain compressors

Mixing consoles

 * Allen & Heath Syncon A - Stewart's 'Worried Rabbit' studio, final mixing
 * MCI JH528B with 48V power rails and Aphex VCA's - Tres Virgos studio recordings

Studio monitors

 * Auratone 5C nearfield: both Tres Virgos and Worried Rabbit
 * UREI 813: Tres Virgos
 * JBL 4313: Worried Rabbit

Other

 * Baldwin 8.5’ grand piano: Tres Virgos studios equipment