The Police Ghost In The Machine equipment

Ghost In The Machine is the fourth studio album by The Police, released in 1981.

Recording and mixing for the album took place between June and July 1981 at AIR Studios, Montserrat over the course of six weeks. The studio was "a 12 hour flight from the nearest record company" as Stewart Copeland noted, allowing the band to concentrate on recording their songs free from pressure from the record company, unlike the previous album Zenyatta Mondatta. For a change, they recruited co-producer/engineer Hugh Padgham for this album, best known for his work by Peter Gabriel, XTC, Phil Collins, Genesis, Split Enz amongst several other clients. Previously Nigel Gray was The Police's engineer/producer.

This album saw the band take a radical departure from their previous work. Keyboards were more to the forefront compared to previous albums, and the introduction of saxophone into the band's music. All three members of the band played keyboards to varying extents on the album (with the exception of Jean Roussel's keyboards on "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"), despite Stewart's claims to have done all of the keyboards. Andy also made use of Roland guitar synthesizers on the record, for example the opening to "Secret Journey". He dabbled with the guitar synth previously during the "Don't Stand So Close To Me" bridge section.

On the note of equipment, an officially endorsed fanzine of the band's known as The Police Official file reported the band to have brought at least 500 pieces of equipment onto Montserrat, which included complete collections of guitars, synthesizers, drums and so o. Some were flown over from Nice (where they worked on a tour film soundtrack) and the rest from London. The Ghost In The Machine tour program includes what is likely to be a complete list of everything they flew over to Montserrat. However, the selection of gear they were known to have had around in the studio is detailed here.

Sting
Basses:
 * 1963 Fender Precision standard sunburst - loaned from Andy Summers
 * 1978 Fender Precision fretless
 * Henk Van Zalinge Z-bass

Effects:
 * Boss CE-2 Chorus
 * Boss FV-100 Guitar Volume

Basses were recorded directly via the console, with no bass amps.

Synthesizers:
 * Moog Minimoog Model D
 * Oberheim OB-Xa

Sting was pictured playing a Prophet-10 in session photos. This was possibly a studio-owned keyboard as it does not appear listed in the tour program as such. The extent to which it appears on the record is unclear.

Saxophones
 * Yamaha Alto saxophone
 * Yamaha (or Selmer) Tenor saxophone

Andy Summers
Guitars:
 * 1963 Fender Telecaster custom
 * 1961 Fender Stratocaster
 * 1957 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop
 * 1958 Gibson ES-335

Other guitars Andy had around but might or might not have used on the album:
 * Danelectro Longhorn Guitarlin - studio gear?
 * Guitarman custom electric 12-string

Amplification:
 * Marshall JMP 1959 Super Lead 100-watt heads
 * Marshall 1960A 4x12 cabinets
 * Roland Bolt 60
 * Roland Cube 60
 * Roland JC-60 Jazz Chorus
 * Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus

Effects:
 * DeArmond 610 Volume Tone pedal
 * Pete Cornish custom FX board
 * Roland FV-2 volume pedal

Guitar synthesizers:
 * Roland GR-100
 * Roland GR-300

Keyboard synthesizers:
 * Moog Minimoog Model D
 * Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 ("Spirits In The Material World" solo)

Stewart Copeland
Stewart had two kits for this album. One was branded the 'A' kit, which was set up in the living room adjacent to the dining room in Montserrat (which had the best room sound) and used for most songs. The other was a TAMA 'B' kit, set up in the main studio – this was largely identical to the 'A' kit, except it was shipped by TAMA with Remo CS drum heads on the toms. “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” was likely recorded on the “B” kit. Only the 'A' kit setup is described here.

Drums (TAMA Imperialstar Midnight Blue 5-ply kit except where noted):
 * 14” x 22” Bass Drum
 * 8” x 10” Rack Tom
 * 8” x 12” Rack Tom
 * 9” x 13” Rack Tom
 * 16” x 16” Floor Tom
 * Pearl 5" x 14" Snare (B4514 Custom Deluxe Chrome-Over-Brass)
 * TAMA Octobans (70’s Model Royalstar lugs)

Additional drums/percussion:
 * TAMA 14" x 22" Gong Drum
 * TAMA Supplementary Tom
 * 5” LP Black Beauty Cowbell
 * TAMA Hardware
 * Ludwig Temple Blocks

Cymbals (Paiste, except where noted)
 * 13” Formula 602 Hi-Hats
 * 8” 2002 Bell
 * 16” Formula 602 Thin Crash
 * Ictus UFIP 75 Ice Bell
 * 8” 2002 Splash
 * 11” 2002 Splash
 * 16” Rude ride/crash
 * 18” Rude ride/crash
 * 24” Rude ride/crash or 22” 2002 medium ride

Note - There has been some confusion over the ride cymbal pictured in a studio photo: even though Stewart was already endorsing Paiste cymbal, the ride cymbal appears to have a Zildjian-like bell shape as Jeremy Truitt pointed out, suggesting otherwise. It is likely one of the Zildjian cymbals listed in the tour program (a 24" ride) that was shipped over to Montserrat amongst the rest of Stewart's gear as possible backup cymbals. Sticks:
 * Calato Regal Tip ‘Rock’ Model

Heads:
 * Remo Weather King on Toms batter side
 * Remo Ambassador on Toms
 * Remo Black Dot on Bass drum batter side
 * Remo Black Dot on Octobans
 * Remo Ambassador on the snare

Effects & electronics:
 * unidentified studio digital delay unit ("Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" hi-hat)
 * Simmons Claptrap]] ("Darkness")
 * Roland RS-505 Paraphonic

Production
This album marked a change in recording technique. The backing tracks were recorded live but with each band member in different rooms of the AIR Montserrat facility: Stewart in the living room, Sting in the control room with Hugh and Andy Summers in the main studio with his gear. This worked for both sonic and personal reasons, according to Hugh. At the beginning, they attempted recording drums in the main studio (while recording "Demolition Man") but Hugh found the drums to sound rather dead there, so the kit was moved to the living/recreation room instead where the they sounded better.

"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was a difficult track to record: the band had the challenge of working out an arrangement for the song, but after about a week or so of attempts none of their efforts seemed as good as the demo (originally cut in Canada with session musician Jean Roussel). In the end, they decided to use the demo and overdub new drum and guitar parts onto it to "Police-ify" it.

In terms of microphones, Sting's voice was recorded with a Neumann U47 FET mic. He often played saxophone between verses during vocal takes, and Hugh used to have trouble trying to accommodate for this - so the mic was in an average position, which allowed Sting to play saxophone into the microphone and then stoop over to sing. A Neumann U87 was also used for occasional background vocals, as seen in some photos.

Andy's guitar amps were close-miked, either with Shure SM-57's or Sennheiser MD421's (reports vary).

The mic setup on Stewart's drums in the living room consisted of the following: a Neumann U47 FET on the kick, a Shure SM57 on the snare, Sennheiser MD-421's on the toms and U87's for overheads. Although the hi-hat was unspecified, it's believed to be an AKG C451 or a similar directional mic. The TAMA Octobans, as seen in photos, were captured by one SM57 underneath. A pair of Neumann U87's were used as ambience mikes about 20 feet away from the drums, to add a more "live" feel. The second studio drum kit had a similar setup, with a Neumann KM84 on the hi-hat, Shure SM57's on the toms and STC 4038's for overheads at least, as seen in videos from around that time.