Top 5Has said they use
Ensoniq
ESQ-1“We tend to use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, the Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and the Oberheim Xpander a lot.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Photo: monophonicgirl from México (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Little Dragon. Every item links to its public source.
26 items · Last checked What gear does Little Dragon use?
Little Dragon have said they lean on vintage synths such as the Ensoniq ESQ-1, Korg Lambda, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and Oberheim Xpander, with a Nord Lead A1 and Prophet-6 for modern sounds. They track and mix in Cubase, record Yukimi Nagano's vocals with a Microtech Gefell M930, and Fredrik Wallin has named the OTO Machines BIM and BAM as must-haves.
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Top 5Has said they use
“We tend to use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, the Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and the Oberheim Xpander a lot.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
No store page for this one.
03
Top 5Has said they use
Roland
D-50“We tend to use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, the Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and the Oberheim Xpander a lot.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
04
Top 5Has said they use
Oberheim
Xpander“I use the Oberheim Xpander all the time, it gets all the attention.”
Said in Reverb: Little Dragon On Bringing a Human Touch to Electronic Pop, December 2017
05
Top 5Has said they use
Nord
Nord Lead A1“Of the more modern stuff, we're using the Nord Lead A1 and the Prophet-6 because of their diversity and fatness.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
What gear Little Dragon uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Håkan Wirenstrand's synths
Has said they use
Ensoniq
ESQ-1“We tend to use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, the Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and the Oberheim Xpander a lot.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
“We tend to use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, the Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and the Oberheim Xpander a lot.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Roland
D-50“We tend to use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, the Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and the Oberheim Xpander a lot.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Yamaha
TG77
Has said they use
Yamaha
TG77“We tend to use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, the Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and the Oberheim Xpander a lot.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Oberheim
Xpander“I use the Oberheim Xpander all the time, it gets all the attention.”
Said in Reverb: Little Dragon On Bringing a Human Touch to Electronic Pop, December 2017
Has said they use
Nord
Nord Lead A1“Of the more modern stuff, we're using the Nord Lead A1 and the Prophet-6 because of their diversity and fatness.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Also at
Has said they use
Sequential
Prophet-6“Of the more modern stuff, we're using the Nord Lead A1 and the Prophet-6 because of their diversity and fatness.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Black Corporation
Kijimi“I also recently bought a Black Corporation Kijimi for the live setup and it sounds fantastic as long as it doesn't go out of tune”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Mutable Instruments
Clouds“For the intro I sampled a piece of the vocal, froze, and scrolled back and forth on that sample with Clouds, making kind of a vocal sound”
Said in Mix: Little Dragon's Butterflies In The Clouds, July 2017
Studio
Has said they use
JBL
JBL 4412“And Håkan has an old pair of JBL 4412 monitors.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon talk electronica and contemporary musicianship, October 2014
Find it on
Has said they use
Microtech Gefell
M 930“But the vocals are recorded with a Microtech Gefell M930.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Also at
Has said they use
Steinberg
Cubase“We use Cubase as our main DAW but some sketches are made on Ableton Live.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Ableton
Live 10“We use Cubase as our main DAW but some sketches are made on Ableton Live.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Steinberg
HALion“the HALion was used a bit for strings, although we did use real strings in the end.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon talk electronica and contemporary musicianship, October 2014
Live rig
Has said they use
Sequential
Prophet X“Lately, we've been using the Prophet X, Nord Wave and Roland SPDS pads”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Nord
Nord Wave“Lately, we've been using the Prophet X, Nord Wave and Roland SPDS pads”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Erik Bodin's kit
Has said they use
Roland
SPD-SX“I quite often trigger the kick and snare through a Roland SPD-SX, which I also play electric percussion and melodies on.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Fredrik Wallin's rig
Has said they use
Oto Machines
BIM“OTO Machines BIM and BAM. The delay is the BIM and the reverb is the BAM.”
Said in Reverb: Little Dragon On Bringing a Human Touch to Electronic Pop, December 2017
Has said they use
Oto Machines
BAM“OTO Machines BIM and BAM. The delay is the BIM and the reverb is the BAM.”
Said in Reverb: Little Dragon On Bringing a Human Touch to Electronic Pop, December 2017
Also at
Has said they use
Oto Machines
Biscuit“They also have this one bitcrusher unit called Biscuit.”
Said in Reverb: Little Dragon On Bringing a Human Touch to Electronic Pop, December 2017
Has said they use
Sequential
Pro-One“We also use the Sequential Circuits Pro 1, Waldorf Pulse, and have a Studio Electronics SE-1X.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon talk electronica and contemporary musicianship, October 2014
Has said they use
Waldorf
Pulse“We also use the Sequential Circuits Pro 1, Waldorf Pulse, and have a Studio Electronics SE-1X.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon talk electronica and contemporary musicianship, October 2014
Studio Electronics
SE-1X
Has said they use
Studio Electronics
SE-1X“We also use the Sequential Circuits Pro 1, Waldorf Pulse, and have a Studio Electronics SE-1X.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon talk electronica and contemporary musicianship, October 2014
Plugins
Has said they use
Universal Audio
Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb“I use UAD's Lexicon 224 and the EMT 240 reverb a lot, and the MXR flanger.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Universal Audio
MXR Flanger/Doubler“I use UAD's Lexicon 224 and the EMT 240 reverb a lot, and the MXR flanger.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Has said they use
Universal Audio
Little Labs Voice Of God Bass Resonance“The Voice of God resonance tool is another favourite of mine because it gives instant beef to a bass or kick.”
Said in MusicRadar: Little Dragon on New Me, Same Us, July 2020
Questions
About Little Dragon's gear.
What synths do Little Dragon use?
Håkan Wirenstrand told MusicRadar in 2020 that the band use the Ensoniq ESQ-1, Korg Lambda, Yamaha CP30, Roland D-50, Yamaha TG77 and Oberheim Xpander a lot, plus a Nord Lead A1, a Prophet-6 and a Black Corporation Kijimi for the live setup.
What DAW do Little Dragon use?
Fredrik Wallin told MusicRadar that Cubase is their main DAW and that some sketches are made in Ableton Live. Erik Bodin and Håkan Wirenstrand are hardcore Cubase users, so the band mainly track and mix in Cubase.
What microphone does Yukimi Nagano sing into?
Håkan Wirenstrand told MusicRadar that her vocals are recorded with a Microtech Gefell M930, chosen after comparing mics at Vintage King in Los Angeles.
What effects does Fredrik Wallin use?
He told Reverb his must-haves are the OTO Machines BIM delay and BAM reverb, and that they also have the OTO Biscuit bitcrusher. In 2014 he named a Sequential Circuits Pro-One, a Waldorf Pulse and a Studio Electronics SE-1X for bass sounds.
What does Erik Bodin play live?
Erik Bodin told MusicRadar he often triggers the kick and snare through a Roland SPD-SX, which he also plays electronic percussion and melodies on.
What plugins do Little Dragon use?
Håkan Wirenstrand told MusicRadar he often reaches for the UAD Lexicon 224, the MXR Flanger and the Little Labs Voice of God, and that Steinberg's own Cubase plugins get used a lot. In 2017 he told Mix he used a Mutable Instruments Clouds on Yukimi Nagano's vocal for Butterflies.
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Little Dragon
About this guide · Last checked
Little Dragon are the Gothenburg band of Yukimi Nagano, Erik Bodin, Fredrik Wallin and Håkan Wirenstrand, behind Ritual Union, Nabuma Rubberband, Season High and Slugs of Love. This guide covers the synths, effects, mics and software the band named in MusicRadar, Reverb and Mix interviews about their Gothenburg studio.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Little Dragon didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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