Top 5Uses
Ableton
Live“Using Ableton and all the sound sources and processing in a primitive way was essential.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
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Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Shadow Child. Every item links to its public source.
23 items · Last checked What DAW does Shadow Child use?
Shadow Child uses Ableton Live, FabFilter Pro-Q 4, Unison Mangler and UAD's Precision Maximizer, which sits on the master of every tune. He starts tracks on hardware such as a Roland Jupiter-8, Jupiter-6, Juno-60 and Minimoog, and has said he mixes on Yamaha NS10s alongside Focal Trio monitors.
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Top 5
Where to start with Shadow Child's gear.
01
02
Top 5Has said they use
Reason Studios
Reason“I made some of my best music on Reason alone and I still use it today. It's the core of all my drum tracks that come from inside the box.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
03
Top 5Has said they use
Apple
Logic Pro“All my outboard has individual channels and can be called up in Logic MIDI/audio ready through these.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
04
Top 5Uses
Universal Audio
Precision Maximizer“UAD's Precision Maximiser goes across the master chain on every tune I make.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
05
Top 5Uses
FabFilter
Pro-Q 4“Pro-Q 4 is essential for me and used on every track in the arrangement.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
What studio gear Shadow Child uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Studio
Uses
Ableton
Live“Using Ableton and all the sound sources and processing in a primitive way was essential.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
Has said they use
Reason Studios
Reason“I made some of my best music on Reason alone and I still use it today. It's the core of all my drum tracks that come from inside the box.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Has said they use
Apple
Logic Pro“All my outboard has individual channels and can be called up in Logic MIDI/audio ready through these.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Plugins
Uses
Universal Audio
Precision Maximizer“UAD's Precision Maximiser goes across the master chain on every tune I make.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
Uses
FabFilter
Pro-Q 4“Pro-Q 4 is essential for me and used on every track in the arrangement.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
Uses
Unison
Mangler“a plugin I initially turned my nose up when I saw it, but I've ended up falling in love with.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
Synths
Uses
Roland
Jupiter-8“The pad is from a Jupiter 8 and built from preset 34 on the original factory bank from 1981.”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
Uses
Ensoniq
SQ-80“The piano is from the SQ80 which I bought for filming a documentary”
Said in How It Was Made: Shadow Child - Say It Now (Magnetic Magazine), July 2025
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Roland
Jupiter-6“I made some of these for the sample pack using the Jupiter 6, Minimoog and Juno 60.”
Said in Shadow Child Interview (Toolroom Academy), May 2022
Has said they use
Roland
Juno-60Said in Shadow Child Interview (Toolroom Academy), May 2022
Has said they use
Seen using
Sequential
Pro-One“it was always my intention to get another Pro-One when I could.”
Seen in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Seen using
Roland
JV-2080“It's like Omnisphere, before Omnisphere (if that makes sense).”
Seen in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Drum machines
Has said they use
Roland
TR-808 Rhythm Composer“Some of the drums were done in the box but integrated with analogue hi-hats from the 808 and 909 too.”
Said in Shadow Child Interview (Toolroom Academy), May 2022
Has said they use
Seen using
Linn Electronics
LinnDrumSeen in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Has said they use
Arturia
BeatStep Pro“I recently got the BeatStep Pro to aid this way of making beats... Arturia smashed that one!”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Mixing
Has said they use
Universal Audio
Apollo Twin“I grabbed the Twin for using out and about, and only recently set it up as my main monitor controller for the Focal Trios and NS10s.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Has said they use
Yamaha
NS-10“I use the NS10s religiously for mixing tracks”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Has said they use
Focal
Trio studio monitors“They make the room bounce if you want them to, but they also inject a lot of fun into making music.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Thermionic Culture
Culture Vulture“You can't beat smashing the 808 through the Culture Vulture or tape saturation.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
No store page for this one.
In the studio
Has said they love
Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt
Oblique Strategies cards“These cards are amazing.”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
Foffa
Foffa bike
Has said they love
Foffa
Foffa bike“it sits at the back of my studio to remind me to stop eating treats and go for a cycle”
Said in My Studio: Shadow Child (Attack Magazine), April 2016
No store page for this one.
Questions
About Shadow Child's gear.
What DAW does Shadow Child use?
Shadow Child uses Ableton Live, which he named in his 2025 breakdown of Say It Now. He has also said he still uses Reason for his in-the-box drums and calls up his outboard in Logic.
What plugins does Shadow Child use?
In 2025 Shadow Child said UAD's Precision Maximizer goes across the master of every tune, FabFilter Pro-Q 4 is all over his music, and Unison Mangler gave Say It Now its saturated rave drums.
What synth does Shadow Child use?
Shadow Child has named a Roland Jupiter-8, Jupiter-6, Juno-60, Minimoog and Ensoniq SQ-80, and his studio tour also shows a Sequential Pro-One and Roland JV-2080.
What studio monitors does Shadow Child use?
Shadow Child has said he uses Yamaha NS10s religiously for mixing, with a pair of Focal Trio monitors for a more vibey sound while writing.
What audio interface does Shadow Child use?
Shadow Child has said he runs his outboard through UAD Apollo interfaces and set up an Apollo Twin as his main monitor controller.
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Shadow Child
About this guide · Last checked
Shadow Child is the Cambridge-based house and rave producer Simon Neale, who runs the Food Music label. This guide covers the synths, drum machines, plugins and monitors he has named in studio features and production breakdowns.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Shadow Child didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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