Top 5Has said they use
Reason Studios
Reason“Reason allowed me to work my ideas through using just one machine.”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Photo: Scootie (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by The Prodigy. Every item links to its public source.
29 items · Last checked What DAW does The Prodigy use?
Liam Howlett of The Prodigy has said they built early tracks on a Roland W-30 and Akai samplers, moved to Cubase in 1993, then wrote in Reason on a laptop. They have said they use Boss SE-70 effects, a Korg Prophecy and a Thermionic Culture Culture Vulture.
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Top 5
Where to start with The Prodigy's gear.
01
02
Top 5Has said they use
Steinberg
Cubase“Since 1993 I'd written everything in Cubase, with hardware synths and Akai samplers as my main setup”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
03
Top 5Has said they use
Avid
Pro Tools“It has its uses but moving to Pro Tools allowed us to up a gear and get the tracks sounding pretty good.”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
04
Top 5Has said they use
Roland
W-30 Sampler“I’m so used to using the W-30 that I don't want to move away from that; I know it both inside and out.”
Said in Classic interview: The Prodigy's Liam Howlett on sampling (MusicRadar, from Future Music issue 4), August 2021
No store page for this one.
05
Top 5Has said they use
Akai Professional
S3200Said in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
What studio gear The Prodigy uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Studio
Has said they use
Reason Studios
Reason“Reason allowed me to work my ideas through using just one machine.”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Has said they use
Steinberg
Cubase“Since 1993 I'd written everything in Cubase, with hardware synths and Akai samplers as my main setup”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Has said they use
Avid
Pro Tools“It has its uses but moving to Pro Tools allowed us to up a gear and get the tracks sounding pretty good.”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Has said they use
“I love my Boss SE70s.”
Said in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Thermionic Culture
Culture Vulture distortion“The Culture Vulture distortion unit was crucial to this album”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Thermionic Culture
Phoenix valve compressorSaid in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Has said they use
Mackie
32:8 mixing console“It's a desk that lends itself to being driven very hard.”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Find it on
Has said they use
Yamaha
NS-10“I'd mixed the tracks at The Mews on the Mackie using Yamaha NS10s”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Has said they use
Genelec
Genelec 1030A“I'm replacing with Genelec 1030As because that's what I used on this new album.”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
No store page for this one.
Seen using
Technics
SL-1200 turntableSeen in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
Samplers
Has said they use
Roland
W-30 Sampler“I’m so used to using the W-30 that I don't want to move away from that; I know it both inside and out.”
Said in Classic interview: The Prodigy's Liam Howlett on sampling (MusicRadar, from Future Music issue 4), August 2021
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Akai Professional
S3200Said in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
Find it on
Has said they use
Akai Professional
Z8 sampler“I'll keep the Akai Z8 and a few compressors”
Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
No store page for this one.
Drum machines
Has said they use
E-mu Systems
SP-1200“It's so nice, just for single drum hits.”
Said in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
Has said they use
Roland
TR-909 Rhythm Composer“The 909 bass drum is really nice, really fat, but I've kept it low in the mix so you can't distinguish the sounds.”
Seen using
Synths
Has said they use
Roland
TB-303 Bass Line“When I use it, I really overload the mixer so I get a distorted bassline instead.”
Has said they use
Roland
Juno-106“I program it for basslines, but it’s better for string sounds.”
Has said they use
Korg
Prophecy“It's at its best on stage, though I've used it on just about every track on the new album so far.”
Said in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
Has said they use
Roland
JD-990“A year after selling my JD800, I did buy the JD990, which I think is really good.”
Said in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Roland
U-220“the strings on there are a Prodigy trademark!”
Said in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Korg
MS-20Said in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Has said they use
Oberheim
Four VoiceSaid in Liam Howlett: Recording Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (Sound On Sound), October 2004
Find it on
Has said they use
ARP
ARP 2600“AS FAR AS EQUIPMENT GOES I WENT MORE ANALOGUE ON THIS RECORD , ARP 2600”
Said in Liam Howlett interview with The Prodigy Fanboy, January 2015
Seen using
Nord
Nord LeadSeen in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
Stage
Seen using
Roland
SH-101Seen in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
Seen using
Sequential
Pro-OneSeen in Liam Howlett: The Prodigy and Firestarter (Sound On Sound), September 1996
Records that shaped me
Has said they love
Harvest Records
Pink Floyd, AnimalsSaid in The Prodigy's Liam Howlett on the Pink Floyd classics that changed his life (Louder), April 2024
No store page for this one.
Has said they love
Harvest Records
Pink Floyd, Meddle“pretty nice to drive to as well.”
Said in The Prodigy's Liam Howlett on the Pink Floyd classics that changed his life (Louder), April 2024
No store page for this one.
Questions
About The Prodigy's gear.
What DAW does Liam Howlett use?
Liam Howlett has said they wrote everything in Cubase from 1993, then switched to Reason on a laptop for Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, with tracks moved into Pro Tools for vocals and mixing.
What sampler does Liam Howlett use?
Liam Howlett has said they started on a Roland W-30, later added Akai S3200 samplers and kept an Akai Z8. They have also said they use an E-mu SP-1200 for single drum hits.
What synth does Liam Howlett use?
Liam Howlett has said they use a Korg Prophecy for distortion and a Roland JD-990 for textures and strings, plus a Korg MS-20, an Oberheim Four Voice and an ARP 2600 on The Day Is My Enemy.
What studio monitors does Liam Howlett use?
Liam Howlett has said they mixed Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned on Yamaha NS10s and Genelec 1030A monitors, through a Mackie 32:8 console.
What albums changed Liam Howlett's life?
Liam Howlett has said Pink Floyd's Animals and Meddle are records that changed their life, named in a 1993 Melody Maker feature and recalled by Louder in 2024.
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Named in this guide
TP
The Prodigy
About this guide · Last checked
The Prodigy are the Essex band behind Firestarter, Breathe and Smack My Bitch Up, led in the studio by Liam Howlett. This guide covers the samplers, synths, DAWs, effects and monitors Liam has named in studio interviews from 1992 to 2015, plus records that changed their life.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. The Prodigy didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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