Lotterboys' Artist Tips

• Words: Derek Grey

When Mack Goudy Jr. croons–Tom Jones-on-the-moon-style–"She's got two of the longest legs/That make the sweetest ass of themselves" on "Heroine" one can only wonder, 'What the hell kind of effect is that on his vocals?' More than any genre-defining early '90s techno comp, Lotterboys' shape-shifting debut Animalia (Eskimo) is probably the best example of the Detroit-Berlin connection, with Motown boy Goudy (a.k.a. Detroit Grand Pubahs' Paris the Black Fu) providing the booty-club toasts for mad-scientist electro-rock beats from Terranova's Shapemod and Fetisch. But seriously, how'd they get the vocals like that? Here's their five-point explanation.

1. T.C. Electronic FireworX
We used the T.C. FireworX for wild pitch-shifting effects. This unit has some great pitch algorithms in it and that is the only reason why I haven't sold it yet. Used on "Superdope" and more.

2. EMS Vocoder 2000
This is a machine that I don't own myself; I have to borrow it from a friend. I tried to buy one but these machines are hard to find. It's an original box from the '70s–very simple to use and sounds amazing. Nothing beats this analog original. You can hear it on [the Black Sabbath cover] "Ironman" and some others.

3. Urei Blackface 1176 in British Mode with Chandler LTD-1 Micpreamp/EQ
If you press all buttons of a Urei 1176 at the same time, you get you get some crazy sounds. If you add that sound while you're recording, it can be very inspiring for the singer. It's very noisy, but who cares.

4. Logic Space Designer
I think that convolution reverbs like Space Designer or Altiverb sound great. I just sampled my favorite preset of my Lexicon PCM 70 and if you load the impulse response into Space Designer it sounds very, very close. That's the fun part of the digital revolution.

5. Roland SpaceEcho 201 and 501
Still amazing. These two units sound totally different so I have to keep both. Great dirt factor in the digital world. Real knobs, old tape, lots of noise and fun. There is no way I would sell these.