Antonoff describes his approach as “completely out of the box”, and you don’t have to look much further than his studio Electric Lady in Brooklyn to see that he uses an abundance of gear.
You’d be hard pressed to find a producer with a more impressive resume than Jack Antonoff; pop’s A-list producer been the creative force behind countless chart-toppers.
Working with the likes of Pink, The 1975, Lana Del Rey and of course, Taylor Swift, playing in New York pop-rock outfit Fun, as well as releasing under his own project Bleachers for over 10 years, his CV speaks for itself.
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1968 Gibson ES-330
Seemingly one of his most used over the years, Antonoff has a red Gibson ES-330, that he used frequently, mainly during his time with Fun.
In an interview with NPR, Shane Timm, who was Antonoff’s guitar tech said that it caused him a great deal of grief over the years and would eventually be an old guitar with entirely new parts.
“(Jack could) just set it down on the ground a little awkwardly and for some reason as it wobbles around on the floor a wire decides to go… but every time I tackle it and I fix it” he said.
Fender Jazzmaster
In more recent performances with Bleachers, he can be seen playing his Jazzmaster, in a 3-colour sunburst.
It appears to have been modified to have the traditional Jazzmaster vintage tremolo.
LinnDrum
Also referred to as the LM-2, this iconic drum machine from the 80s remains a favourite of Jack’s and is scattered perhaps most notably across his early Bleachers projects.
During a breakdown of 2017’s “Don’t Take the Money” he showcases the practicality of the machine, using it to create what he describes as a “driving Radio Ga Ga feeling drum beat.”
His model is also signed by Roger Linn himself, but he’s adamant he didn’t have to pay extra for this.
Vox AC30HWHD
Antonoff told Vox that the AC30 Hand-Wired is “the perfect blend of clean and dirty at the same” and his favourite amp.
The super producer fell in love with the sound when he heard Jeff Tweedy (best known as the lead singer and guitarist in the band Wilco) use it during a gig he attended in Kansas.
When he heard it in full effect during the solo on “Hell Is Chrome” he said that was exactly how he wanted to sound.
It used throughout the entirety of recording for Fun’s second studio album Some Nights.
Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo
The last tape echo made by Roland in the 80s, Antonoff’s favourite outboard reverb is the spring in his Roland Chorus Echo.
One of the most iconic tape delays ever designed, the RE-501 was introduced in 1980 and features dual outputs for “three dimensional” sound effects, low noise and well-balanced echo sound.
Roland Juno-6
While he has an abundance of synths, he’s stated numerous times that the Juno-6 is his favourite.
He purchased it off eBay while he was still living at home with his parents in New Jersey, and says he’s obsessed with it.
He can be seen using it during a breakdown of Bleachers song ‘I Wanna Get Better’ to create the big arping low end progression that he says is “the backbone of the entire chorus.”
Korg M1
Another staple piece and integral part of the signature Antonoff sound, he says the M1 is, for the most part, pretty goofy… until you find that one sound that stands out from the rest that is.
On Lorde’s 2017 song “Green Light” (the lead single from her second studio album Melodrama) the M1 is used alongside his Yamaha U1 Upright piano
In an interview with Sound On Sound, he said “I’ll just let a track roll and flip through a bunch of settings and just bang around and see what sticks.”
Yamaha DX7
Creating a sound that is, in his words “uniquely 80s”, the DX7 was used most notably on Taylor Swift’s ‘Out of the Woods’ which released on her 2014 album 1989.
Antonoff paired it with a super-distorted Minimoog Voyager during the chorus, to create a bit of a back and forth and counter the vintage sound with one that is “extremely modern.”
Plug-ins
According to Sound On Sound, his favourite reverb plugins include Waves Audio’s renaissance and Valhalla Plate.
For delay he leans towards EchoBoy, and for more extremes, SoundToys’ FilterFreak and Crystallizer granular delay.
Another one that he describes as a bit of a random choice, is the Filter Gate by AIR- serving as a way of letting sounds live on, aside from reverb and delay.
The Soundtoys Tremolator is also a popular pick for Jack, “a big thing I’ve been doing is I put a Tremolator on long synth pads and sort of create 16th-note arpeggios out of that.”
Microphones
According to Shure’s artist page, Antonoff uses Shure’s Beta 57A microphone for Background vocals and to mic his snare bottom, the SM57 for his guitar and snare top, and Shure’s KSM9 microphone for lead vocals.
At his home studio in Brooklyn, Antonoff has two Coles 4038 mics set up in the corners, allowing for wide stereo recordings that he uses to add detail and character to his productions.
In Bleachers song “Don’t Take the Money”, a cowbell can be heard, recorded with the two.
“It’s very wide… it sounds like a room… (The Coles 4038 mics) are really great for backup vocals, or acoustic room sound… I’ll often record that in addition to stuff.”
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