The sound of those old machines

[Gabby]

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the gear PSB uses/have used, but do find that when I listen to Please, Actually, Introspective, Behaviour, and even Very to some extent, the music (as in the noises, bleeps, handclaps etc), and the soundscapes (if that's what I mean) just sound richer and more exciting.

I remember reading (maybe in Annually) that nowadays they use a lot of presets on the equipment they use, and I do wonder if that is to their detriment.

It seems to me that electronic musical instruments were so much more exciting and experimental during that early period of their career, and that now computers have advanced to a point that it's made it all a bit watered down. That's not meant as a criticism or reflection of Neil and Chris' musicality, which shines through, but more of how I feel some songs today could have a much different and possibly more exciting sound if they were forced to go back to using nothing but those synths from the 80's.

I see this for me as a teachable moment, so if someone wants to provide insight into how I would feel that way (not too techy please!) that would be great.

[TallThinMan]

I would say that there are a few things going on here.

It's not really about presets, because they've always used presets. Their early albums are full of sounds from the Fairlight and Emulator factory sample libraries. When a new instrument came out there was a bit of a competition going on to see who would be the first group to put its signature sounds on a record. The sort of wailing sound playing chords at the start of 'Paninaro' is a supposedly a preset from a Roland Juno synthesiser.

In the old days they were using hardware synths, samplers and sequencers. They were harder to program and particularly difficult to sync together, which meant that sometimes you'd get happy accidents. For example, the bassline on 'Love Comes Quickly' accidentally got delayed by half a beat due to a mistake syncing Stephen Hague's Roland sequencer from tape, but it sounded great so they kept it.

Nowadays you can have what used to be a multi-million pound recording studio like Sarm West running in your laptop. You can do it all "in the box" as we say. They're using Apple Logic Pro (a "Digital Audio Workstation" or DAW) with the synth sounds coming from plugins. You can get an awful lot of plugins that are software emulations of the classic hardware synths they were using for real back in the day. You can even get plugins that model the sound of the imperfections of analogue tape!

I have the impression that Chris enjoys having a minimalist setup of composing using a MIDI controller keyboard connected to a MacBook running a DAW. I'm not a purist, but for what it's worth in my opinion the problem with using only plugins is that because it's just software it can all sound a little flat and predictable. You don't get those interesting little variations you get from electricity flowing through actual circuits in a hardware synth, no two of which are exactly alike because they were built by humans. The imperfections are what create the interest. In the modern digital realm everything can be perfect. I think James Ford agrees, which is why he re-recorded all the parts from their 'Nonetheless' demos on hardware synths and drum machines.

Finally, another factor is that in the old days they worked with some truly exceptional sound designers/programmers such as J. J. Jeczalik and Andy Richards.

I would really love for them to make an album with the constraint of only using hardware instruments.

[Eleven]

Neil first time sequencing ever was during covid being forced to that and that tells you he has nothing to do with that part of the music, he stated several times they are mainly songwriters,
Neil bought its first synth on the shop that later met Chris and the reason was Neil didnt know about synths very well he bought a monophonic Moog and he realized it didnt have internal speaker and went to the music shop to have a cable made for that purpose and Then was when he met Chris. For me its no coincidence because its Chris who does the production of the demos.

Neil often says Chris sends him instrumental songs and he does lyrics and sings on top regularly. Personally I think Neil is confident writing ideas and melodies directly with an acoustic guitar directly to tape and then Chris makes the demo. Ultimately the third Pet Shop Boy Pete Gleadall is responsible for many tasks we associate with Neil and Chris and its Pete really. Hence the sound.
My guess is that all the beats and sounds we appreciate comes from the producers, listen the Domino Dancing demo and the final release for example ( no Pete Gleadall back then ) on an interview from the 90s they said in the studio they would tipically ask Pete or the producer like Stephen Hague to try different sounds while they play on the keyboard. So they choose many of the sounds but the producer chooses too.
While doing Very for example there is a video showing scenes behind the production and there are 3,4 producers doing as well songs that were on Relentless and they are working on that on their own saying they had a great time doing that, Chris and Neil of course are the heart of everything and if something is off to them its not going to be released.

When you are on that level as an artist you have to let others do a bit of here and a bit of there and just have a track and confirm its going the way you want.
For the mix that is on Introspective for Always on my Mind done by Ian Curnow and Phil Harding, they explained they did work on it on their own like a remix and Neil would come later on the day to supervise, thats how the rap of In My House was written..

[Too Many Shadows]

In the old days they were using hardware synths, samplers and sequencers. They were harder to program and particularly difficult to sync together, which meant that sometimes you'd get happy accidents. For example, the bassline on 'Love Comes Quickly' accidentally got delayed by half a beat due to a mistake syncing Stephen Hague's Roland sequencer from tape, but it sounded great so they kept it.

The happy accident is dead, long live the happy accident!

[Gabby]

Thanks, these are insightful responses!

[daveid]

In the old days they were using hardware synths, samplers and sequencers. They were harder to program and particularly difficult to sync together, which meant that sometimes you'd get happy accidents. For example, the bassline on 'Love Comes Quickly' accidentally got delayed by half a beat due to a mistake syncing Stephen Hague's Roland sequencer from tape, but it sounded great so they kept it.

The happy accident is dead, long live the happy accident!

I think the happy accident also occured on the album version of Heart, but it was less happy...

[Kaykay808]

The warmth has disappeared as everyones now got rid of tape. Everything now are wave files etc..
I think the B sides in the last 15 years sound like basic sequencing done by Pete. They are too boxy and simple and enough to sound like a demo. Cricket Wife is an example of this. Bland demo style fake strings everywhere. In contrast, Dua Lipa, The Weeknd use those PSB style synth sounds and do sound warm. Maybe they need a new programmer and move away from Pete. (Sorry, playing Devils Advocate here.