Gareth Jones (music producer) facts for kids

Gareth Jones (born 1954) is a famous English record producer and audio engineer. He is best known for helping to create the sound of popular bands like Depeche Mode, Wire, and Erasure. A record producer helps bands create their music in a recording studio, while an audio engineer works with the technical equipment to make the music sound great.

Early Life and First Steps in Music

Gareth Jones was born in Warrington, a town in Lancashire, England. As a kid, he played several musical instruments. However, he soon became more fascinated by the technology behind the music. He got a simple tape recorder and started to experiment with it, learning how to cut and rearrange the tape to change the sounds. This was his first step into the world of music production.

Career in Music Production

Jones started his professional career at the famous BBC and later moved to Pathway Studios in London. There, he worked with the band Madness on their first single in 1979. He also worked with the musician John Foxx on his album Metamatic.

The Berlin Years

After John Foxx opened his own studio called The Garden, Jones began working there. This is where he first met the band Depeche Mode. He helped them with their 1983 album, Construction Time Again. It was the beginning of a long and successful partnership.

Later, Jones moved to West Berlin, Germany, to work at a high-tech studio called Hansa Tonstudio. At the time, many English bands recorded in Berlin because it was cheaper than London. At Hansa, Jones developed a unique recording style. He would have bands play their instruments through huge amplifiers. Then, he would record the sound with microphones placed far away. This created a massive, arena-like sound that bands like Depeche Mode loved and used on many of their hit songs.

A Pioneer of New Technology

Gareth Jones was one of the first producers to use new digital technology. He introduced many bands to sampling, which is taking a small piece of a sound and reusing it in a new way. He used new electronic instruments like the Synclavier, a very advanced sampler and synthesizer for its time. A synthesizer is an electronic instrument that can create a wide variety of sounds.

Recent Work

In the mid-1990s, Jones moved back to London and continued to work in famous studios like Abbey Road. He has continued to produce music for many artists.

In 2021, Jones worked with Daniel Miller to release an album of electronic music they created together called Electronic Music Improvisations Vol. 1, under the name Sunroof. He also released an album called A Walk in the Woods with the American composer Christopher Bono, under the name Nous Alpha.

Music-Making Tools

Since 2005, Gareth Jones has mostly used computer software to produce music. This allows him to be more mobile and work from different places. He is an expert in using Logic Audio, a popular type of software for making music on a computer.

In the past, he used a lot of hardware, which is physical equipment. Some of his favorite tools included:

• A Roland System-100M modular synthesizer, which lets you connect different parts to create unique sounds.
• An Akai S-3200 sampler.
• A Revox tape recorder for recording sounds in a classic way.

Notable Work

Here are some of the famous albums Gareth Jones has helped create:

Personal Life

Jones is married and lives in North London.

See also

In Spanish: Gareth Jones para niños