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“Quiet Life was the first time we began using drum machines; The Roland CR-78, which came with a bunch of presets with rhythm styles such as Bossa Nova, Samba, Waltz etc. This addition to our work procedure actually came from producer John Punter as a means of getting a new session underway. It provided that extra groove to perform to. But with the Quiet Life album specifically this wasn’t so much in evidence as the rhythm box was not necessarily intended to remain in the mix for a track such as Despair, it was simply used as a click-track for the piano to be performed to as there were no drums. Ultimately, on Despair the click-track was then kept in as part of the song as it added a nice dimension. Likewise, later on, there would have been a rhythm box on Nightporter and Ghosts during the relevant recording sessions but the drum machine would be subsequently taken out in the mix as it wasn’t required.
Incorporating Syndrums was part of a move towards electronic music; I remember John Punter was nuts about the track Knock On Wood. At some point in the late 70s, Tama made contact sensors that converted vibrations into sound. I used them in the midsection of Quiet Life to add to the sequencer riff. I sat in the studio with a trigger pad stuck to each knee and literally played my legs. The overdub was appropriately named Synees.”