The Sheffield Scene: How to sound like The Human League

Roland System 100


Korg miniKorg 700S


Casio VL-Tone



Linn LM-1


Roland GR-300


Source: www.gearnews.com/the-sheffield-scene-how-to-sound-like-the-human-league/

 

The HumanLeague - Dare! - 1981 /LP Album

The Human League – Hysteria (1984) / (Remastered 2005 +BonusTracks)

 

To me the Linn was the biggest part of the sound. I thought they used Moog stuff... it certainly sounds like it...

 

BBC4 documentary about a generation of post-punk British musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop stage. In the late 1970s, small pockets of electronic artists including The Human League, Daniel Miller and Cabaret Voltaire were inspired by Kraftwerk and JG Ballard, and they dreamt of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain.

 

That Roland System 100 really twists my knobs because of those cheesy looking stereo speakers.
Maybe Behringer will add the speaker modules to their Roland Modular reboot series.

 

If we are going to talk about Human league, let us not forget their first single.

Human League's first release "Being Boiled" uses a super minimalist kit consisting of a System 100, a Korg 700S, a Revox tape recorder, and a Shure SM 58. They did not have a mixing desk. In the video below Martin explains it all. He confesses how he regrets selling his Jupiter 8 in order to buy a DX7. In professing his love for Roland, and the slightly off-centre weirdness of Japanese synthesises he describes why he has never owned a Moog even though he admits to currently using the Arturia version because it is cheap.

 

Martin Rushent had the biggest role in "Dare" pop success.

 

On Dare they used the LM1 not the Linndrum as displayed

 

I must say that in 1982 or so the only synth gear I had was the Casitone VL-1, mostly famous for the german song DADADA.

 

The studio version is pretty different, and to my taste, better than live.

 

Phil Oakey lives 5 mins from me.
We used to do a synth pop project a few years back and had him round to our studio regularly. Not seen him about recently though.

 

I don't know how you can get to see it, but they toured a small film called "Studio Electrophonique" around the UK a few weeks ago. It was a great little film about a small studio built in a council house in Sheffield where Pulp, Human League, Heaven 17, Def Leppard and other big names recorded some of their early tracks

 

A Film about Studio Electrophonique Trailer - Sheffield DocFest 2022

Studio Electrophonique: https://violetterecords.com/studio-electrophonique/
#sheffdocfest2022: www.youtube.com/hashtag/sheffdocfest2022

 

That's it. It was about an hour long and he did a gig at the end running through the mixer part of the System 100. Mic sounded amazing through its amp, really warm sound and barely any input... I think they finished the tour now

 

Some records recorded at Electrophonique, including early Human League (The Future - "Pulse Lovers") and ABC (Vice Versa - "New Girls Neutrons") and Pulp ("What Do You Say")

 

Human League Travelogue album was my favorite .I was into 2Tone ska and not much else when I listened to it on a walkman type cassette .Totally blew my mind

 

Yep, and that thing through some pedals could deliver brutal sounds... through Big Muff and Roland/Boss CE-1 Chorus. We have thrown it through an overdriven AC30.

 

I reamp my VST synths through a FM3 and/or Kemper, and the new Helix Native update is also sounding good.

 

Studio Electrophonique: The council house that launched top British bands

 

Last edited: Dec 4, 2022

I must watch this... Pulp is my favourite Band!

But The Human League is great,too. My parents don't really like synthpop, but I got lots of old vinyls from my uncle with depeche mode, tears for fears, Pet Shop Boys, yello, yazoo ... And the Human League, it's a little sad that I'm a little too young to experience the 80s music first hand.....