Joy Division: Encyclopedia II - Joy Division - Equipment

Joy Division - Equipment

Joy Division often experimented with different sounds, and Sumner was said to have been the main brain behind instrumental ideas and usage. He, for instance, instigated the use of synthesizers in Joy Division's music.

Synthesizers were used quite predominantly in Joy Division's music towards the end of their time together, with songs such as "Isolation", "Decades" and "The Eternal" from the Closer album featuring quite heavy electronic undertones. Interestingly, a rare Joy Division track entitled "As You Said" (sometimes called "Incubation 2"), which can be heard on the Warsaw and Heart And Soul releases, appears to be entirely electronic in its sound. This track, recorded in 1980, is one of two Joy Division songs that doesn't include any vocals (the other track being "Incubation"). The use of the synthesizer as a more and more favoured instrument towards the latter part of Joy Division's existence supports a possible theory that Joy Division may well have taken the electronic based direction that New Order were to take had Curtis not died.

Synthesizers were notable for being hard to use live, which is probably why on some of the band's live performances, the synthesizer sounded rather out of tune. Another problem with using a synthesizer live was that Sumner, the groups lead guitarist, was obviously not able to play both synthesizer and guitar at the same time. For this reason, Ian Curtis took over basic guitar duties on some live tracks. "I Remember Nothing" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" were just two tracks where Curtis was enlisted to play the electric guitar live. It is unlikely that Curtis played guitar on studio recordings.

Footage exists of Curtis playing Sumner's Shergold Custom Masquerader and also VOX Phantom guitar/organ and VOX Teardrop guitars, which were apparently cheap at the time. Although not a skilled guitarist, Curtis' playing enhanced the band's ability at live gigs. Sumner, as previously mentioned, was the group's lead guitarist and used two or more different models with Joy Division; the mentioned Shergold Custom Masquerader and a Gibson SG Standard were two he is definitely known to have used.

Peter Hook chose to play his bass guitar more like a lead guitar on many tracks. This enabled songs to have more dominant bass riffs to compliment the other instruments. Hook started to use a six stringed bass guitar on the "Closer" album, which allowed for higher notes to be played on the bass. He continued to use six string bass guitars with New Order. Hook also performed backing vocals for the group and was the 'other voice' on the song "Interzone". On the track "Sound Of Music," Hook and Sumner swapped instruments so that Hook was playing electric guitar and Sumner bass guitar.

A melodica was another instrument used by Joy Division during a select few recording sessions: briefly on "Decades" and quite predominantly on "In a Lonely Place", which only exists as a rehearsal recording (this recording can be heard in the "Heart and Soul" box set). New Order used the melodica a number of times and were said to have "inherited" it from Curtis. Although Sumner didn't look after it very well and was seen to smash it to bits over the back of his head during a New Order gig at the 'Tabernacle' in London shortly after the release of their first album 'Movement'.

Morris used expansive drum kits with many pieces to allow great ranges of rolls, rhythm shifts and beats. Morris seemed to be the most physically active band member behind Curtis, especially on tracks such as "She's Lost Control" and "Transmission" where quite complex drumming was used. Morris used electronic hi-hats and synth pads on some songs to achieve a variety of effects.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Equipment", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki