How It Was Recorded

808 State · Quadrastate, 1989

Pacific State

Bass lineDrum machineChord padSoprano saxophone and bird sampleVerified7

What the sources do and do not say

Single Sound On Sound Classic Tracks article (April 2014) in which Graham Massey describes the original 1988 Quadrastate-era recording at Spirit Studios; the later single and remixes were re-recorded and the article gives no gear for them. The Amek console and Otari tape machine are mentioned only as the control room contents, so they are left out. No vocals exist on the track.

Bass line

Instrument

Roland SH-101

Verified

Played the snaking sixteenth-note bass line that finally gave the track its feel; it had no memory so the original line was never written down.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

D16 Group LuSH 2

instrument

An emulation of the SH-101, extended with layers.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: TAL Software TAL-BassLine-101 (An emulation of the SH-101); Roland Roland Cloud (Roland's own subscription, which includes its software SH-101).

Drum machine

Instrument

Roland TR-909

Verified

Supplied the drums, with a distinctive clap pattern, and its internal sequencer gave the swing feel; the kalimba-like B section was sampled from it.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

D16 Group Drumazon 2

drum instrument

An emulation of the TR-909.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Roland Roland Cloud (Roland's own subscription, which includes its software TR-909).

Chord pad

Instrument

Roland Juno-106

Verified

Source of the warm chord that was sampled for the pad, played with its chorus on and the filter closed down so it sounded muted.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Roland Roland Cloud

instrument

Roland's own subscription, which includes its software Juno-106.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: TAL Software TAL-U-NO-LX (Models the Juno-60, the Juno-106's close predecessor); Arturia Jun-6 V (Models the Juno-6, an earlier member of the same family).

Casio FZ-1

Verified

Played the sampled chord from a single key as one half of the layered pad, with extra filtering applied on it.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

TAL Software TAL-Sampler

instrument

A sampler plugin with vintage-style converters. It is not a model of this unit, and you load your own samples.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Roland D-50

Verified

Played the same chord using its warm strings preset, layered with the FZ1 chord to make the pad.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Roland Roland Cloud

instrument

Roland's own subscription, which includes its software version of this synthesizer.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Soprano saxophone and bird sample

Graham Massey

Instrument

Unidentified Soprano saxophone (model not stated)

Verified

Massey played the four-note signature melody over the chords on a soprano saxophone left in the studio by Howard Walmsley.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Akai S900

Verified

Its bundled sample library supplied the Canadian Loon bird sound added for a tropical feel.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

TAL Software TAL-Sampler

instrument

A sampler plugin with vintage-style converters. It is not a model of this unit, and you load your own samples.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: 808 State 'Pacific State', Sound On Sound, 2014-04. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
Verified

Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.

Reported

Stated by a reputable secondary source.

Inferred

An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.

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