Equipment used by Tony Banks over the years
The equipment lists in this section are derived from The Genesis Discography up until the 1991-era keyboard rig. This list was compiled in the early 1990s from various sources, including album liner notes, lists of tour gear for the band, etc. (The origin of the rest of the equipment lists is unknown.) Banks would not take his entire rig with him on tour, but did take most of it. Taking a grand piano on tour was not practical, so those parts on the albums were played on the electric piano. (Before it was dropped, for example, the "Firth of Fifth" intro was played on the electric piano.) He did take the Synclavier on the road with him, and it is visible in many of the performance videos from the 1983-1987 era. Changes to the keyboard rig were incremental over the years. Probably the two most drastic changes were the removal of the acoustic sampling Mellotron around 1980, when the then-new polyphonic synthesizers made it possible to play string sounds; and the dramatic overhaul of the rig for the We Can't Dance tour where Banks had only four slim keyboards onstage. (This latter shakeout involved the jettisoning of the Synclavier, and made songs like "Home by the Sea" sound quite different.)
From Genesis to Revelation (1969)
Piano
Farfisa Organ
Trespass (1970)
Piano
Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ -> Leslie speaker
Hohner Pianet N
Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Nursery Cryme (1971)
Piano
Hammond L122 tonewheel organ -> Leslie speaker
Hohner Pianet N
Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Foxtrot (1972)
Piano
Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ -> Leslie speaker
Hohner Pianet N
Mellotron Mk II - hired from King Crimson
Selling England By The Pound (1973)
Piano , notably 'Firth of Fifth'
Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> Leslie speaker
Hohner Pianet N
Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and brass tape sets. The flute set is used on "The Battle of Epping Forest"
ARP Pro-Soloist (monophonic preset synthesizer)
RMI Electric piano
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974)
Steinway Piano
Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> Leslie speaker
RMI Electric piano
Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets
Elka Rhapsody (string synth)
ARP Pro-Soloist
A Trick of the Tail (1976)
Piano
Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> Leslie speaker
RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser
Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets -> Echoplex tape echo and MXR 10 band EQ
ARP Pro -Soloist -> Echoplex tape echo and Leslie Rotating Speaker (on Robbery Assault and Battery)
ARP 2600 (analogue synthesizer) -> Echoplex tape echo
Wind and Wuthering (1977)
Piano
Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and Boss CE-1 stereo chorus
RMI Electra 368 Electric piano -> Fender Blender fuzz effect and MXR Phase 100 phaser
Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets -> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band EQ
ARP Pro-Soloist -> Roland RE-201 space echo
ARP 2600 -> Roland RE-201 space echo
Roland RS-202
Fender Rhodes electric piano
Note: The MXR Phase 100 phaser and Boss CE-1 stereo chorus were used to replace the Leslie speaker. The RS-202 was mainly used to replace the Mellotron, though not used live.
...And Then There Were Three... (197
Piano
Hammond T-102 tonewheel organ -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and Boss CE-1 stereo chorus
Yamaha CP-70 Electric Grand piano -> Boss CE-1 stereo chorus
Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets-> Roland RE-201 space echo and MXR 10 band graphic EQ
ARP Pro-Soloist -> Roland RE-201 space echo
ARP 2600 -> Roland RE-201 space echo
Roland RS-202
Moog Polymoog (polyphonic analogue synthesizer) -> MXR Distortion+ and MXR Phase 100
Duke (1980)
Acoustic grand piano (studio only)
Yamaha CP-70 (through Boss CE-1 Chorus)
Yamaha CS80 (through Boss Chorus)
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and Boss CE-1 stereo chorus
ARP Quadra (through MXR Distortion+)
Moog Polymoog (studio only)
Roland VP330 (through MXR 10-band EQ and Boss Chorus)
Hammond T102 organ through MXR Phase 100 Phaser and Boss CE-1 Chorus)
The CS80 was used a lot on the album as well as the CP-70 piano. Tony used the Prophet 5 and Quadra on just a few occasions on the album. But the Quadra especially was used a lot as a polysynth and lead synth on the Duke tour. The Prophet 5 was used more for string like sounds as well as the flutes on Duke's Travels (last bars before Duke's End kicks in) and Cul-De-Sac.
Abacab (1981)
Piano (studio only)
Yamaha CP-70 (through Boss CE-1 Chorus)
Moog Polymoog (studio only)
Yamaha CS80 (studio only) (through Boss CE-1 Chorus and MXR Distortion+)
ARP Quadra (through MXR Distortion+ and Lexicon Digital Delays)
Sequential Circuits Prophet 10 -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and Boss CE-1 stereo chorus
Roland VP330+ Vocoder (through MXR 10 band EQ)
NED Synclavier 2
There are rumors that the EDP Wasp was used.
Genesis (1983)
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano -> Boss CE-1 Stereo Chorus
ARP Quadra polyphonic analogue synthesizer
Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 polyphonic analogue synthesizer -> MXR Phase 100 phaser and Boss CE-1 stereo chorus
NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer (FM and Additive, no sampling option)
E-mu Emulator early digital sampler
Roland VP-330 Vocoder and string/choir
Some equipment put through MXR and Lexicon digital delays
Invisible Touch (1986)
Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (with Kenton MIDI retrofit)
ARP Quadra synthesizer/string machine
Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 synthesizer (with Kenton MIDI retrofit)
NED Synclavier II digital synthesizer (FM and Additive, no sampling option)
E-mu Emulator II digital sampler (with analog SSM filter and VCAs)
Yamaha DX7 digital FM synthesizer
AKAI S900 12-bit Digital Rack sampler
Roland MKS-80 analogue rack synthesizer
Yamaha TX816 digital FM rack synthesizer - 8 DX7s in a rack
Korg DVP voice processor - vocoder
Equipment put through Yamaha REV7 digital reverb and Lexicon digital delays
We Can't Dance (1991)
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer
Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer
Roland Rhodes MK-80 digital piano / mother keyboard
Roland Rhodes VK-1000 digital organ / electric piano
Ensoniq VFX digital synthesizer
Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano- (88-key version of CP-70)
E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler
Equipment put through Yamaha SPX1000 and SPX90 effects plus Roland reverb unit
The Roland JD-800 was responsible for the distinctive percussion sounds on the title track.
The Way We Walk (We Can't Dance Tour) (1991–1992)
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer
Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer
Roland Rhodes MK-80 mother keyboard
Ensoniq SD1 digital synthesizer - More reliable sibling of VFX
Sequenced by Alesis MMT-8
Tony used these synths to also control his 2x 20HE rack units with the following gear:
E-Mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler in rack form
Kurzweil 1000PX digital piano module
E-Mu Proteus/2 XR sample playback modules (four units with Tony's own samples, one with Proteus presets)
Voce DMI-64 MkII digital organ module (two units)
Yamaha TX7 synth module DX7 in a rack
All of the above are mixed into two Roland M480 mixers and put through Yamaha SPX90 effects and a Roland SDE3000 reverb unit. All midi routings done by two MidiTemp MMP88 patchbays. Audio routings from the mixer through the effect units done with the Yamaha PLS1 line switcher which is also used to extract the Roland JD-800 audio and send it to the main PA desk.
Also used was a MIDI Gate unit (brand unknown) which is used for the song Mama which they performed 5 times in the USA leg of the WCD tour.
Calling All Stations (1997)
Korg Trinity digital workstation synthesizer
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer
Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer
Roland JV-1080 digital rack synthesizer
Yamaha CP-80 electric grand piano
Calling All Stations Tour (1997–199
Korg Trinity Plus digital workstation synthesizer
Roland A-90 MIDI mother keyboard
Roland JD-800 digital synthesizer
These are then linked into 2 Opcode Studio 5 LX MIDI processor and 2 custom-made MIDI mixers and used to control these rack units:
Two E-mu Emulator]] 4 digital 16-bit rack samplers
Two Korg Wavestation SR digital rack vector synthesizer
Korg Wavestation A/D digital rack vector synthesizer and vocoder
Korg 01R/W digital rack synthesizer
Roland JV-1080 digital synthesizer
Three E-mu Proteus/2 XR digital sample playback modules
E-mu Proteus/2 XR Orchestral digital sample playback module
E-mu Proteus/1 digital sample playback module
Two E-mu Vintage Keys digital sample playback modules
Yamaha TX7 synth module - Yamaha DX7 in rack
All of the above are mixed into a Mackie LM3204 line mixer then put through Yamaha SPX1000 effects processor (four units) and Roland SRV-2000 effects processor. A Yamaha PLS1 line selector sends this to a Chiddingford Mixer for his Shure SM600 transmitter to his ear monitor.
Turn It On Again Tour (2007–present)
Korg OASYS digital workstation synthesizer
Korg Wavestation digital vector synthesizer (master keyboard only)
Roland A90 (master keyboard only)
E-MU Proteus1 (Customised with samples of Tony's vintage keyboards) - 4 units (only 2 in use)
E-mu E4
Korg Wavestation SR
Roland JD990 - 2 units
Yamaha TX7
Alesis MMT-8 sequencer
2 Mackie LM-3204 rack-mounted mixers (only 1 in use)
Miditemp PMM-88 (Patchbay)
Yamaha SPX-2000 (Effects) - 2 units
)
