People often ask me what equipment I use. The current recording set-up is a
Panasonic GH5s camera and an
ATR2100-XLR microphone.
CAMERAS
My first "camera" was a late 1990s camcorder, the
Sony TRV310. Though it was never used for Millennial Woes, I did use some archive footage from it in the
Rot teasers.
My second camera was the
Fuji Finepix F601 (received as a Christmas present in 2003), but I don't believe I have ever used any footage or stills from it on the channel.
As I waited impatiently to receive the FZ200 in December 2013, I filmed the very first MW video with my father's 2008 camcorder, the
*.
The
Panasonic FZ200 was the device which catalysed the channel in the first place. I got it for Christmas 2013 and immediately began filming videos. It was damaged by rain in July 2015 and had to be replaced (with an identical model). While waiting for that to arrive, I filmed several videos using a shitty webcam and a 2012-era smartphone.
The
Sony RX100iv was acquired in February 2016, initially for filming model shots that I was planning but which never transpired. I ended up using it for all filming, from June 2016 onwards. In June 2017 it was damaged in an accident and had to be replaced. I got the Mk.v version and used it for all filming up until March 2018. Beyond that, I still use it to film my
speeches. The one exception was
the "Speechcrime" video, which was shot with a friend's camcorder.
The
Sony FDR-AX53 camcorder was used to film
these three videos in June 2017.
The
Panasonic GH5s (and the
XLR add-on) was acquired in January 2018 and used for all videos (except
speeches) from March 2018 onwards.
The
Sony RX0ii and the
EDUTIGE ETM-001 microphone and
a custom cable to connect them, were all bought in October 2019 and will be used for outdoor filming.
MICROPHONES
The
Blue Yeti microphone was acquired in October 2014. Prior to that, I used the FZ200's built-in mic.
The
ATR2100-XLR mic was acquired in early 2016 and used for all videos made between April and December 2016, and from March 2018 onwards.
The
Zoom H2N mic was bought for the late 2016
Dangerous Haggis Tour and subsequently used for all videos recorded up until March 2018. Beyond that, I still use it for recording my
speeches.
SYNTHESISERS
The
Ensoniq Fizmo was used for sounds in
Flanders Readings (especially the intro) and various videos up until the end of 2016.
The
Elektron SidStation was used for many sounds in
The Rot, obviously including the intro and outro but also the special trailers, teasers, etc.
This particular video is awash with both SidStation and Fizmo.
LittleBits modules were used to produce wind ambience and white noise effects that have been used in
Christmas videos from 2015 onwards. They were also used to make the intro sounds for
this video.
The
Korg EX800 broke very shortly after I acquired it, so I only managed to record one solitary sound from it for the channel: the wind whoosh that begins each
Monday Moan video.
The
Studiologic Sledge 2.0 was bought in April 2017 and made its first appearance in the intro to
Orange Alert.
The
ASM Hydrasynth was bought in January 2021.
OTHER HARDWARE
The
Hauppauge Rocket was used to record
several videos (footage from the RX100v) in late 2017.
The
Korg Kaoss Quad is a multi-effects unit for audio.