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Coldplay: In the studio with Pro Tools and Logic
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“When we started doing our first album, we thought that using Pro Tools was some kind of...evilness, you know?” jokes Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman. “Because we were thinking ‘It’s got to be tape…it’s got to be analog.’

“So we started putting it onto tape, but we got frustrated with the time consumption that using tape takes. You know, like if you want to do a take, you’ve gotta rewind the tape,” says Berryman. “Or if you want to drop in, you have to rewind the tape and find the right spot.

Coldplay. Guy Berryman, Will Champion, Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland left their studies at UCL after hitting the big time.

“I can’t believe that we actually tried to do that, you know, because Pro Tools was out at the time,” he says. “So we switched over to Pro Tools part way through the first album, and that switch sped up the whole process. We realized, actually, you can get a lot more work done, quicker, if you use Digidesign Pro Tools.”

“Parachutes” Through Pro Tools
So Coldplay finished “Parachutes” in Pro Tools, running on a Power Mac. The band’s award-winning, full-length debut album, which features the radio hits “Yellow” and “Trouble,” sold nearly five million copies worldwide and won a Grammy for best alternative album in 2002.

The band then went on to use Pro Tools to produce its entire second full-length album, “A Rush of Blood To The Head,” which features the highly played track, “In My Place.” The tour supporting this record quickly sold out shows across the U.S.

Lured by Logic
Despite the unquestionable DSP advantages of using Pro Tools plug-ins, Berryman is wholey devoted to using Logic Audio as the software sequencing interface for his recording, arranging and sound design exploits. But luckily Logic and Pro Tools TDM are designed to work together.

Next page: Plugging into Waves and Amp Farm

Coldplay

1.	In the Studio with Pro Tools and Logic
2.	Plugging into Waves and Amp Farm

It All Ends Up Digital
When it come to bringing in sound, Coldplay relies on Apogee and Prism audio interfaces. “We try to keep the conversion rate as high as possible, really, just to keep all the definition and clarity,” he explains.

“The thing you’ve got to remember,” says Berryman, “is that even if you record to analog tape, it’s gonna get bumped to a CD anyways — it’s gonna get digitized at some point down the line.”

Useful Links

Records/DVDs
Coldplay

Software
Digidesign’s Pro Tools
Emagic’s Logic Audio
Emagic’s EXS-24
Bomb Factory’s Fairchild
Line 6’s Amp Farm
Waves

Hardware
Power Mac
PowerBook
Cinema Display
Controller Keyboard

Audio Interfaces
Apogee
Prism
Digigram’s VXpocket