Genesis Duke equipment

Duke was Genesis' tenth studio album, released in March 1980 after a period of inactivity for the band.

By early 1979, Phil Collins and the band arranged for a brief hiatus so he could move to Vancouver in effort to rescue his troubled first marriage. This allowed Tony and Mike to work on songs for their solo albums. However, things didn't work out, so Phil moved back to the UK in April 1979. With Tony and Mike still busy, Phil had lots of time to spare until Duke. So he rejoined as drummer for Brand X, did session/live work for John Martyn and Peter Gabriel and worked on 8-track demos at his Old Croft home in Shalford, Surrey. Two of the songs Phil wrote during this period - "Misunderstanding" and "Please Don't Ask" - were chosen for the album.

Although some songs are solo compositions, this album saw a return of making group-written songs through jams and improvisations, which they worked on at Phil Collins' home in Shalford, Surrey in the autumn of 1979. Then recording work took place during November-December 1979 Polar Studios followed by mixing at Maison Rouge Studios in London. Like the previous albums, production duties were shared between the band and engineer David Hentschel. Sounds-wise, the drum sound has greater emphasis on ambience mikes and hence the use of the room acoustics at Polar Studios for a more "live" sound. A sound which would be further explored and used to great effect in subsequent albums.

However, little information is available about production & the technical details specific to this album.: i.e. the different microphones used etc. Although there's noticeable use of room mikes on the drums to add a "live" character.

Phil Collins
Drums Setups varied between each song, including number of toms on kit
 * Premier 717 Elite Black custom kit /w Gretsch bass drum
 * Premier Soundwave kit (double-headed)

Cymbals
 * Zildjian & Paiste

Other
 * Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm - "Duchess"
 * assorted percussion

Source: various, Modern Recording & Music May 1981

Tony Banks
Keyboards & synthesizers:
 * ARP 2600
 * Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus
 * Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
 * Yamaha CS-80
 * Yamaha CP-70 grand piano
 * Yamaha 9' grand piano - belonged to Polar Studios, used on "Please Don't Ask" etc.

Effects
 * Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble - on CP-70 at least
 * MXR MX-134 Stereo Chorus
 * MXR Phase 90
 * misc. fuzz boxes

Mike Rutherford
Guitars:
 * 1975 Fender Stratocaster USA sunburst - Mike's main
 * Ibanez Artist 2622 - possibly used someplace
 * Kramer DMZ-3000 - possibly used someplace
 * Roland GS-500
 * Shergold double neck - mainly bass half

Guitar synthesizers
 * ARP Avatar
 * Roland GR-500

Amplifiers
 * Yamaha G100?

Effects (more info to come)
 * Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble
 * MXR MX-117 Flanger
 * Colorsound Fuzz

Sources:
 * International Musician & Recording World, May 1980 - described Mike's gear on Smallcreep's Day, at least similar to on this album
 * Beat Instrumental, May 1980
 * Musicians Only, 1 March 1980 - described gear on Smallcreep's Day

Microphones

 * AKG C34: said to be a favourite at Polar Studios for overheads

Mixing consoles

 * Harrison 4032 (Polar Studios, heavily modified)
 * Helios 32/24 at Maison Rouge /w Allison 65k programmer (final mixes at Maison Rouge)

Tape machines

 * MCI JH-24 24-track (Polar Studios)
 * Studer A80 24-track (Maison Rouge)
 * Studer A80 2-track (Maison Rouge)

Outboard gear
At Maison Rouge Studios:
 * Allison Research Kepex noise gates
 * Audio & Design compressors/limiters (x2)
 * EMT plate reverbs
 * Eventide 1745M Digital Delay
 * Eventide H910 Harmonizer
 * Eventide FL201 Instant Flanger
 * Klark Teknik graphic EQ's
 * Lexicon digital delay
 * Marshall Time Modulator
 * MICMIX reverb
 * UREI Graphic Equalisers
 * UREI 1176LN peak limiters (x4)

Studio monitoring

 * Tannoy in Lockwood cabinets, driven by Crown DC-300A - Maison Rouge studios