Bibio's Studio

Bibio is Stephen Wilkinson from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England. His works from 2005 to 2009 consisted mostly of acoustic guitar and tape manipulation which can be described as tape-warbled, half-remembered, nostalgia-inducing folk. Although it did not contain any obvious synths (the software Super Sollider was used very sparingly as synth and audio processor), it was heavily influenced by the feeling of Boards of Canada. One obvious element that influence Bibio from BoC's music was his use of their tape warble and saturation effect. BoC would then go on to be influenced by Bibio by incorporating acoustic guitar in The Campfire Headphase, as reported by BoC to him, as claimed by him on this now delete MySpace blog post. They reached out to him to let him know, which also possibly lead to his signing to Warp. In 2009 he released two albums (one for Mush and one for Warp) and an EP! In 2007 he acquired an Akai MPC-2500 (he can be seen using it here in 2007) and then upgrading to an MPC-5000 around 2012 and started to incorporate house, funk, and hip hop influences into his work starting with the album Ambivalence Avenue. In a 2009 interview he said "Right now I seem to be having a lot of fun with a fairly minimal set up: an MPC, one analogue monosynth, microphones, a computer, a compressor, guitars and tape. There’s so much that can be done with those." Around 2012 he acquired the Emu SP1200 and in 2013 a lot more outboard gear in preparation for Silver Wilkinson.

Gear

Bibio's has photographed his home studio setup at various points in his career. Above are some of the photos and videos he has taken of his studio followed by a gear list we have been able to gather from various interviews, photos, videos.

Recorders

• Akai 1710W tape recorder
• Nakamichi 600 cassete deck
• Nagara IV-S tape recorder
• Apple Macintosh running Logic Pro 7
• Universal Audio Apollo audio interface
• Apogee Ensemble audio interface
• MOTU UltraLite audio interface
• Teenage Engineering OP1
• Electro-Harmonix 2880 Super Multi-Track Looper

Samplers

• Emu SP-1200 sampler
• Akai MPC-2500 sampler
• Akai MPC-5000 sampler
• Akai S3000XL

Synths and pianos

• Moog Voyager Rack synth module
• Yamaha CS-30 monosynth
• Yamaha CS-10 monosynth
• Yamaha DX7 synth
• Vintage Vibes modified Hohner Clavinet D6
• Wurlitzer 200 piano
• Bontempi reed organ
• Super Collider

Controller

• Akai ACP20

Effets

• Theo Argiriadis tube distortion unit (heard on drum sounds in Excuses)
• Akai MFC42 filter bank
• Moog Moogerfooger MF103 12 Stage Phaser pedal
• Strymon BlueSky Reverberator pedal
• Boss DD7 delay pedal

Outboard processing

• Drawmer 1968 Mercenary Edition dual channel vacuum tube compressor
• Golden Age Project Pre 73
• TL Audio 5013 Dual-channel Tube Parametric EQ
• Cartec EQP-1A
• Meris 440 Mic Preamp
• Universal Audio 1176LN Limiting Amplifier
• Chandler Limited EMI TG12413 Zener Limiter
• Oram T Series 16 mixing console

Various guitars and amps

• including a Fender Telemasters and Stratocaster, Gibson archtops and acoustics, Gibson Les Paul Studio baritone
• Audio Kitchen Little Chopper guitar amp

Partial Discography

Acoustic multi-tracked guitar, piano, vocals, Super Collider on tape era

• fi (2005, Mush Records)
• Hand Cranked (2006, Mush Records)
• Vignetting the Compost (02/03/2009, Mush Records)
• Ovals and Emeralds (03/03/2009, Mush Records)

Funk, house, electro, rock era with full sampled drums and synth leads

• Ambivalence Avenue (6/22/2009, Warp Records)
• The Apple and the Tooth (2009, Warp Records)
• Mind Bokeh (2011, Warp Records)
• Silver Wilkinson (2013, Warp Records)
• A Mineral Love (2016, Warp Records)