The gear Mac DeMarco uses to create his sound
Whether you’re into his wonky and slightly surreal take on indie rock or not, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Mac DeMarco has a sound unique to him and him alone. Sure, there are some elements that he shares with others, namely the goofy stoner rock vibes of Kurt Vile and the lo-fi charm of early Paul McCartney records. But the man who plays self-proclaimed “jizz-jazz” is a one-of-one.
A lot of that comes down to the unique equipment that he uses. While not exclusively an analogue guy, DeMarco has made a name for himself thanks to his DIY approach and preference for old-school technology.
When DeMarco sat down with Reverb to discuss some of his favourite gear, he took the time to dispel some misconceptions about his sound. Specifically, when discussing an Alesis MicroVerb Effects Processor, DeMarco shot down the idea that his sound is all about chorus.
“Everybody thinks that I love chorus. Wrong: I love vibrato,” DeMarco claims. “But I didn’t know how to change the delay times or repeats or whatever. It was just whatever the preset was set at.” In fact, DeMarco even claims that, when he was first recording, he didn’t know what chorus even was – he thought it was just an effect that you were supposed to put on during a song’s chorus.
DeMarco also gives a shoutout to Connan Mockasin, whose Forever Dolphin Love was a major influence on DeMarco’s own sound. DeMarco claims that the album got him to more seriously consider effects as a tool, and he even credits Mockasin for showing him a trick to dampen his guitar string that involves shoving toilet paper near the tailpiece.
While searching for what he calls the “warble”, DeMarco also shows that his pedalboard isn’t monstrous. Instead, he’s got some modest pedals that most guitarists would consider standard and name brand, including MXR Carbon Copy Analogue Delays, a couple of TC Electronic pedals (A Shaker Vibrato and a HOF Mini), and a JHS Colour Box for “minor crunch”.
What becomes clear during his rundown is that DeMarco doesn’t actually strive for weirdness all that often. Instead, he uses common tools to create sounds. In essence, anybody can make the music that Mac DeMarco makes, and it doesn’t take an obsession with Japanese synthesisers or boutique pedals to replicate what he’s working with.
Check out DeMarco’s gear tour down below.
