What musical equipment is used to achieve common goth sounds?
For the 80’s sounding jangly guitar, a semi-acoustic guitar is a must. This has a more natural, medieval mandolin sound than an electric guitar, but packs more punch than an acoustic when used for melodies. Drenching any guitar with a chorus effect seemed pretty much mandatory at one stage (most Mission, first Sisters LP). Flange the bass if you want to sound like the Cure or Souxsie, or just turn all your effects up to 11 and jam around if you want to sound like Bauhaus. The only mob with more effects than your average goth band were the shoegazers. Digital synths such as the Yamaha SY and Korg M series can produce some excellent string sounds which have become more popular with 90’s goth music. Don’t skimp on your synths; old synths and home keyboards can sound cheesy with too much squeaky treble. A good digital synth should be able to produce deep, resonant string sounds. Choral sounds are also the domain of the digital synth; look for a range of human waveforms which can provide ba
