Shinedoe’s third long-player ‘Illogical Directions’ is out now on Intacto Records, marking a decade of her Intacto imprint. Here are five of her studio essentials...

1. Ableton 8.0

“Ableton is the program I use to work and arrange my songs — quick and steady, simple as that.”

2. Roland 909

“Yes, a raw drum machine. I used this in the recording of my album 'Illogical Direction'. Roland’s 909 is still a must-have in any studio. No other drums come close to the natural feeling of this.”

3. Genelec 8050

“These are great ‘big’ little speakers which I use to monitor my sound when I am recording; they sound like you're in a big club.”

4. UAD plug-ins

“A series of plug-ins featuring compressors, EQs and many more tools for editing my sounds. It was a big investment for me, but they are some of the best quality plug-ins to use. It took me half a year to learn the benefits, but you can hear a great difference in sound using this. I used most of the UAD plugs when I was recording my new album.”

5. V-Station

“The V-Station is a part of the Novation family; this amazing virtual synth has great analogue sounds. I used this synth to create a massive bassline, and I made a beautiful melody with it for my big hit ‘Dilemma’ in 2004. I had a good breakthrough as a producer thanks to this great synth.”