How It Was Recorded

Avril Lavigne · Album, 2002

Let Go

This is an album-level record: the sources describe how the album as a whole was recorded, not one song. Where a detail belongs to a single song, the row says so.

Songs this record stands for: Complicated, I'm with You, Losing Grip, Mobile, Sk8er Boi. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Lead and backing vocalsGuitarsVerified4Reported1

What the sources do and do not say

Both articles are Matrix-side accounts: Mix quotes Scott Spock on the Let Go sessions at Decoy Studios, and Sound On Sound covers the writing of Complicated and the Matrix studio. Only the guitar row is tied to Complicated by name; the vocal rows describe the Matrix sessions for the album. No drum, amp, microphone-position or settings detail is given for this song. Tom Lord-Alge mixed the album tracks, but no mix gear is stated.

Lead and backing vocals

Avril Lavigne

Microphone

Neumann U 87

Reported

Lead vocal microphone for Lavigne's full takes in the Decoy Studios vocal room during the Matrix sessions for the album.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.

Input chain

Neve 1272

Verified

Preamp Spock preferred for Lavigne's vocals over a Manley Voxbox he had been trying, together with the Distressor.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

The 1272 uses the same amplifier stages as the 1073 but has no equaliser. This models the 1073.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves Scheps 73 (The 1272 uses the same amplifier stages as the 1073 but has no equaliser. This models the 1073).

Empirical Labs Distressor

Verified

Compressor used with the Neve 1272 on Lavigne's vocals, chosen because her voice suited that chain.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor

compressor

Model of the Distressor made with Empirical Labs.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Empirical Labs Arousor (Empirical Labs' own plugin, built on the Distressor design rather than copying one unit).

Mix effects

McDSP FilterBank

Verified

Used to EQ the grouped backing vocals tightly so they add depth to the lead vocal in the chorus.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

The plugin used on the record

McDSP FilterBank

equaliser

The plugin named in the source.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Guitars

Input chain

Neve 1272

VerifiedOne song

Preamp every guitar on Complicated was recorded through.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

The 1272 uses the same amplifier stages as the 1073 but has no equaliser. This models the 1073.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves Scheps 73 (The 1272 uses the same amplifier stages as the 1073 but has no equaliser. This models the 1073).

Sources

  1. Recording Vocals, November 2002, Mix, 2002-11. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
Verified

Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.

Reported

Stated by a reputable secondary source.

Inferred

An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.

Disclosure: plugin links currently go straight to the maker and earn us nothing. If that changes, affiliate links will be marked here. Suggestions are chosen on fit, never on commission, and are kept separate from the recording facts. More.