How It Was Recorded

Blondie · Album, 1978

Parallel Lines

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: Heart of Glass. We found nothing specific to this song, so this album record is the closest account we have.

GuitarDrumsKeyboardsRecording and mixing chainVerified3Reported8

What the sources do and do not say

The only source is Sound On Sound's Classic Tracks on 'Hanging On The Telephone', which covers the Parallel Lines sessions and has a short section on 'Heart Of Glass'. That section confirms a Roland drum machine and piece-by-piece drum recording but gives no microphones or consoles for the song itself, so the rest is album-level. The Mix 'Denis' piece is about Plastic Letters and the Tape Op box-set interview has no gear detail, so neither is cited.

Guitar

Frank Infante

Instrument

Gibson Les Paul

Reported

Frank Infante's guitar, recorded for the album.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.

Microphone

Shure SM57

Reported

One of two microphones, used together with an AKG 414, on Infante's guitar cabinet for the album.

Source: Sound On Sound, 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. The SM57 is still made and inexpensive: the real thing is the practical route.

AKG C414

Reported

One of two microphones, used together with a Shure SM57, on Infante's guitar cabinet for the album. The exact 414 variant is not stated.

Source: Sound On Sound, 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.

Drums

Clem Burke

Instrument

Roland Drum machine (model not stated)

VerifiedOne song

Used on 'Heart Of Glass' to build the groove that the band played along to, and run through the song while the producer sang so that the mid-song time change stayed on the beat.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Microphone

Neumann U 47

Reported

Kick drum microphone for the Parallel Lines sessions at the Record Plant.

Source: Sound On Sound, 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.

Neumann KM 84

Reported

Microphones on the toms, snare and hi-hat for the Parallel Lines sessions at the Record Plant.

Source: Sound On Sound, 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.

Neumann U 87

Reported

Overhead microphones on the drum kit for the Parallel Lines sessions at the Record Plant.

Source: Sound On Sound, 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.

Keyboards

Jimmy Destri

Instrument

Farfisa Synth (model not stated)

Reported

Jimmy Destri's keyboard on the album, recorded using a combination of a direct signal and his amp.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Recording and mixing chain

Input chain

API Console (model not stated)

Verified

Console in the Record Plant room where the album sessions began.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio API Vision Channel Strip Collection

channel strip

Models the channel strip of API's Vision console, built from the same module family.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Unidentified 24-track recorder (model not stated)

Verified

The album was recorded to 24-track; the maker and model are not given.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines

tape

Models two Studer machines, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape).

Mix effects

Sphere Console (model not stated)

Reported

Console used for the manual mix of the album at the Forum studio in Covington, Kentucky, over about ten days.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: Blondie 'Hanging On The Telephone', Sound On Sound, 2008-06. 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.