How It Was Recorded

Devo · Album, 1980

Freedom of Choice

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: Whip It. We found nothing specific to this song, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Lead vocalsBassDrum kitSynthesisersVerified10Reported3

What the sources do and do not say

One Sound On Sound Classic Tracks piece with producer Robert Margouleff, read in full. Most gear statements are general ones about the Freedom Of Choice sessions, so this is an album record; only the Devobox, Minimoog and ElectroComp 500 are tied to Whip It, and those are the journalist's narrative. Guitar amps and microphones are not named, and the Tape Op Devo interview covers a later album and other records.

Lead vocals

Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale

Microphone

Electro-Voice RE20

Verified

Used on some of the vocals across the album sessions.

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

Verified

Used on other vocals across the album sessions, where the RE20 was not used.

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.

Bass

Gerald Casale

Instrument

Devo Devobox

ReportedOne song

Journalist says the Whip It bass line was produced on the Devobox, a custom-made Moog synth.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Arturia Mini V

instrument

A Moog analogue monosynth of the kind the Devobox is reported to have been built from, so it gives the same style of synth bass; it is not a model of this unit.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Amplifier

Recorded direct (DI), no amplifier

Verified

The bass was recorded direct rather than through an amplifier, on the album as a whole.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Recorded direct, so there is no amp to model. Leave the amp simulator off.

Drum kit

Alan Myers

Microphone

Electro-Voice RE20

Verified

Kick drum microphone, as a general rule across 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.

Shure SM57

Verified

Placed on top of the snare, as a general rule across 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.

Shure SM58

Verified

Placed underneath the snare, as a general rule across 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.

Neumann KM 84

Verified

Hi-hat microphone, as a general rule across 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.

Neumann U 87

Verified

Used on the tom-toms, as a general rule across 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.

AKG 414 (variant not stated)

Verified

Used as overhead microphones, as a general rule across 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.

Synthesisers

Mark Mothersbaugh

Instrument

Moog Minimoog

ReportedOne song

Journalist lists Minimoog parts among the elements of Whip It.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Arturia Mini V

instrument

Model of the Minimoog Model D.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Universal Audio Moog Minimoog (Minimoog model made with Moog).

Electronic Music Laboratories ElectroComp 500

ReportedOne song

Journalist says it created the whipping sounds on Whip It.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

u-he Diva

instrument

An analogue-modelling synth that can be set up as a two-oscillator monosynth with a 12 dB multimode filter like this one; it is not a model of this unit.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Amplifier

Recorded direct (DI), no amplifier

Verified

The keyboards were recorded direct rather than miked through an amplifier, on the album as a whole.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Recorded direct, so there is no amp to model. Leave the amp simulator off.

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: DEVO 'Whip It', Sound On Sound, 2008-07. 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.

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