How It Was Recorded

Drake · Album, 2012

Take Care

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: Crew Love, Headlines, Make Me Proud, Take Care, The Motto. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Drake vocalsAmbient noise and stringsMobile tracking rigReported6Inferred2

What the sources do and do not say

One Mix article by Sarah Benzuly, read in full, about the Take Care sessions generally; it does not discuss the title track itself, so this is an album record. The vocal chain statements are album-wide; the Neumann model is not stated. Rows from the journalist's narrative are marked reported.

Drake vocals

Drake

Microphone

Neumann Microphone (model not stated)

Reported

Shebib chose a Neumann microphone for Drake's vocals on the album, aiming for a bright, clean sound.

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 1073

Reported

The Neumann microphone on Drake's vocals was run through a 1073.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

Made with AMS Neve as a model of the 1073 preamp and equaliser.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves Scheps 73 (Models the 1073's preamp and equaliser, made with Andrew Scheps).

Unidentified LA-2 compressor

Reported

An LA-2 compressor sits ahead of Drake's vocal and is only lightly engaged.

Position
before the vocal

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection

compressor

The collection includes a model of the LA-2, the valve optical leveller that came just before the LA-2A.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter (Models the LA-2A, the LA-2's direct successor with the same valve optical circuit).

Ambient noise and strings

Noah Shebib

Instrument

Avid Xpand

Reported

One of the stock Avid instruments Shebib used for ambient noise and strings.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. This is already software, so the stand-in is the thing itself. No product link has been added for it yet.

Avid Structure

Reported

One of the stock Avid instruments Shebib used for ambient noise and strings.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. This is already software, so the stand-in is the thing itself. No product link has been added for it yet.

Avid Hybrid

Reported

One of the stock Avid instruments Shebib used for ambient noise and strings.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. This is already software, so the stand-in is the thing itself. No product link has been added for it yet.

Mobile tracking rig

Noah Shebib

Input chain

Avid Omni HD

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: Audio interface in the rackmount mobile rig Shebib takes on the road with Drake, plugged into his laptop.

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Noah Shebib describes this as usual practice; it is not stated for this record.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A converter between analogue and digital. Your audio interface does this job, so no plugin is needed.

Neve 1073

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: A 1073 strip sits in the same rackmount mobile rig as the Omni HD interface.

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Noah Shebib describes this as usual practice; it is not stated for this record.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

Made with AMS Neve as a model of the 1073 preamp and equaliser.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves Scheps 73 (Models the 1073's preamp and equaliser, made with Andrew Scheps).

Sources

  1. Drake 'Take Care', Mix, 2012-01-01. 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.