How It Was Recorded

Gnarls Barkley · Album, 2006

St. Elsewhere

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

Cee Lo Green vocals (album sessions at Maze Studios)Guitar (Maze Studios)Bass (Maze Studios)Keyboards and samplers (Maze Studios)Verified4Reported3

What the sources do and do not say

One Sound On Sound interview with engineer Ben Allen (Dec 2006) covering the album sessions at his Maze Studios in Atlanta. It never names Crazy in connection with any gear, so this is an album record, and some tracked parts were cut in LA by Danger Mouse and are not covered. Allen says he does not recall specific vocal effects or amp simulators on the mix. The Mix live-sound pieces and the 2009 Telefunken piece concern touring and a later solo album and were not used.

Cee Lo Green vocals (album sessions at Maze Studios)

Cee Lo Green

Microphone

Neumann TLM 103

Reported

Microphone for Cee Lo Green's vocals, recorded in a booth at Maze Studios in Atlanta 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 TLM 103 is still made.

Input chain

Neve 33118

Reported

Mic preamp and EQ that the vocal microphone was fed into when Cee Lo recorded at Maze.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

A Neve console preamp and equaliser module, the same maker's lineage and job as this one; it is not a model of this unit, which could not be traced.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

UREI 1176

Reported

Compressed the vocal signal after the preamp during the Maze vocal recording, described by Allen as a UA 1176.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio 1176 Classic Limiter Collection

compressor

Models several revisions of the 1176, including the blackface units.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves CLA-76 Compressor / Limiter (Models two 1176 revisions (blacky and bluey)).

Guitar (Maze Studios)

Ben Allen

Amplifier

Fender Vibro Champ reissue

Verified

Amp the Telecaster was plugged into for the guitar parts cut at Maze.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5

amp and cabinet simulator

An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro (An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear).

Bass (Maze Studios)

Amplifier

Marshall Plexi reissue

Verified

Amp the bass went through for the parts cut at Maze on Necro, Gone Daddy Gone and Who Cares?.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5

amp and cabinet simulator

An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro (An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear).

Orange 4x12 cabinet

Verified

Cabinet paired with the Marshall Plexi reissue for the bass parts cut at Maze.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5

amp and cabinet simulator

An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro (An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear).

Keyboards and samplers (Maze Studios)

Input chain

Vintech Dual 72

Verified

Microphone preamps that all the keyboards and samplers went through when recorded at Maze for Necro, Gone Daddy Gone and Who Cares?.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

The Vintech is built to the Neve 1073 family's design. This models the 1073 itself.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Sources

  1. Gnarls Barkley & The Atlanta Sound, Sound On Sound, 2006-12. 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.