How It Was Recorded

Journey · Album, 1981

Escape

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: Don't Stop Believin', Open Arms, Who's Crying Now. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Lead vocalNeal Schon’s guitarDrumsPianoVerified2Reported14

What the sources do and do not say

Single Mix Classic Tracks piece with producer Kevin Elson. Vocal microphone and drum effects are tied to this song; the drum, piano and guitar microphone lists are narrative and not explicitly tied to this song, so they are album-level. Elson’s Schon guitar microphones and the synth guitar are hedged. Strings microphones (U 87, 414) and the Fantasy console and tape machines were left out as the text gives no clear function on this song.

Lead vocal

Steve Perry

Microphone

Neumann M49

ReportedOne song

Microphone used for Steve Perry’s lead vocal on this song.

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.

Neal Schon’s guitar

Neal Schon

Instrument

Roland Synth guitar (model not stated)

ReportedOne song

Elson believes Schon played a Roland synth guitar on this track.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Microphone

Sony C-37

Reported

Elson believes this was one of the microphones used on Schon’s guitar.

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.

AKG C414

Reported

Elson believes this was one of the microphones used on Schon’s guitar.

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.

Shure SM57

Reported

Elson believes this was one of the microphones used on Schon’s guitar.

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. The SM57 is still made and inexpensive: the real thing is the practical route.

Drums

Steve Smith

Microphone

Neumann U 47

Reported

Microphone on the outside of the kick drum.

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.

beyerdynamic M 88

Reported

Microphone on the inside of the kick drum.

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.

AKG C414

Reported

Microphone on top of the snare.

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.

Shure SM57

Reported

Microphone on the bottom of the snare.

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. The SM57 is still made and inexpensive: the real thing is the practical route.

Sennheiser MD 421

Reported

Microphones on the toms.

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. The MD 421 is still made.

AKG C451

Reported

Microphone on the hi-hat.

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.

Neumann U 87

Reported

Microphones used for the room and the overheads.

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.

Mix effects

EMT 250

VerifiedOne song

Digital reverb, nicknamed the robot, used on the drums as part of a combination with the close room sound and a tape delay on an EMT plate.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio EMT 250 Classic Electronic Reverb

reverb

Model of the EMT 250 digital reverb, made with EMT.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

EMT Plate reverb (model not stated)

VerifiedOne song

Plate reverb fed with a tape-machine delay so the echo of each drum hit arrives after the attack.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverberator

reverb

The 140 is the EMT plate most studios have; the source does not name the model.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves Abbey Road Reverb Plates (Models the EMT 140 plates at Abbey Road).

Piano

Jonathan Cain

Microphone

Neumann U 47

Reported

One of the two microphones used on the piano.

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.

AKG C414

Reported

One of the two microphones used on the piano.

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.

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: Journey’s “Open Arms”, Mix, 2016-05-03. 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.