How It Was Recorded

Phil Collins · Album, 1985

No Jacket Required

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 Lose My Number, Sussudio, Take Me Home. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Lead vocalDrums and drum machinesKeyboardsDemos and mixingVerified4Inferred4

What the sources do and do not say

Album record: no source discusses Don't Lose My Number itself. Two 1985 magazine interviews (made during the sessions) and a 2015 Padgham interview cover the album in general; the Padgham 1996 piece is about a later album and is used only for a general habit. Most rows are album-level or general-practice; the album's drum and room-microphone details are not given as named gear.

Lead vocal

Phil Collins

Microphone

beyerdynamic M 88

InferredUsual practice

Collins's favourite vocal microphone; he sings to the sound he knows from it. Said of his habit generally, in a 1996 interview.

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

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.

Input chain

Allen & Heath Mini-Limiter

Verified

Limiter Collins always sang through when tracking vocals; his guttural delivery made it grip hard, most audibly on the rockier songs.

Source: Red Bull Music Academy Daily, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. No plugin models this obscure Allen & Heath limiter, and its circuit is not documented well enough to name a fair stand-in.

Drums and drum machines

Phil Collins

Instrument

Roland TR-909

Verified

Collins says that on one track of the album sessions the 909 starts the song, with real drums then fed in playing the same part.

Source: One Two Testing, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

D16 Group Drumazon 2

drum instrument

An emulation of the TR-909.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Roland Roland Cloud (Roland's own subscription, which includes its software TR-909).

Premier Black concert tom kit

InferredUsual practice

Collins says he always uses his black Premier concert tom kit for recording; a general habit, not specific to this album.

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

Source: One Two Testing, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

Toontrack Superior Drummer 3

drum instrument

A sampled drum instrument. It does not claim to be this kit or drum.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Input chain

AMS AMS (model not stated)

InferredUsual practice

Collins says he runs drum-machine sounds through his AMS on its non-linear setting so they sound like his own drumming; a general habit.

Settings
Non-linear setting

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

Source: International Musician & Recording World, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Keyboards

Phil Collins

Instrument

Yamaha DX7

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: Collins says he now has a couple of DX7s and mostly plays presets rather than programming sounds.

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

Source: One Two Testing, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Arturia DX7 V

instrument

An emulation of the Yamaha DX7.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Digital Suburban Dexed (A free, open-source DX7 emulation that loads original DX7 patches).

Demos and mixing

Input chain

Brenell Eight-track tape recorder (model not stated)

Verified

Collins's home eight-track, where he works on his songs; the interview says several songs were left as raw demos to be re-recorded at the Townhouse.

Source: One Two Testing, 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

Solid State Logic Console (model not stated)

Verified

Padgham says they used to mix on an SSL desk for the album sessions.

Source: Red Bull Music Academy Daily, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Solid State Logic SSL Native Channel Strip 2

channel strip

SSL's own channel-strip plugin. It is not a model of this particular desk.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves SSL E-Channel (Models the 4000 E channel strip; the source does not make this the same desk).

Sources

  1. Hugh Padgham: The Master Craftsman Behind Sting & Phil Collins, Sound On Sound, 1996-10. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
  2. Key Tracks: Phil Collins' No Jacket Required, Red Bull Music Academy Daily, 2015-02-04. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
  3. In The Chair Tonight, One Two Testing, 1985-01. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
  4. The Complete Phil Collins, International Musician & Recording World, 1985-03. 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.