The Cars · Album, 1984
Heartbeat City
6 sourced items across 3 sectionsVerified6
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: Hello Again, You Might Think. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.
What the sources do and do not say
Only source read in full that describes the Heartbeat City sessions with gear; it is a January 1985 interview with drummer David Robinson and bassist Benjamin Orr, and does not mention You Might Think by name, so every row is album-level. The Mix Classic Tracks piece is about the debut album, and the Guitar Player and MusicRadar pieces cover only Magic and Hello Again guitar details.
Bass
1 item
Benjamin Orr
Instrument
The real chain
Fender Precision Bass
Verified
Orr says the album's bass was a standard, unmodified Precision Bass hired in London, chosen after trying about five basses.
Source: International Musician & Recording World, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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No plugin suggested. A bass guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.
Drums
4 items
David Robinson
Instrument
The real chain
Fairlight Fairlight sampler (model not stated)
Verified
Robinson says every drum beat on the album was played back from the Fairlight, built from his own sampled drum sounds and his own programmed rhythms.
Source: International Musician & Recording World, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.
The real chain
Slingerland Drum kit (model not stated)
Verified
Robinson says his old Slingerland kit was the source of the drum sounds he sampled one drum at a time for the album.
Source: International Musician & Recording World, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Approximate
Toontrack Superior Drummer 3
drum instrument
A sampled drum instrument. It does not claim to be this kit or drum.
The real chain
Ludwig Steel shell snare (model not stated)
Verified
Robinson says his Ludwig steel shell snare was sampled for the album's drum sounds.
Source: International Musician & Recording World, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Approximate
Toontrack Superior Drummer 3
drum instrument
A sampled drum instrument. It does not claim to be this kit or drum.
The real chain
Linn LinnDrum
Verified
Robinson says a very simple LinnDrum beat was laid down to keep everything in time, and he based his later Fairlight drum patterns on it.
Source: International Musician & Recording World, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Emulation of this unit
Aly James Lab VProm
drum instrument
An emulation of Linn's LM-1 and LinnDrum, built around their sound chips.
Keyboards
1 item
Greg Hawkes
Instrument
The real chain
Fairlight Fairlight sampler (model not stated)
Verified
Robinson says all the album's keyboard parts were on the Fairlight, with Hawkes's synthesiser-style sounds loaded into it for convenience and flexibility.
Source: International Musician & Recording World, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.
Sources
- That Driving Beat, International Musician & Recording World, 1985-01. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
What the ratings mean
Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.
Stated by a reputable secondary source.
An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.
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