How It Was Recorded

Christopher Cross · Christopher Cross, 1980

Ride Like the Wind

Lead vocalKeyboardsStudio console and tape machinesVerified3Reported2

What the sources do and do not say

One Mix Classic Tracks article by Robyn Flans (first printed September 2015), mostly producer Michael Omartian's recollections. It names the lead vocal microphone and the keyboards but gives no drum, bass or guitar gear, no outboard and no mic placements. The console and tape machines are hedged recollections of the studio setup, so are album-level.

Lead vocal

Christopher Cross

Microphone

AKG 414 (model variant not stated)

Verified

Microphone used for Cross's lead vocals, which were tracked a handful of times and then comped.

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.

Keyboards

Michael Omartian, Rob Meurer

Instrument

Unidentified Acoustic piano (model not stated)

Verified

Played by Omartian over the basic track, alongside Rhodes.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Unidentified Rhodes electric piano

Verified

Played by Omartian on top of the basic track, alongside acoustic piano.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Studio console and tape machines

Input chain

Harrison 48-channel console (model not stated)

ReportedAlbum sessions

Album sessions, not stated for this song: Omartian believes this was the console at the sessions; his memory of 1979 is hazy.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Harrison Audio 32Classic Channel Strip

channel strip

Harrison's own channel-strip plugin, taken from its 32-series desks. The source does not name the model, so this stands for the maker's family of units: it is not a model of the one on the record.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Ampex 1200 24-track tape machine

ReportedAlbum sessions

Album sessions, not stated for this song: Omartian recalls two of these 24-track machines being at the sessions, though he says his memory of the time is hazy.

Source: Mix, 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).

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: Christopher Cross's "Ride Like the Wind", Mix, 2015-09. 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.