Stevie Wonder · Innervisions, 1973
Living for the City
5 sourced items across 4 sectionsVerified5
What the sources do and do not say
Song record built from Robert Margouleff’s memoir excerpt in Mix and a Malcolm Cecil interview in Wax Poetics (originally 2013). Drums, guitars and the harps are not tied to named gear, and the console, tape machine model and monitoring are not stated for this song. The tape-speed row names only a tape machine type, as the text gives no model.
Lead and backing vocals
2 items
Stevie Wonder
Microphone
The real chain
Electro-Voice RE20
Verified
Dynamic microphone used for the lead vocal; Wonder sang close to it, which gave a close, dry, intimate sound.
- Position
- Stevie sang two inches in front of it
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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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
The real chain
Unidentified Tape machine (model not stated)
Verified
Tape speed was varied when the background vocals were added, so that the backing voices did not sound like Wonder himself.
Source: Wax Poetics, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Approximate
Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines
tape
Models two Studer machines, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape.
Also worth a look 1
- Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape)
Synth bass
1 item
Stevie Wonder
Instrument
The real chain
Unidentified TONTO
Verified
The synth bass line was played on the TONTO multi-timbral analogue synthesizer.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
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Covers this kind of unit
Arturia Modular V
instrument
Models a Moog modular system, the kind of instrument TONTO was built around. TONTO was a one-off made of many makers' modules, and this is not a model of it.
Electric piano
1 item
Stevie Wonder
Instrument
The real chain
Fender Rhodes electric piano (model not stated)
Verified
A Rhodes was used when tracking began, alongside a guide vocal, with its heavily treated signal swung rapidly between left and right at the song's tempo.
Source: Mix, 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.
Bus sound effect
1 item
Input chain
The real chain
Nagra Portable recorder (model not stated)
Verified
Portable recorder used to capture the diesel engine of a heating oil truck at 4am, which supplied the bus sound heard in the song.
Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026
Get the sound · our suggestion
No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.
Sources
- Robert Margouleff on Recording Stevie Wonder’s “Living for the City”, Mix, 2026-07-31. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
- Expanding Soul, Wax Poetics, 2021-07-14. 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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