How Was the Song Recorded?
The song was recorded inside Studio A at New York’s Record Plant, on May 26th, 1971, and the recording equipment used was a 32-input Spectra Sonics console coordinated by engineer Tom Flye. Originally a musician who performed on keyboards and drums in a variety of bands, Flye was born in Chicago but relocated to New York in 1964. He started working at Record Plant as a recording engineer and worked on records by the Impressions and Curtis Mayfield before producer Ed Freeman took him on for the American Pie project.
New York’s Record Plant. Source: pinterest.com
The Spectra Sonics board used for the recording was a piece of modern technology at the time, as it had a separate monitor system that allowed engineers to record on one side while playing back on the other. The producers were mixing live, as Flye recalls, and even though producer Ed Freeman originally wanted “American Pie” to go to stereo after starting in mono, the board wasn’t suitable for this, so the song ended up being recorded as a stereo mix. A U87 was used for the electric guitar, and the bass guitar was recorded with a DI.