Editing Like a Virgin (album) (section)

== Recording ==
[[File:Avatar-studios.jpg|thumb|[[Power Station (recording studio)|Power Station]] studios, where recording sessions for ''Like a Virgin'' took place.]]
Recording sessions took place at New York's [[Power Station (recording studio)|Power Station]] studios in April 1984.<ref name="LAVliner" /><ref name="Recording1">{{cite web |last1=Simons |first1=Dave |title=Tips From the Top: The making of Madonna's ''Like a Virgin'' |url=https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/Tips_From_the_Top_The_Making_of_Madonnas_Like_a_Virgin |publisher=[[Broadcast Music, Inc.]] |access-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113031046/https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/Tips_From_the_Top_The_Making_of_Madonnas_Like_a_Virgin |archive-date=November 13, 2014 |date=November 9, 2006}}</ref> Rodgers envisioned a "simpler set-up" and, after hearing Madonna's demos, came to the conclusion they were too similar to what she had done on her debut: Heavily sequenced and [[synthesizer]]-led.<ref name="Easlea1">{{harvnb|Easlea|2012|pp=28–30}}</ref> He decided that the singer needed a "more streetwise sound", and to record with a live band. Rodgers subsequently assembled a rhythm section consisting of himself on guitar, Chic colleagues [[Bernard Edwards]] and [[Tony Thompson (drummer)|Tony Thompson]] on [[Bass guitar|bass]] and drums, respectively.<ref name="Soundonsound">{{cite web |last1=Buskin |first1=Richard |title=Classic Tracks: Madonna, 'Like a Virgin' |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-madonna-virgin |work=[[Sound on Sound]] |access-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315031358/https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-madonna-virgin |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |date=September 2007}}</ref> Sessions took place in the afternoon, as Rodgers would attend late-night parties and wasn't used to work in the morning.<ref name="rosen">{{harvnb|Rosen|1996|p=283}}</ref> It was Jason Corsaro, the album's [[Audio engineering|audio engineer]], who persuaded the producer to use [[digital recording]], a new technique he believed was going to be the "future" of recording.<ref name="Soundonsound" /> He brought in a [[Digital Audio Stationary Head|Sony 3324 24-track digital tape recorder]] and a [[PCM adaptor#Models of PCM adaptors|Sony F1 two-track]], which were used for the [[Audio mixing|mixing]].<ref name="Soundonsound" />

Madonna's vocals were recorded at the studio's small, wooden, high-ceilinged piano room at the back. Corsaro would place [[Gobo (recording)|gobos]] around her while using the top capsule of a [[AKG Acoustics#Microphones|stereo AKG C24 tube microphone]], with a [[Schoeps]] [[microphone preamplifier]] and a [[Pultec]] equalizer.<ref name="Soundonsound" /> "That was part of the Power Station way" ―recalled Corsaro― "nothing was subtle and everything had a particular sound".<ref name="Soundonsound" /> Once the tracks met with everybody's approval, [[Robert Sabino]] added the keyboard parts; he did this by playing a [[Sequential Circuits Prophet-5]], as well as some [[Rhodes piano|Rhodes]] and [[Piano|acoustic piano]]. Rodgers also played the [[Synclavier]] on this part.<ref name="Soundonsound" />  Corsaro remembered that the final songs "adhered very closely" to the Bray-produced demos, which were "quite simple in structure. All we did was get better musicians".<ref name="Soundonsound" /> Madonna, although not required, was present every minute of the recording and mixing processes; Corsaro commented: "Nile was there most of the time, but she was there all of the time. She never left".<ref name="Soundonsound" /> After hearing the album, Madonna's then manager [[Freddy DeMann]] pressured her to "put a little more bass on it", and make it sound like [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Thriller (album)|Thriller]]'' (1982). All the singer did was write the words "Bass Up" on the record's box without altering a thing.<ref name="Papermag" />