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How It Was Recorded

Al Stewart · Album, 1976

Year of the Cat

13 sourced items across 4 sectionsReported13

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: Year of the Cat. We found nothing specific to this song, so this album record is the closest account we have.

What the sources do and do not say

Mix Classic Tracks article on the album sessions at Abbey Road, Kendun, Whitney and Davlen. Statements describe the album sessions rather than naming this song, so all rows are album-level. No vocal microphone or vocal chain is named; the mix reverb is the only mix gear given.

Acoustic and electric guitars

3 items

Al Stewart, Tim Renwick

Instrument

  • The real chain

    Epiphone Texan

    Reported

    Stewart's acoustic guitar for the album sessions, played in Room 43.

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    No plugin suggested. A guitar is the source of the sound, not a process applied to it. No plugin stands in for it.

Amplifier

  • The real chain

    Fender Amplifier (model not stated)

    Reported

    An older Fender combo in a cream finish with one speaker, which Renwick played his Stratocaster through, shielded by U-shaped baffles.

    Position
    In front of the drum kit, screened by a U-shaped pair of gobos

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    Covers this kind of unit

    IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5

    amp and cabinet simulator

    An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear.

    Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for
    Also worth a look 1
    • Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro (An amp and cabinet simulator that covers a wide range of amplifiers and speaker cabinets of this kind. It is not a model of this unit, so pick the nearest one in it by ear)

Microphone

Bass

1 item

George Ford

Amplifier

  • The real chain

    Recorded direct (DI), no amplifier

    Reported

    Ford's bass was recorded direct through a DI box.

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    No plugin suggested. Recorded direct, so there is no amp to model. Leave the amp simulator off.

Drum kit

5 items

Stewart Elliot

Instrument

Microphone

  • The real chain

    AKG D20

    Reported

    Kick drum microphone in Parsons's drum miking of the period.

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    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.

  • The real chain

    Neumann U 87

    Reported

    Snare microphone, on the top of the snare only.

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    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.

  • The real chain

    AKG D19 or D190E (not confirmed)

    Reported

    Parsons thinks he probably had close mics on the toms, either AKG D19 or D190E, unless the overheads sufficed.

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    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.

  • The real chain

    STC 4038

    Reported

    Overhead microphones Parsons says he would have used on the two remaining drum tracks. (recalled with uncertainty)

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    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.

Studio, tape and mix

4 items

Input chain

  • The real chain

    EMI Neve 1086

    Reported

    Console in Studio 3's control room, which had replaced an EMI TG desk.

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    Approximate

    Waves NLS Non-Linear Summer

    console emulation

    A console-summing plugin that includes one Neve desk. It gives a Neve flavour, not this console's channels.

    Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

  • The real chain

    Studer 16-track tape machine (model not stated)

    Reported

    Recording machine for the original Abbey Road sessions, running EMITAPE; the studio later moved to 24-track Studers.

    Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    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 1

Mix effects

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: Al Stewart, "Year of the Cat", Mix, 2025-11-14. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.

What the ratings mean

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.