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How It Was Recorded

Lady Antebellum · Album, 2009

Need You Now

8 sourced items across 2 sectionsVerified7Reported1

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: American Honey, I Run to You, Need You Now. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

What the sources do and do not say

Single Sound On Sound interview with producer Paul Worley and engineer Clarke Schleicher, read in full. Its 'Miking Lady Antebellum' box gives the drum miking for the more recent album (Need You Now) and the API preamps used on some cuts, so this is an album record. Vocal, acoustic guitar and piano chains in the same box are not tied to a particular album or song and were left out; the 'guitar herd' and Neve VR60 mixing are described only as habits without named models.

Drum kit

7 items

Microphone

  • The real chain

    Neumann U 47 fet

    Verified

    One of two kick drum microphones on the Need You Now sessions; the text writes it as FET 47.

    Source: Sound On Sound, 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

    Electro-Voice RE20

    Verified

    Paired with the FET 47 as the second kick drum microphone on the Need You Now sessions.

    Source: Sound On Sound, 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

    Shure SM57

    Verified

    Snare drum microphone, placed on the top of the snare, on the Need You Now sessions; the text writes it as a 57.

    Position
    top of the snare

    Source: Sound On Sound, 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 SM57 is still made and inexpensive: the real thing is the practical route.

  • The real chain

    AKG C451

    Verified

    Used on the bottom of the snare and, as a second 451, on the hi-hat on the Need You Now sessions.

    Position
    snare bottom; hi-hat

    Source: Sound On Sound, 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

    Sennheiser MD 421

    Verified

    Tom microphones, one above and one below each tom, on the Need You Now sessions; the text writes them as 421s.

    Position
    top and bottom of the toms

    Source: Sound On Sound, 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 MD 421 is still made.

  • The real chain

    Neumann KM 184

    Verified

    Drum overhead microphones on the Need You Now sessions.

    Source: Sound On Sound, 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.

Input chain

Recording system

1 item

Input chain

Sources

  1. Paul Worley: Producing Lady Antebellum, Sound On Sound, 2010-09. 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.