How It Was Recorded

Sam Smith · Album, 2014

In the Lonely Hour

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: I'm Not the Only One, Lay Me Down, Money on My Mind. We found nothing specific to these songs, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Lead vocalBassDrum kitVerified10Reported1

What the sources do and do not say

One Sound On Sound Secrets of the Mix Engineers interview with Steve Fitzmaurice, read in full. It covers the RAK Studio 1 band sessions (seven songs in five days) and his mix of 'Stay With Me', but never names 'I'm Not the Only One', so every row is album-level and the record is an album record. The article does not say which songs were cut at RAK.

Lead vocal

Sam Smith

Microphone

Neumann U 67

Verified

Fitzmaurice used his Neumann U67 on Smith for the band sessions at RAK Studio 1 (the same mic had been used for his vocal on another track at Pierce Rooms).

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Neve 1066

Verified

Preamp the U67 vocal went into at RAK, one of Fitzmaurice's own units; he believes it is much like a 1073 with a different EQ.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio Neve 1073 Preamp & EQ Collection

preamp and EQ

The 1066 is a sibling of the 1073 with different equaliser frequencies. This models the 1073.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Teletronix LA-2A

Verified

Studio compressor used on the vocal at RAK in place of his own 1176; he adds that he does not usually love it but it sounded fantastic here.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection

compressor

Universal Audio owns the Teletronix name; this is its own model of the LA-2A.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves CLA-2A Compressor / Limiter (Models an LA-2A from Chris Lord-Alge's collection. Cheaper and runs without UA hardware).

Bass

Jodi Milliner

Instrument

Fender Precision Bass (1969)

Verified

Hired 1969 Precision bass used for the band sessions at RAK.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Amplifier

Avalon DI (model not stated)

Verified

DI the bass was plugged into, feeding the console preamp.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. A DI box passes the signal on cleanly. Plug the instrument straight into your interface's instrument input.

Input chain

API Microphone preamp (model not stated)

Verified

Console preamp that the DI'd bass went into at RAK.

Position
On the studio console

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Universal Audio API Vision Channel Strip Collection

channel strip

Includes a model of API's 212L microphone preamp, built on the same discrete 2520 op-amp as the firm's other preamps. The source does not name the model, so this stands for the maker's family of units: it is not a model of the one on the record.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Drum kit

Earl Harvin

Microphone

Shure SM58

Verified

Snare microphone, used in place of a 57.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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.

AKG C414

Verified

Microphone under the snare, with its pad and filter in use.

Position
Underneath the snare
Settings
Pad and filter engaged (values not stated)

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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.

Mercenary Audio KM69

Verified

Hi-hat microphone, which he describes as a remake of the Neumann KM84i that he prefers to the newer KM184.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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.

Coles 4038

Verified

Pair of ribbon microphones used as the drum overheads.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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.

Sennheiser MD 421

Reported

The producer thinks a rack tom had an MD421 on it; he is not certain.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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.

Sources

  1. Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Steve Fitzmaurice (Inside Track: Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour), Sound On Sound, 2014-09. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
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.

Songs from this album