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How It Was Recorded

The Cranberries · Album, 1993

Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?

20 sourced items across 7 sectionsVerified5Reported8Inferred7

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: Linger. 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

One Sound On Sound Classic Tracks article with Stephen Street and Noel Hogan. Much of the gear is album-level or Street's habitual set-up, and several mic choices are his hedged recollections, so only the acoustic guitar and string synth rows and the SSL row are song-specific. The 1994 Sound On Sound Street profile covers general habits and a different track, and was not used.

Lead vocal

1 item

Dolores O'Riordan

Microphone

Electric guitar

4 items

Noel Hogan

Instrument

Amplifier

Input chain

Acoustic guitar

3 items

Dolores O'Riordan's guitar

Instrument

  • The real chain

    Yamaha Acoustic guitar (model not stated)

    ReportedOne song

    The acoustic part on Linger was recorded on a cheap Yamaha acoustic belonging to O'Riordan.

    Source: Sound On Sound, 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.

Microphone

  • The real chain

    Neumann U 87

    InferredUsual practice

    Street's usual placement for a U87 on an acoustic guitar.

    Position
    in front of the guitar, between the 12th fret and the sound hole

    A suggestion, not a documented fact: Street describes his usual set-up from that period rather than stating it for this song.

    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

    Neumann KM 84

    InferredUsual practice

    Usual practice, not stated for this record: Street sometimes adds a KM84 further up the neck of the acoustic to try for extra air. (recalled with uncertainty)

    Position
    further up towards the neck

    A suggestion, not a documented fact: Street describes his usual set-up from that period rather than stating it for this song.

    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.

Bass

5 items

Mike Hogan

Instrument

  • The real chain

    Wal Bass guitar (model not stated)

    Verified

    Mike Hogan played a Wal bass at the time of the album sessions.

    Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    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

Microphone

  • The real chain

    Electro-Voice RE20

    Reported

    Street thinks an RE-20 would have been used on the bass cabinet, alongside a U47.

    Position
    relatively close to the cab

    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

    Neumann U 47

    Reported

    Street thinks a U47 would have been used on the bass cabinet, alongside an RE-20.

    Position
    relatively close to the cab

    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.

Drum kit

5 items

Fergal Lawler

Microphone

  • The real chain

    Neumann U 47 fet

    InferredUsual practice

    Usual practice, not stated for this record: Street thinks he may have put a U47 FET inside the bass drum.

    Position
    inside the bass drum

    A suggestion, not a documented fact: Street describes his usual set-up from that period rather than stating it for this song.

    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 Dynamic microphone (model not stated)

    InferredUsual practice

    Street recalls his usual Shure dynamic mics on the snare, top and bottom.

    Position
    top of and under the snare

    A suggestion, not a documented fact: Street describes his usual set-up from that period rather than stating it for this song.

    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

    InferredUsual practice

    Usual practice, not stated for this record: Street recalls Sennheiser 421s on the toms.

    Position
    on the toms

    A suggestion, not a documented fact: Street describes his usual set-up from that period rather than stating it for this song.

    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 84

    InferredUsual practice

    Usual practice, not stated for this record: Street recalls a KM84 on the hi-hat.

    Position
    on the hi-hat

    A suggestion, not a documented fact: Street describes his usual set-up from that period rather than stating it for this song.

    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

    Neumann U 87

    InferredUsual practice

    Usual practice, not stated for this record: Street believes the overheads would have been a pair of U87s.

    Position
    overheads

    A suggestion, not a documented fact: Street describes his usual set-up from that period rather than stating it for this song.

    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.

String line

1 item

Dolores O'Riordan

Instrument

  • The real chain

    Unidentified String synthesizer (model not stated)

    VerifiedOne song

    O'Riordan's original string line was played on a cheap little string synth, and a little of it was blended in behind the real quartet.

    Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

    Get the sound · our suggestion

    Covers this kind of unit

    Arturia Solina V

    instrument

    Models the Solina String Ensemble, the best-known string machine: divide-down oscillators through a chorus. The source does not name the instrument, so it is not a model of the one on the record.

    Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Mix

1 item

Mix effects

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: The Cranberries 'Linger', Sound On Sound, 2019-03. 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.

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