How It Was Recorded

Cher · Heart of Stone, 1989

If I Could Turn Back Time

Lead vocalDrum kitMixVerified1Reported6

What the sources do and do not say

Single Mix Classic Tracks article by Robyn Flans, read in full. It gives few named units; the drum miking comes from Wolf's recollection and the overhead and room mics are hedged. Neither the vocal chain beyond the mic and Publison nor any guitar or bass gear is named.

Lead vocal

Cher

Microphone

Neumann U 47

Reported

Microphone Cher sang the lead vocal into during the two days of vocal sessions.

Source: Mix, 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

Publison Publison (model not stated)

Reported

Guy Roche added a little Publison to the vocal on the second day of Cher's sessions.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Drum kit

Mark T. Williams

Microphone

Telefunken 251

Verified

Wolf says Schnee's dented Telefunken 251s were used as tom microphones, as it was the only place such damaged mics could be used on drums.

Source: Mix, 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.

Telefunken 251

Reported

Wolf cannot remember the overhead mics but believes they were tube mics, either another pair of 251s or possibly Neumann U 67s.

Source: Mix, 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.

Neumann M50

Reported

Wolf recalls, with some uncertainty about the drum miking, that a couple of M 50s served as room microphones.

Source: Mix, 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

Bill Schnee Custom console (model not stated)

Reported

Console at Schnee's studio on which the drums and bass were cut together; Wolf praises the clarity of the snare it gave.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Mix

Mix effects

George Massenburg Custom console (model not stated)

Reported

Console at the Complex on which the song was mixed.

Source: Mix, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. The source does not name the model, so no specific plugin can be suggested.

Sources

  1. Classic Tracks: Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time”, Mix, 2025-07-14. 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.

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