How It Was Recorded

Queen · A Night at the Opera, 1975

Bohemian Rhapsody

Guide vocal (backing track)Lead and overdub guitarBassDrum kitPianoTape machines and consolesVerified13Reported1Inferred1

What the sources do and do not say

Single source: the October 1995 Sound On Sound interview with producer Roy Thomas Baker and then-assistant Gary Langan. It covers the backing-track miking, the tape machines and the SARM mix; it does not give mic choices for Mercury's lead vocal or May's guitar mics by model, and no settings. The Neumann U67/U87 row is a hedged recollection. The 2002 surround remix and 2019 soundtrack articles were read but describe later remix/film work, not the original recording, so nothing was taken from them.

Guide vocal (backing track)

Freddie Mercury

Microphone

Shure Microphone (model not stated)

Verified

Guide vocal microphone for Mercury at the piano, used for only the first words of each line as a cue for the band.

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.

Lead and overdub guitar

Brian May

Amplifier

Vox AC30

VerifiedAlbum sessions

Album sessions, not stated for this song: Baker says May generally used AC30s, which were backless, so microphones were also placed behind them near the wall for ambience.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 7 Pro

amp and cabinet simulator

Its AC Box amp is modelled on the Vox AC30.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 (Includes an AC30-style amp model).

Bass

John Deacon

Amplifier

Recorded direct (DI), no amplifier

Verified

Deacon's bass was taken through a DI box.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Marshall Bass stack (model not stated)

Verified

Deacon's bass amplifier stack, placed against the wall to the right as seen from the control room window.

Position
Against the wall, on the right-hand side as you looked out of the control room window

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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: 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

Electro-Voice 666

Verified

Microphone on Deacon's bass cabinet, alongside a DI.

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.

Neumann U 67

Verified

Sometimes used on Deacon's bass cabinet to pick up a little air.

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.

Drum kit

Roger Taylor

Microphone

Neumann U 67

InferredUsual practice

Baker says the toms and overhead were generally miked with Neumann U67s or U87s, and that studios usually had one or the other; he does not say which was used here. (recalled with uncertainty)

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Roy Thomas Baker describes this as usual practice; it is not stated for this record.

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 D12

Verified

Bass drum microphone.

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.

Piano

Freddie Mercury

Microphone

Neumann U 67

Verified

Mercury's piano was miked with a pair of these.

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.

Tape machines and consoles

Input chain

Studer 24-track tape machine (model not stated)

Verified

Used for the start of the recording at Rockfield.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder

tape

Models a Studer 24-track. The source does not give the model used.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines (Includes a model of a two-inch Studer multitrack).

Telefunken 24-track tape machine (model not stated)

Verified

Used for vocal overdubs at Scorpion, then discarded because its track widths made it incompatible with other machines.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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: Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape).

Neve Console (model not stated)

Verified

Baker recalls an old blue Neve with big knobs as one of the consoles used at Wessex.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

Waves NLS Non-Linear Summer

console emulation

Adds the summing character of three desks, one of them a Neve. The source does not name the console model, so this is only a family resemblance.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Mix effects

Trident B-Series console (model not stated)

Verified

Console used for the mix at SARM (East).

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Softube Trident A-Range

equaliser

Models the EQ of Trident's A-Range, the desk that came before the B-Range. It shares the maker and period; it is not a model of the B-Range.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Universal Audio Trident A-Range Classic Console EQ (Models the EQ of Trident's A-Range, the desk that came before the B-Range. It shares the maker and period; it is not a model of the B-Range).

MCI Tape machine (model not stated)

Verified

Tape machine used at SARM for the mix, nicknamed for its unreliability.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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: Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape).

Alison Computerised mixing automation (model not stated)

Reported

Automation installed days before the mix; its old VCA technology caused distortion at the end of the opera section, and the final rock section was mixed by hand with it switched off.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

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

Sources

  1. Roy Thomas Baker & Gary Langan: The Making Of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', Sound On Sound, 1995-10. 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.