> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.unknowndivide.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Who Made It: Blue Train by John Coltrane, Produced by Alfred Lion With Rudy Van Gelder, and the Gear Behind It - URL: https://www.unknowndivide.com/who-made-it-john-coltrane-blue-train-neumann-u47/ - Published: 2026-11-03T16:33:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T16:33:24.000Z - Description: Who Made It #2: John Coltrane's Blue Train, cut in one day in 1957. Alfred Lion produced, Rudy Van Gelder engineered with his Neumann U 47, and here is how to chase that sound today. - Author: unknowndivide staff - Tags: Music, Gear, Who Made It, #signal *Who Made It is our series on the people behind the records: who produced an album, what gear they used, and how to chase that sound today. Every gear fact comes from the artist, the label, the credits on the record or the official keepers of the instruments.* The second record in the series was made in a single day in a living room in New Jersey. John Coltrane's Blue Train was recorded on September 15, 1957 at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, produced by Alfred Lion and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. Blue Note calls it Coltrane's sole session as a leader for the label. At the center of the sound sat one microphone that Van Gelder had been using since 1953: the Neumann U 47. Blue Train Tone Poet vinyl editions trailer. Video: Blue Note Records (official channel) ## The record Blue Train is five tracks: Blue Train, Moment's Notice, Locomotion, I'm Old Fashioned and Lazy Bird. It was issued as Blue Note 1577, with a cover designed by Reid Miles. Coltrane led a sextet that [Blue Note's own spotlight](https://www.bluenote.com/spotlight/locomotion-john-coltranes-blue-train/?ref=unknowndivide.com) lists as Lee Morgan on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Kenny Drew on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Three horns up front give the record its weight. The title track opens on a slow, heavy unison line, and Moment's Notice and Lazy Bird show Coltrane already writing the fast moving chord changes he would push much further a few years later. Blue Note still treats the album as a flagship, and it has issued it in its [Tone Poet audiophile vinyl series](https://www.bluenote.com/john-coltrane-blue-train-tone-poet-vinyl/?ref=unknowndivide.com). ## The producers **Alfred Lion** co-founded Blue Note and produced the session. His job was the music: picking the players, approving the tunes and deciding which takes were good enough to release. **Rudy Van Gelder**, often shortened to RVG on Blue Note sleeves, engineered it. In 1957 he was still recording in a studio he had built in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey. The Van Gelder estate keeps his history on its official [RVG Legacy](https://rvglegacy.org/a-revolutionary-microphone/?ref=unknowndivide.com) site, including the microphones he chose and photos of them in use. Reid Miles, credited for the cover design, gave the label its graphic look. ## The gear **Neumann U 47 tube condenser microphone** What it did: RVG Legacy says the U 47 went into production in June 1948 and that Van Gelder was using one by January 1953\. He used a single U 47 until about 1957, then two until about 1961, on horns, piano and vocals. The estate publishes a photo of Coltrane approaching Van Gelder's U 47\. Neumann's own history page describes it as the first microphone with electrically switchable polar patterns, cardioid and omnidirectional, built around the M7 capsule (later the K 47) and a VF 14 tube. Source: [Neumann U 47 history](https://www.neumann.com/en/products/historical/u-47?ref=unknowndivide.com) and [RVG Legacy, microphones](https://rvglegacy.org/microphones/?ref=unknowndivide.com). **Schoeps M 221B** What it did: RVG Legacy lists it among Van Gelder's microphones from 1956, used on piano and drums. Source: [RVG Legacy, microphones](https://rvglegacy.org/microphones/?ref=unknowndivide.com). **Schoeps CM 51/9** What it did: RVG Legacy says Van Gelder used it on bass from 1957 to 1960, and it shows a 1957 photo of the microphone on Paul Chambers' bass. Source: [RVG Legacy, microphones](https://rvglegacy.org/microphones/?ref=unknowndivide.com). One honest limit: these sources describe Van Gelder's setup in this period and show the U 47 at a Coltrane session, but they do not tie a specific microphone to a specific song on Blue Train. Read the list as the studio's working kit in 1957, not a track by track map. ## How to get the sound today Neumann stopped making the original U 47 in 1965\. Its own history names two successors: the U 47 fet, introduced in 1972, and the M 147 tube microphone from 1998\. Those are the direct line from Van Gelder's mic to something you can buy new. The bigger lesson from RVG is placement, not price. A room with a little life in it, one good large diaphragm condenser in front of the horn and the players close together will get you closer to Blue Train than any plugin. If you are starting out, a solid side address condenser does the job while you learn where to put it. Our explainer on [condenser vs dynamic microphones](https://www.unknowndivide.com/condenser-vs-dynamic-microphones-explained/) covers why a condenser suits a saxophone in a quiet room, and our guide to the [best microphones for home recording](https://www.unknowndivide.com/best-microphones-for-home-recording/) lists the ones worth buying. Record the whole band live in one room if you can. Blue Train was cut in a single day, and the bleed between instruments is part of why it sounds like six people playing together rather than six tracks stacked up. ## Shop the sound - [John Coltrane, Blue Train on vinyl](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=John+Coltrane+Blue+Train+vinyl&tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com): start with the record itself. - [Audio-Technica AT2020](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006H92QK?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com): an affordable cardioid condenser for learning horn placement. - [RØDE NT1 5th Generation](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQHHZ1QQ?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com): a large diaphragm condenser for vocals and acoustic instruments. - [Neumann U 47 history](https://www.neumann.com/en/products/historical/u-47?ref=unknowndivide.com): the original, and the successors Neumann names. For more on how records get made at home, browse the [Home Studio Hub](https://www.unknowndivide.com/home-studio/) and read the first installment, [Who Made It: Talking Book by Stevie Wonder](https://www.unknowndivide.com/who-made-it-stevie-wonder-talking-book-tonto/). [Blue Note Records](https://www.bluenote.com/?ref=unknowndivide.com) · [RVG Legacy](https://rvglegacy.org/?ref=unknowndivide.com) · [Neumann](https://www.neumann.com/en/products/historical/u-47?ref=unknowndivide.com) *As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.*