Week 4: Abbey Road Studios

Formerly known as EMI studios, Abbey Road studios is located in Westminister, London, England. Although the studio was established in November of 1931 by the Gramophone Company, Abbey Road Studios has been popularized by The Beatles. The studio is so often associated with the fab four given that they recorded almost their entire catalog at the studio between their kick off in 1962 up until 1970 when they disbanded. The facilities are seen as being the “it” place for musical recording in the 1960’s when artists such as the aforementioned Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Hollies all recorded there and used innovative production techniques.

Significant producers and sound engineers who have worked at the Abbey Road Studio include Sir George Martin (The Beatles), Geoff Emerick, Norman Smith, Ken Scott, Mike Stone, Alan Parsons, Peter Vince, Malcolm Addey, Peter Brown, Richard Langham, Phil McDonald, John Kurlander, Richard Lush and Ken Townsend who actually invented the groundbreaking studio effect of automatic double tracking (ADT) which heavily enhanced the sound of voices and instruments when recorded.

According to the studio’s official website, the chief mastering engineer was Chris Blair, who began his audio career as a tape deck operator – a job people often forget existed!

The equipment used in the studios:

• Studio One: 72 Fader AMS Neve 88RS
• Studio Two: 60 Fader AMS Neve 88RS
• Studio Three: 96 Fader Solid State Logic 9000 J
• Penthouse: 48 Fader AMS Neve DFC Gemini

Maybe one day I will be able to travel to London and visit the studio and see where some of my favourite music of all time was created and brought to life by my favourite sound engineers. Sigh.

Week 3: The Vinyl Revival

I, for one, am a massive supporter of the vinyl revival and I have been for as long as I can remember. When my parents hooked me up with their old turntables, I felt electric. I can still recall the magical experience of hearing “Because” off of the second side of Abbey Road. It was magical beyond comprehension. Call me old-fashioned or pretentious, but I find there to be something captivating about listening to an entire record through a quality sound system from front to back.

Am I thankful for technological advancements? Yes. Yes I am.

But do I support an industry of streaming, torrenting and digital downloading? No. No I don’t.

The fridge in my apartment broke the other weekend and we had to get a handy man to come in and fix the problem. When he knocked, I was home alone so I had my sound system blasting in my room. I had on side 1 of “Take it From the Man”, the second blues-rock record by “The Brian Jonestown Massacre”. It was almost as if the handy-man waited no time in asking me why the heck I was listening to music in the same primitive way that he did growing up. I had to awkwardly ramble off my prepared ode to analog while he sat there with widening eyes and burrowing eyebrows. To sum it up, it’s analog. It’s natural. I like listening to music in it’s original context, the way it was meant to be listened to.

Despite my love of analog, we DO live in a digital age. Although our minds are often preoccupied with cell phones, laptops, i-Pods and other technological devices, it is apparent that the “Vinyl Revival” is a thing. And 2014 has been a surprisingly great year for record sales.

As an RTA student, all things in relation to math/numbers/graphs gross me out and/or scare me. But these are some statistics that I think are relevant and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

VINYL. SALES. HAVE. SKYROCKETED. Isn’t that exciting? If you’re not excited, you’re probably quite boring and not my type of person. Do you even have a heart?

Ultimately, I think ignoring analog and succumbing to the hype of digital downloading/streaming is valuing the conveience over quality, which is lame on all sorts of levels. Listening to vinyl in a quality sound environment is an experience. When you have crappy quality Apple ear-buds in and you’re listening to music off of your phone, the music is an additive factor to your experience; however, when you physically PUT a record on, the music becomes your experience. It has your undivided attention and even demands so by providing the hassle of switching from Side A to Side B. But it’s a struggle worth enduring.

So toss your phone in the other room, shut that laptop and drop that needle.