4 Decades of Iconic Consoles

Music making equipment has evolved through the years, as has the music that is made with it. At its peak in the 1970s, the Golden Age of Analog produced countless great recordings — commercial flops and smash hits alike — on Neve consoles and Studer 24-track tape machines. The digital age, ushered in with microprocessors and MIDI in the late ’70s and early ’80s, radically changed the sound of recorded music. Suddenly digital synths and pianos, drum machines, and gated digital reverb were everywhere. But in the pre-computer/pre-DAW era, it all ended up immortalized on analog tape — and the recording console was command central, shaping the sound of modern music as we know it. Join us as we take a nostalgic trip back in time and check out four decades of iconic consoles.

Back in the early days of electrical recording, the gear didn’t exist to overprocess a signal. Recordings were pure and simple: the sound of instruments and voices in a room captured with a few microphones and recorded straight to one or two tracks. Nothing was close-miked, so the engineer captured the room ambience along with the source, and there was no post-processing. Recording equipment was pioneering technology, most of it designed and built by in-house electrical engineers — often the studio owner. Aside from a few notable units such as the Gates Sta-Level and RCA OP-6, mass-produced recording gear was nonexistent.

Recording engineers found that the preamps in their bespoke consoles would lend a particular character to the audio, due to the unique components and circuitry that gave each console (and therefore each studio) a unique sound. As engineers got to know their consoles, gain staging the preamps became part of the creative process — hitting them hard, for instance, to generate rich harmonic distortion.

The post-WWII era was a time of rapid innovation in the recording industry. Stereo disc mastering was not yet ready for prime time, but the new monaural 12″ long-playing record (LP) and magnetic tape — a German technology liberated by US troops at the end of the war — were being widely adopted. As technology evolved, it gave recording engineers and producers more to work with in terms of manipulating audio signals. By the late 1950s, things were starting to get interesting. Which brings us to the 1960s — and Abbey Road.

EMI

EMI Studios London, as it was then known, had a staff of innovative recording and technical engineers and racks of the best gear available at the time, much of it heavily modified — or designed from scratch — by EMI technicians. The Beatles, of course, were the most famous beneficiaries of EMI’s technical prowess. Their early records were recorded on EMI REDD.37 valve consoles built by EMI Central Research Laboratories in the late 1950s, while the updated REDD.51 captured their mid-’60s creativity.

From November 1966 to April 1967, producer George Martin, engineer Geoff Emerick, and the Fab Four recorded Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on a pair of EMI-modified Studer J37 4-track tape recorders (each containing 52 tubes and weighing 300 pounds), bouncing mono reduction mixes between the two machines to clear up open tracks as they meticulously layered their magnum opus in Studio Two. With four tracks over 1-inch tape, the J37 represented the ultimate in audio fidelity for analog tape recorder technology. At EMI in February of ’67, with former Beatles engineer Norman Smith producing, Pink Floyd began tracking their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, using the same technology. These two psychedelic masterpieces, and other projects, stretched the capabilities of EMI’s venerable REDD consoles to the limit.

The introduction of 8-track recording and the increasing sonic experimentation of a new generation of artists demanded new technology; and thus, a new EMI-designed desk made its debut in 1968. With 24 mic inputs, eight buses, four echo sends, two cue sends, and — for the first time ever — a compressor/limiter (in addition to EQ) on every channel, the TG12345 console was substantially larger and more capable than the REDD desks. Driven by transistors rather than tubes, its sound was dramatically richer and more highly detailed. The TG12345 was put to the test in Studio Two the following year on the Beatles’ Abbey Road album.

The groundbreaking sound quality of the solid-state EMI TG12345 recording console left its mark on legendary albums by rock royalty of the era. Four generations of the TG12345 served Abbey Road clients (the studio had changed its name in honor of the Beatles’ album) through the 1970s, recording countless hit records and film scores before being retired from service in 1983. Worth noting is that none of this EMI-designed/modified gear was ever commercially available; it was for the exclusive use of studio clientele. As we mentioned earlier, this was not at all unusual; in the early ’60s, almost every piece of equipment in a given studio was designed and built in-house. But by the end of the decade, that would no longer be the case.

Many Abbey Road TG modules are currently being remanufactured and sold by Chandler Limited.

Electrodyne

The first console you could order by picking up the phone or visiting the factory was made by a California company called Electrodyne. The first modular, mass-produced consoles, Electrodynes consisted of frames fitted with standardized modules and could be ordered custom-configured to a studio’s specifications. They were also the first consoles to employ integrated input modules (channel strips) with preamp, EQ, effects sends, and fader, enabling quick swap outs in the event of component failure. And here’s a bit of trivia: Electrodyne is also credited with inventing the padded arm rest. Another first was the ability to order consoles in a “Kaleidoscope of Color,” as they utilized an engraved Formica surface over an aluminum substrate. Thus, the business model of the modern console company was established: offer a mass-produced yet customizable product. In the 1960s, many LA studios installed Electrodyne consoles, which became known for the “California sound” of groups like the Beach Boys.


Quad-Eight

In the 1960s, Quad-Eight was a sales company that purchased Electrodyne consoles, slapped on their own logo, and sold them to Hollywood post-production facilities such as Universal, 20th Century Fox, and Todd-AO. Many blockbuster films of the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s were mixed on these boards. Another Electrodyne offshoot was Sphere, whose consoles incorporated improved preamp and equalizer designs and ended up in quite a few top studios, including Sigma Sound in Philly and more than a dozen studios in Nashville. One even landed in the White House — where it served our country with distinction for 30 years!

API

No American console company is more famous than API. Automated Processes, Inc. was launched in 1968 by Saul Walker, who designed the legendary 2520 discrete circuit the same year, invented the 500 Series console EQ module and conductive plastic faders the next, and went on to revolutionize the recording industry with other innovations in the 1970s, including the first computerized console automation systems.

If Neve defined the “British sound” in the ’70s, API was its US counterpart: big, bold, and punchy, API was the sound of ’70s American rock. Vital as ever, API is still in business today, offering a range of products, such as their 1608 recording console, that interface seamlessly into the contemporary hybrid studio while delivering the classic, fat, warm API analog sound. Not surprisingly, API is the company that established the industry specification for the modern Lunchbox 500 Series format, known as the VPR Alliance.

Trident

Trident (which is still in existence) made a name for itself with their iconic A-Range desks. In the 1970s, just about every major pop music act recorded at Trident Studios London. At the heart of the studio’s sound was its in-house-built A-Range console, which quickly became famous for its lovely, musical EQ and the fat, rich tone it imparted. Soon, recording studios worldwide were placing orders for an A-Range of their own. Although only 13 were ever built, the A-Range console launched a legacy that continues into the digital era, with software plug-ins and hardware that re-create the magical A-Range sound.

Helios

Olympic Studios London, like Trident, was home to countless British and American recording artists, including Jimi Hendrix. The musicians, engineers, and producers who worked there fell in love with the sound of Olympic’s Helios desk, and many of them built their own recording studios around this formidable console. The list of Helios rooms is long and distinguished, and includes the Who’s Ramport Studios, Eric Clapton’s studio, the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, producer Chris Blackwell’s Island Records, Richard Branson’s Townhouse Studios, session legend Leon Russell’s LA studio, and many more.


Neve

The enormous 80-input Neve 8078 at Ocean Way Nashville. Photo by Lynn Fuston.
Rupert Neve started designing audio equipment in the tube console era but made his mark with solid-state designs. Setting up shop in Little Shelford in the ’60s, Mr. Neve faced many obstacles establishing his brand in a new technological landscape. Transistors were new, expensive, and difficult to obtain in quantity in the UK. Reliable faders didn’t exist yet — a far cry from today’s world, where parts are affordable and readily available from multiple suppliers, all competing to win bids. Nevertheless, he persisted; and by the early 1970s, the Neve company was humming along, taking orders and building custom consoles for recording and broadcast studios the world over.

The transformer-balanced Neve 80 Series consoles had a huge, punchy, and authoritative sound that defined the sound of ’70s rock. From London to New York to Los Angeles and beyond, top studios were installing Neve boards as fast as they could. By 1977, with Neve’s introduction of NECAM (Neve Computer Assisted Mixdown), Neve/Studer was the console/multitrack recorder success formula for any studio with world-class aspirations. But Neves and Studers were expensive. For smaller jingle and demo studios that couldn’t afford that, there was MCI.


MCI

MCI 528 28-input in-line console in 32-channel frame. Photo courtesy of Carla Harned/MCI
Formed by Jeep Harned in Florida in 1955, MCI was a recording industry innovator that pioneered the 24-track tape recorder, the tape machine Auto Locator, the in-line console, and VCA automation. Reliable and professional-grade, MCI gear delivered sonic performance and features at an affordable price. In 1977, for the cost of a Neve console alone, a studio could purchase an inclusive MCI package consisting of a JH-500 console with automation, a JH-24 2-inch, 24-track machine, and a couple of 2-track recorders, and still have money left for tape. And so, MCI played an important role in the advancement of multitrack recording, allowing demo studios to charge low rates that were affordable to aspiring musicians in an era before the democratization of recording technology allowed those musicians to record at home.

A stereo recreation of the classic MCI 500 EQ section is now offered in the Coleman Audio CA500EQ.


Solid State Logic (SSL)

Established in 1969 by Colin Sanders, Solid State Logic initially manufactured FET switching systems for pipe organs. Sanders also owned a recording studio, for which he designed and built a console. More console designs followed, and by 1979, SSL found commercial success with the SL 4000 E Series desk, which would go on to transform the recording industry with its sonic quality and TotalRecall automation. Eventually taking over from Neve, descendants of the 4000 E — the SL 4000 G Series, 6000, 8000, 9000J, and 9000K — would dominate the professional music recording studio industry for two decades. In the mid-1980s, SSL’s 5000 Series film consoles replaced decades-old Quad-Eight boards on many Hollywood re-recording stages, introducing the film and television industry to console automation and a new level of audio fidelity.


Studer, Harrison, and More

Other companies of the era that achieved varying degrees of commercial success with their consoles included Studer (known primarily for their tape machines), Harrison (whose owner, Dave Harrison, designed the world’s first in-line console for MCI), Olive (whose claim to fame was the LED bar-graph meter), Altec (famous for their 604-variant studio monitors), Langevin (with their AM4A), Auditronics (selling their Grandson), and Allen & Heath (with the first generation of their famous Mini-Mixers). Spectra Sonics boards found a home in New York’s Record Plant and several other high-end American studios. Fairchild (maker of the legendary 670 vari-mu compressor) had their remote-control Integra II console, and Yamaha even had skin in the game with their high-quality PM100 console.

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