Despite the increase in recording albums on their home equipment, Los Angeles and its outlying areas still boast the highest concentration of top-notch recording studios in the world.
Here, you’ll find a studio for every need and every budget, whether you’re aspiring to make your first demo or your long-plotted change-of-musical-direction opus (with orchestra), according to The Los Angeles Times.
Apogee Studio
Santa MonicaRecording studio
Built by Bob Clearmountain, the legendary engineer-/mixer-/producer known for his work with Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie, Apogee Studio is a modern recording facility and performance space. Clearmountain sits behind a vintage 8068 Neve 8068 console, imported from the historic Power Station Studios in Manhattan.
Boulevard Recording
Hollywood Recording studioIn 2021, a fire almost gutted this room where Pink Floyd tracked for “The Wall,” and where Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac cut peak-career records. In the ‘90s, Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz rechristened it Westbeach Recorders to lay down punk classics by Rancid, Sublime and Blink-182.
Capitol Studios
Hollywood Recording studioBeginning with its debut recording, 1965’s “Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color,” Capitol Studios has been the choice of leading artists for half a century. Recent years have included modern classics like Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” and Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version).”
Among the studio’s most unique features are eight concrete echo chambers built 30 feet beneath the tower for capturing reverb, and used to great effect by Brian Wilson and generations of visionary artists.
David Gilmour's floating studio Astoria which is moored on the Thames in London, England. The Division Bell, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and On An Island amongst others were recorded there.
David's houseboat studio Astoria is one of the best, and certainly the most beautiful, of London's private recording studios. Her hull was recently inspected and deemed in need of renovation, so she was moved to dry dock to have a complete steel hull replacement, which should mean she lasts another 30-40 years with no further major work.
After the new hull was successfully fitted, she was re-floated and towed back to her berth yesterday. The photo above was taken by Astoria studio boss Phil Taylor, and we have some more to view in Galleries.
Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' Recording Console sold for 1,8 $ million
Famed TG12345 MK IV desk was housed in Abbey Road's Studio 2 and also used by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
An Abbey Road Studios EMI TG12345 MK IV recording console used between 1971-1983, housed in Studio 2, the console which Pink Floyd used to record their landmark album, The Dark Side of the Moon.
Also used by many other artists including: Paul McCartney and Wings, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Kate Bush and in later years The Cure, the desk comprising: 40 channels with limiter/compressor on each, 4 echo returns and 16 monitors, MK3 feature cassettes, track monitor cassettes, dual channel 16 track sync mixer, two banks of 12 pairs of microphone channels, 8 pairs of main channels to centre section, monitor level controls for tracks 1-8 on left and 9-16 on right side,
