, founder of Studio Miraval.|170px For hundreds of years, the Miraval estate in the south of France has inspired artisans, vintners and other creatives. Surrounded by gardens, stone terraces, fountains and a forest of white oak and evergreen, the 900-acre property has produced wines and olives since the 13th century. In 1977, the estate's then-owner, French pianist and composer
Jacques Loussier, and sound engineer Patrice Quef built a state-of-the-art recording studio on the property, the Studio Miraval. Loussier began by recording his own work, mainly for films, and then started taking on French artists such as
Maxime Le Forestier and
Pierre Vassiliu. Miraval achieved fame thanks to
Pink Floyd, who came there in 1979 to record part of their album
The Wall. Subsequently, equipped with one of the first
SSL mixing consoles in France, Miraval recorded
AC/DC,
Judas Priest,
The Cranberries,
The Cure,
Muse,
Wham!,
Level 42,
David Sylvian (solo and with
Rain Tree Crow),
Chris Rea,
Sade,
the Go-Betweens,
Steve Winwood,
Yes,
UB40,
Chris Braide,
Shirley Bassey,
the Gipsy Kings,
Shakatak,
Rammstein,
Fonky Family,
Kelly Family,
Blankass, Silmarils,
Jimmy Barnes and many others. Later on, in the early and middle 2000s, Rammstein recorded the album
Mutter, and
Courtney Love also spent a few weeks in the estate.
Muse used the studio for their 2006 album
Black Holes and Revelations. In 1998, Loussier sold Miraval to businessman–turned–wine producer
Tom Bove who resold it in 2011 to actors
Brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie who decided not to operate the studio anymore. == Miraval Studios (2022–present) ==