1890s to 1930s In the era of acoustical recordings (prior to the introduction of microphones, electrical recording and amplification), the earliest recording studios were very basic facilities, being essentially soundproof rooms that isolated the performers from outside noise. During this era it was not uncommon for recordings to be made in any available location, such as a local ballroom, using portable acoustic recording equipment. In this period, master recordings were made by cutting a rotating cylinder (later disc) made from wax. Performers were typically grouped around a large acoustic horn (an enlarged version of the familiar
gramophone horn). The acoustic energy from the voices or instruments was channeled through the horn to a diaphragm to a mechanical
cutting lathe, which inscribed the signal as a modulated groove directly onto the surface of the master.
1930s to 1970s Studio for Electronic Music Electrical recording was common by the early 1930s, and
mastering lathes were electrically powered, but master recordings still had to be cut into a disc, by now a lacquer, also known as an
Acetate disc. In line with the prevailing musical trends, studios in this period were primarily designed for the live recording of symphony orchestras and other large instrumental ensembles. Engineers soon found that large, reverberant spaces like concert halls created a vibrant acoustic signature as the natural reverb enhanced the sound of the recording. In this period, large, acoustically
live halls were favored, rather than the acoustically
dead booths and studio rooms that became common after the 1960s. Because of the limits of the recording technology, which did not allow for
multitrack recording techniques, studios of the mid-20th century were designed around the concept of grouping musicians (e.g., the
rhythm section or a
horn section) and singers (e.g., a group of
backup singers), rather than separating them, and placing the performers and the microphones strategically to capture the complex acoustic and harmonic interplay that emerged during the performance. In the 2000s, modern
sound stages still sometimes use this approach for large
film scoring projects that use large orchestras.
Halls and churches Because of their superb acoustics, many of the larger studios were converted churches. Examples include
George Martin's
AIR Studios in London,
Columbia Records 30th Street Studio in New York City, and
Pythian Temple studio in New York. Facilities like the Columbia Records 30th Street Studio in New York and
Abbey Road Studios in London were renowned for their identifiable sound—which was (and still is) easily identifiable by audio professionals—and for the skill of their staff engineers. As the need to transfer audio material between different studios grew, there was an increasing demand for
standardization in studio design across the recording industry, and
Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood was highly influential in the 1970s in the development of standardized acoustic design. In New York City,
Columbia Records had some of the most highly respected sound recording studios, including the 30th Street Studio at 207 East 30th Street, the
CBS Studio Building at 49 East 52nd Street,
Liederkranz Hall at 111 East 58th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues (a building built by and formerly belonging to a German cultural and musical society, The Liederkranz Club and Society), and one of their earliest recording studios, Studio A at 799 Seventh Avenue. The unique sonic characteristics of the major studios imparted a special character to many of the most famous popular recordings of the 1950s and 1960s, and the recording companies jealously guarded these facilities. According to sound historian David Simons, after Columbia took over the 30th Street Studios in the late 1940s and
A&R manager
Mitch Miller had tweaked it to perfection, Miller issued a standing order that the drapes and other fittings were not to be touched, and the cleaners had specific orders never to mop the bare wooden floor for fear it might alter the acoustic properties of the hall. There were several other features of studios in this period that contributed to their unique sonic signatures. As well as the inherent sound of the large recording rooms, many of the best studios incorporated specially designed
echo chambers, purpose-built rooms which were often built beneath the main studio. These were typically long, low rectangular spaces constructed from hard, sound-reflective materials like concrete, fitted with a loudspeaker at one end and one or more microphones at the other. During a recording session, a signal from one or more of the microphones in the studio could be routed to the loudspeaker in the echo chamber; the sound from the speaker reverberated through the chamber and the enhanced signal was picked up by the microphone at the other end. This echo-enhanced signal, which was often used to
sweeten the sound of vocals, could then be blended in with the primary signal from the microphone in the studio and mixed into the track as the master recording was being made. Special equipment was another notable feature of the
classic recording studio. In the US, the biggest studios were owned and operated by large media companies like
RCA and
Columbia, who typically had their own electronics research and development divisions that designed and built custom-made recording equipment and mixing consoles for their studios. Likewise, the smaller independent studios were often owned by skilled electronics engineers who designed and built their own desks and other equipment. A good example of this is
Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, the site of many famous American pop recordings of the 1960s. Co-owner David S. Gold built the studio's main mixing desk and many additional pieces of equipment and he also designed the studio's unique trapezoidal echo chambers. In Europe, the biggest studios were mostly operated by the national broadcast companies such as
ZDF and the
ARD (Germany),
RAI (Italy) or the
BBC (UK) with few exceptions such as
EMI,
Polydor/
Polygram or
DGG which operated their own, large recording facilities. Although having their own technical departments, most of the equipment was supplied through companies such as
Telefunken,
Siemens,
Neumann and EMT. During the 1950s and 1960s, the sound of pop recordings was further defined by the introduction of proprietary sound processing devices such as equalizers and compressors, which were manufactured by specialist electronics companies. One of the best known of these was the
Pultec equalizer, which was used by almost all the major commercial studios of the time and the
1176 peak limiter, developed by
Bill Putnam.
Multi-track recording With the introduction of
multi-track recording, it became possible to record instruments and singers separately and at different times on different tracks on tape. In the mid-20th century, recordings were
analog, made on -inch or -inch
magnetic tape, or, more rarely, on 35 mm
magnetic film, with
multitrack recording reaching 8 tracks in the 1950s, 16 in 1968, and 32 in the 1970s. The most common such tape is the 2-inch analog, capable of containing up to 24 individual tracks. Throughout the 1960s, many pop classics were still recorded live in a single take. In the 1970s, the large recording companies began to adopt multi-track recording and the emphasis shifted to isolation and sound-proofing, with treatments like echo and reverberation added separately during the mixing process, rather than being blended in during the recording. Generally, after an audio mix is set up on a 24-track tape machine, the tracks are played back together, mixed and sent to a different machine, which records the combined signals (called
printing) to a -inch two-track stereo tape, called a
master. Before digital recording, the total number of available tracks onto which one could record was measured in multiples of 24, based on the number of 24-track tape machines being used. Most recording studios now use digital recording equipment, which limits the number of available tracks only on the basis of the
mixing console's or computer hardware interface's capacity and the ability of the hardware to cope with processing demands. Analog tape machines are still used in some cases for their unique sonic characteristics. ==Radio studios==