BOP Studios: The Most Amazing Recording Studio You Have Probably Never Heard Of...

[@davidstride988]

Thank you SOS for featuring me and my music in this video! Was an AMAZING experience recording there, and meeting the SOS and Focusrite team! I would love to go back there and do it all again - even if BRS never gets back up to what it was before. Just to sit and play music in those live rooms is enough to inspire any musician.To hear your own voice, bouncing off those stunning golden brown walls - Its overwhelming.

[@ClearStreamsUK]

I spent 2 years working as a musician in the town '92-94. Did a few projects there! Fantastic facility! Needs using!! We lived about 1/2 a mile from it!!

[@trentrama2645]

we need to talk i have some question

[@shimonbenloulou1778]

I used to live there in those years, thought I knew everyone in mafikeng.

[@ruthlesscutthroat4030]

I'm from mafikeng too. I was 12 at the time you describe.

[@soundonsound]

It was an absolute pleasure David. A very big thank you also goes out to Schalk, Dewald and the rest of the guys for their hard work in getting everything up and running for us, it's very much appreciated.

[@garnetbey7400]

This studio is freaking amazing, never in my life can imagine such a beautiful studio.I see why its in south Africa, world's largest studio,on the world's largest geographical land mass...

[@MsRobstar]

That is the type of room that a lot of laptop producers/musicians and engineers are missing out on. The magic of a place and time! We have gained a lot with technology but are we loosing some thing important at the same time? Thank you Sound On Sound for bridging the gap!

[@yeshuasweapon4384]

Tru fam

[@brianpatrick6102]

Speechless. The thought of this place in such a state is almost unbearable. The quote: "Don't die with your music still inside you " comes to mind.

[@djmaestro249]

Maaan, I wish if I can live in South Africa, this studio is like heaven on earth for every musician.

[@wackenthaljef]

The most awesome recoding studios in the World!!! yessss! thanks to you SOS!!

[@vinceiddon4853]

Installed the SSL here back in the 90's. Unbelievable place, lavish doesn't come close!

[@DewaldV84]

It was indeed a pleasure guys! Great to have been part of it.

[@jafmusicmix7656]

Mind-blowing. Truly a dream-studio!

[@blackjesus1026]

WOW, Incredible space! I never knew South Africa had this tucked away. I enjoyed this tour and when I become a millionaire, I will need the same design as Studio 2 in my basement! LOL. AWESOME SPACE!

[@ChristianIce]

And here's X. Fantastic X.

[@filipeadubeiro]

That's really an engineer's dream... Wow!

[@DalmaTon-Records]

Oh gosh, i didn't know that in africa exists such a big sound studios. It's absolutely astonishing! :-)

[@marcbakos]

Am glad to be proudly South African! It's near my great-aunt's house as well, PERFECT! Who's coming?

[@i.AmHymn]

👀... I want to cry every time I see this vid! 😭 #WhatASheerWaste! 💯 Hymn

[@waterwoodguitars6871]

i. Am Hymn right?!? I can’t believe it’s just sitting empty. It actually breaks my heart to see such beautiful facilities not being used. Top choice gear, room build outs, the whole 9. Wow

[@i.AmHymn]

@@waterwoodguitars6871 Exactly! I'd NEVER leave if I had this! 💯 Hymn

[@banditgeez388]

Me too

[@KOISANX]

I remember this when I was still in college...our preparation for our world class choirs... Thanks SOS - I often wondered what happened to the studios.... Just a comment on the economics - a reality of modern music economics is the dis- investment in large studios - WORLD wide - in fact SOS may even have been a keen contributor with the excellent advice on how to run successful bedroom studios 😜

[@ChristianHuant]

Amazing facility and a nice tour from Hugh. One comment though: when Hugh mentions that if the studio could be moved to London it would be packed 24/7, I'm not so sure, sadly. The cost of a facility like this would make the daily (or hourly) rate astronomical, and prohibitive to most. London has amazing studio complexes that are maybe not as fully utilised as one would imagine... sad but there we have it.

[@7landentertainment281]

Minus the studio spaces - amazing that fits in my bedroom now.

[@lemop]

SSL, Neve AND ISA desks?! What a place. What spaces! Lemme in!

[@GaryChan04]

Absolutely STUNNING!

[@DavidStockden]

Thanks for sharing this SOS! Awesome job Hugh!

[@gregbester3855]

I played the drums on the soundtrack of this doc. At BOP Studios while SOS was there. :)

[@thegoodgenerald5083]

: o

[@stephenmidgley1563]

That is an absolutely beautiful studio! I would be honoured just walking through it tbh.

[@ArthurStone]

Amazing studio space and equipment! Thanks : )

[@zundap100]

What a beauty of studios.

[@elevationmusicgh7147]

I'm gonna own this place

[@yuvigerstein]

Wow, glorious studio!

[@banelemngqi8917]

I can't believe some people think South Africa can not house world class facilities. This is but one of many stunning recording facilities. I'm a mix engineer myself and I'm aiming for a Grammy, bringing it to South Africa.

[@phlopalopagus]

Well I know where im going when the zombie apocalypse starts.

[@Zimtack]

Great, the only place where if a zombie sneaks in, nobody would hear you scream, Ironically.

[@phlopalopagus]

or I slay them all with my razor sharp riffs!

[@GB3770]

Can't be long now...

[@GB3770]

Phlop Alopagus lol

[@ruthlesscutthroat4030]

you know what, not a bad choice. I used to live in that area and visited many times. those isolation doors are heavier and bank vaults. no zombie can hear you in there.

[@jfts09]

I'm amazed that they haven't folded yet tbh.

[@LukeJF89]

Imagine if BOP studios did a free give away day. *mouth starts watering

[@RottenCryptStudios]

Bloody Fantastic

[@AudioReplica2023]

I really thought I was watching this at slightly higher speed ...later realized thats he's normal speaking speed.

[@deya2307]

Amazing studios!!! I'd love working there!

[@phraseratUK]

It is amazing!

[@Hello-pl2qe]

Amazingly fantastic

[@VoyageOne1]

A beautiful looking studio that was sadly doomed to fail due to a combination of graft and the launch of the Alesis ADAT mere months before it opened.

[@dfpguitar]

I was taken on a tour of BBC pebble mill about five years before it closed. The facility was very similar to the main room they had here. Massive space to fit an orchestra, a 100 channel desk. Elaborate integrated monitor system not unlike this. They demolished the whole building, including the TV studios and the site has been left as a pile of rubble since.

[@StageSnakeProductions]

For me, Allaire Studios in N.Y. was the most beautiful studio ever built as far as aesthetics go.

[@rkiss4]

Fantastic!!!!

[@Kirk-Monteux]

Mind blowing

[@DaChillSpot-MacMechi]

Incredible

[@andrewrichardsuk]

All you need there to make it happen now... is a runway and commercial flights! Pack em, rack em and stack em!

[@RealHomeRecording]

I want to hook my M-Audio Fast Track up to that Focusrite console. ;-P

[@OzziePete1]

What do you think? I think it could be an intimidating place to record but it is top quality studio construction, no doubt. If you were in a band that was at the top of it's game and doing great business, then it would be a great place to base yourselves for a couple of months while you tracked songs. But I'd say that it might lack the current & latest outboard gear that top acts want being so far away in South Africa.

[@BMRStudio]

why is there? Why not example in Barcelona or Berlin or London or Dublin... Or even in Hungary Budapest... I feel sad. What a piece of studio! Records? Albums are made there? There is any marketing behind? I never know about this studio before. Artists need to explore. I will check the fly tickets to there just to visit this place :)

[@raytheonorion]

+BMR Studio I live in Johannesburg. There is a lot of hearsay about this studio. As far as I understand, the South African government commissioned for this to be built at the turn of the apartheid regime. The intention was for the national broadcaster to be situated here and for this to be a media hub that could rival other major cities of the world. Unfortunately, there was no foresight, nobody was really trained to maintain this studio, and thus these components have been neglected over the last 25 odd years. Also, as the years passed, the national broadcaster SABC set up shop in Johannesburg in Aukland Park. Way more central than Mafikeng. I know a few seasoned local engineers who claim that nothing here works [due to neglect] and my band requested to do some work there but were denied for unknown reasons. My impressions is that the SA government just wanted to prove that they were on par with the rest of the world but didn't do their homework and thus it all fell to shit. Money man... people spend it badly here.

[@BMRStudio]

What a big mistake.... :(((( and stupidity... Maybe we need to do some social fund base and move the studio into Europe or US. no?

[@raytheonorion]

BMR Studio I heard that some British guy bought the place for about $700K [a frieken steal]. There was some noise about it. But nothing came of it. He was not really an audiophile but more of a businessman I guess. The lead engineer that was there for years holding the thing together also left recently. So I'm not really sure any of it is salvageable. That guy was really dedicated to the place by the sounds of it. Eventually even he had to let go. I'm not sure if any of the gear works really? Someone with the right kind of understanding would need to come through to salvage the artifacts there, and I'm not so sure anyone would make the mission really. It all looks very pretty though. Perhaps thats why they cant bring themselves to dismantling the place. A move would also be mad costly.

[@raytheonorion]

BMR Studio If there is anyone out there in internet land reading this who has the money and influence to salvage these artefacts they should make the mission. A serious legacy was abandoned here. Much like the South African Legacy... a forgotten one.

[@BMRStudio]

What a loose..... IS safe to travel there and take a visit?

[@Mak-Cim]

Так он увлекательно рассказывает, студия класс!

[@junkandcrapamen]

How does this place possibly stay open?

[@ZipSnipe]

Wow somebody really poured a lot of money into that place probably knowing that it would fail as a business, its just too huge...but gorgeous!!!!

[@bennchristopher9134]

Hii sir I am Benn Christopher from Tanzania East Africa I like your Studio I will like to Kip in touch with you

[@tinkerer67]

I wonder how such an expensive facility can make a profit nowadays with production costs getting cheaper and cheaper. I think better recordings will be mixed and mastered inside computers not too far in the future.

[@davym5565]

wow !

[@BarryVanWyk007]

wow ek sal daar te mix

[@puciohenzap891]

What is the current status of the studio? Such a shame it was built in South Africa, if it was Europe, USA or even Asia it would've been one of the most popular studio's in the world. By the way, these Van Den Hul amps are probably one of the most 'mythical' amps around, wonder how many there are left. Judging by the insides, it kinda looks like textbook example application of Hitachi MOSFets with massive power supply.

[@trentrama2645]

bop also had a television station

[@lordjacksonmusic]

studio 2, the neve desk, was it a Legend VR?

[@nsxaj]

MONEY!!! where do they get it. no, really? Where? just the cost of the land and building alone ?????

[@raytheonorion]

+McAuthor Jaxsn the government. so taxes...and stuff.

[@DinoNucci]

Couldn't that whole facility be replaced with a tablet now ?

[@MrSordan]

No

[@BigTrouble324]

The quality of both rooms and recording equipment can never be substituted with Protools and crappy plugins. It doesn't get any better than this. The tragedy happens when it all gets converted to mp3 in the end.

[@tinkerer67]

Not yet. But it will be in the future.

[@DanieleGiannattasio]

Very small tracking room...i can build my control and tracking room in that small space ahahah!!!

[@michelevisser6811]

i would trade almost any of my body parts for the neve desk

[@gauravsharma-eh7sz]

hey hi iam gaurav sharma from india i have a home studio and right now iam working on saffire pro40 . but iam facing some issues and thinking of going for a full blown console . where should i start with and what would be closer or compatible with saffire pro 40 . let me know in comments

[@tinkerer67]

What are your problems? Are you using a clock if you're using many digital boxes?

[@MrTendentious]

Yes please! Can you gift wrap it?

[@Soundboy817]

Wow

[@Simplesimple123]

yes because for all of us laptop producers money is no object

[@tnt767]

The lack of tape on the tape machines says it all really. Mind blowing complex but just not feasible in the real world.

[@kdgdirk]

not feasible? it's there :)

[@coffeehigh420]

i want to run through the halls in my high school

[@DubsMood]

so, why was this build in the middle of nowhere?

[@idantion]

ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@rickblackers88]

My God!!!!

[@ruudgielen]

6:16 even his farts sounds marvelous

[@YEE941]

LMFAO

[@demodeiowa]

6:18 that fart through the SSL LMC tho

[@natesnautical]

The SABC Studios are just as magnificent, you just haven't seen it. That's where you should have gone.

[@balisaani]

I have - I've been there (twice) - and while they too are state of the art, these here take the cake, no contest.

[@MrSadler515]

Studio 2 live room needs more work on the acoustics, some diffusers to clean up its sound. Studio 3 live room is ok, studio 1 live room sounds sweet as fuck.

[@Notinserviceij]

MrSadler515 hahaha

[@DewaldV84]

Mafikeng - Mmabatho, agter die Mmabatho Sun Casino

[@DewaldV84]

VRP96 yes.

[@RayR]

Fantastic studio without doubt. However there is no way in any reality that this studio will ever be viable. With recording budgets shrinking and technology growing ever better enabling artist to record in smaller studios or at home the days of places like this will never return.. Someone with a mobile rig could pick and choose his space in his/her city and capture whatever is needed and then mix/overdub at home or send to someone online for additional work. The up word sky rocket that is technology doomed these studios years ago. It's time to sell most of the gear and consolidate to a smaller part of the building and sell/rent out the rest of the place as a vacation resort. That's the only way to move forward.

[@ghostman6693]

If you need a home for the ssl let me know .

[@ricksalt6860]

You see , if you enslave a large group of people and financially benefit from it , you can afford such ridiculous facilities . 2 Faziolis close to 1 million US . Wasn't the Focusrite over 1 million US ? It's amazing to see but Motown would have never happened in such a place . Thanks for showing

[@CA000000000]

I think he knew that and was being sarcastic LOL

[@ProDoucher]

Builds world class studio with largest Focusrite console ever. Records demos....

[@deividasgnedinas7592]

In 1985 there was a company we are the world- USA for Africa. And here we go- after 6 years in 1991, the world's most expensive 100 million studio opens in Africa :)

[@lucianoluggren]

Usa for Africa was actually due to a famine that was happening in Ethiopia, South Africa is a very different country within the same continent.

[@batmandeltaforce]

you can do better in your bedroom now:) If you build it, they won't necessarily come:)

[@georgerosebush9754]

Oh, they come in my bedroom alright.

[@KgosiMarite]

What’s up here now?

[@Bob.martens]

Money no object buys a LOT.

[@layzer80]

hilarious, you dont need big ass mixing desks and big rooms if you have modern DSP plugins and a laptop.

[@gkool4655]

You ignorance is surpassed only by your lack of knowledge

[@thedirtep9500]

isn't it ashamed that big recording studios have a hard time keeping up.. outside of hotspots

[@DewaldV84]

:-)

[@JahnBeukesMusic]

Typical bloody SABC. They'd break a broken broke thing...

[@raytheonorion]

+Jahn Beukes dude... so sad.

[@gregbester3855]

Don't blame the SABC. They took over in 1997 but only leased from the PIC, who were the real owners. Then they basically got kicked out by the PIC because they had a falling out. This facility was built by Lucas Mangope using pension funds, which were all lost. If you want to blame someone, blame him.

[@axeclanable]

The spoils of Apartheid. You can thank all the massacred black people of South Africa for this jewel. This was built from the arising need to regulate the media and the way that South Africa was perceived internationally.

[@brandonmacdonald7802]

To make guests shit themselves is my assumption.

[@zvotaisvfi8678]

I hate to say it. but one of the greatest mistakes to have built?

[@shawnmckay7073]

Sell it & help all the hungry people in Their country,,then go home!!! No one wants to record in Sun City!!!! Gtfo

[@benjaminruiz8900]

wow