Inside AIR Studios

[@JezNashMusic]

Absolutely awesome place. Back in about '94 / '95, I was a Hammond player in a band called Jekyllhead, and a few of us in the band were drivers for music gear rental companies. Our singer, Adrian Long, who drove for FX Rentals, just happened to be dropping something off there for a session, and was asked whether he knew of any rock bands with material ready to record. The reason for this was that some modifications had been made to some of the kit in Studio 1 (was it the tape machine?), and the Black Crowes were booked in, so they needed a local band to run the kit through its paces before the BC's session. Well, fortunately for us, Longy put us forward as the test band. Wow, what an absolutely spectacular day!! With Rupert Coulson (featured in the video) at the helm, we managed to record 14 songs!! The sound in S1 is nothing short of mind-blowing, and Rupert was just amazing. What he doesn't know about capturing rock simply isn't worth knowing. Wonderful to see he is still there, still as passionate about recording as he was back in the 90s. The studio itself just oozes musical passion, craftsmanship and quality - everything is geared towards the performance and the capture thereof. We never got to release the album back in the day, sadly, for a number of reasons - you know how it can be. However, we've just released it now on streaming services, and we are all once again, able to relive that incredible day at arguably the best recording studio on the planet. Thank you SOS for featuring this - brings back so many memories; and, once again, thank you AIR and Rupert for such a red letter day.

[@adrianheath4886]

add the link to your album please :)

[@hotglassbottles]

I never get tired of these kinds of documentaries. Thank you.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

My school class visited London and Air Studios back in autumn of 1997. Got a delightful tour of the big hall, studio one and most of the other interesting facilities. We even got a trip to SSL in Oxford and saw the new SSL 9000 series console being made. Those were the days! :D

[@soundserviceelectronics2083]

After 23 years of servicing and restoring vintage Neve consoles and modules by far the most inspiring and thrilling project has been conducting the return to full operation, and continuing restoration of the first one of the three custom Neve AIR consoles, A4792 that was originally installed on the island of Montserrat. It can be seen in the video for The Police 'Every Little Thing She Does (Is Magic). After recording many famous records at the AIR Montserrat facility, including the last two Police records and Dire Straits Brothers In Arms the console was sold to A+M Studios Hollywood where it recorded dozens more legendary albums. After A+M was sold and became Henson Recording, A4792 was placed in storage and then sold to Allaire Studio in upstate NY. It was installed there a relatively short time, then sold to a semi private studio in Toronto, Canada. So two out of the three custom AIR consoles are now in Canada, the third at Bryan Adams Warehouse Studio in Vancouver BC. It has been the honour of my life to work with and service the sister console to the one shown in this video, and fantastic to see a bit more about the one at AIR Lyndhurst. They truly are the greatest sounding Neve consoles made, a step above their normal console range, and that is saying a tremendous amount. Only these three consoles were ever made this way by Neve, with all utterly brand new and custom circuitry, modules, and very special audio transformers. Thank you so much for posting Sound On Sound magazine.

[@mdhazeldine]

I had the pleasure to spend a day at AIR recently, photographing their new refurbished foyer and café. Being a part time live sound engineer this was a dream commission. All the guys there were lovely and it was amazing to have a look at the Neve desk up close. It must be fantastic to mix on. Thanks for making this video and explaining a bit more about its history.

[@AlexanderGibbonsAudio]

My college did a visit there on my 18th birthday, one of the best days of my life so far.

[@PrantoKoX]

Gorgeous and historic studio, marvellous video and very lovely memories of George Martin and his ethos. 👍👍 Ah, and the irony of the Universal Audio ad before the video claiming to be "The most powerful recording system in the world"... shh, sit down, boys. 🤫😂😉

[@paulroberts1000]

Growing up as a massive fan of the Beatles and George Martin and wanting to work in a music recording studio (the unattainable dream would be with George Martin), I was privileged to become an assistant to the great Lou Hanks in sound post production as a trainee film dubbing mixer. I worked through the ranks and became a fully-fledged mixer aged 23 in 1978. Moving on to 1995 and work had commenced on the three studios I and my business partner Rob Butler-Biggs were building in London W1. I received a phone call on behalf on AIR studio... would I like to run their new sound post studio in the AIR studio complex... would I heck!!! but the answer had to be 'no' - funny old world isn't it.

[@sub-jec-tiv]

The history of the original AIR in Montserrat is unbelievable and beautiful… and tragic, too. (See the documentary ‘Under the Volcano.’) George Martin, what a wonderful force in music for decades. Nothing but love ❤️ So great to see all the fabulous people who work at AIR now! Thanks for this, i could watch 5 hours of this. 😂

[@AudioJanitor]

I knew it all, but then watched this video. ❤‍🔥❤‍🔥❤‍🔥

[@WarmVoice]

What a legendary place and crew. The best of the best, creating new pages in a wide and historied story across many genres.

[@tasteapiana]

That staff point out that George Martin's big example to them is to treat every person, regardless of their status or stature, as though they are just as important as literally anyone else, even the most acclaimed celebrity, is a mark that George did a damn good job of building not just a studio but a team - which is more important. George realized and internalized the fact that sometimes you HAVE to breach the norms, hook it all up crazy backward, and give it a try to find that little something that makes everything else around it jive in a magical way. That same logic applies to people. I think he'd be super proud of his team, his legacy, his extended family, watching this.

[@DynamicRockers]

Sorry mate but after the 40 something minutes of itw, I totally felt different about it. Those representatives are everything but norms breachers, their practice is so academic, it's miles away from Geroge Martin's attitude.They are as boring as hell to the point that "They sometimes record pop bands, well when they can"... Most of their incomes are from feature film sountracks paid by major studios. So it's far from Martin's original statement of being independent from EMI academic constrains and break the rules. I understand your point but I didn't felt the trailblazer's spirit of AIR studios originators here. Concerning the way they treat their clientele, when you can afford to pay the ticket for a session in this VVIP exclusive church for derealized music, I hope you get served well :) But don't get me wrong, it's a unique place with a superb acoustic full of talented people.

[@tasteapiana]

​@@DynamicRockers The year is now 2023, the days of the studio on Montserrat are over, there are maybe 5 acts in the UK and 6 or 7 in the USA who have labels backing them with multi-$million budgets per album, not 30 and 50 respectively. There are major releases today that were recorded with a portable MOTU and iPad in an artist's living room then sent for mix and master to some rando working in their bedroom. So, if your measuring stick for not being boring is recording in a (US) $25+ million facility prepare yourself for some really really really bad news. No, George Martin would not be happy about the music industry or market today, though he might celebrate the gumption of artists who can survive by taking insightful advantage of the DIY environment. That said, and especially when considering the changes to the industry and the environment, he would realize that they are doing an outstanding job just in keeping the boat afloat when they no longer have 50 musical artists lining up to record per year but likely somewhere between 5 and 10 - at best. At US based studios, the big name studios, it is very common to see 3 of 5 suites booked for radio/promotional voice over, 1 for audio for film and 1 for a mix session (of material recorded in a private residential basement). Look at Sunset Sound, their days of hosting Prince and Van Halen at the same time are OVER. It's empty at least 50% of the time, they've dropped so far that studio 2 is pretty much reserved for making nostalgia interviews of their own people for KZbin that might make them $200 a year in AdSense from Google. I have no idea how they can pay staff salaries other than a hunch that they were secretly buying producers' and artists' points over the years who fell upon bad times. I get that you are disgruntled by what has happened to the music industry since the hay day of yesteryear, so am I, so are millions of others, but reality is reality and AIR has to do what they have to do and I think they are doing a damn good job if they can just afford to keep the lights on and eat without having to rely upon being ''Blessed'' by the few remaining eccentrics like U2. Check yourself.

[@DynamicRockers]

@@tasteapianasure! I totally agree, there's no doubt about it. Those times are gone. From a creative standpoint I think recording indie music with way less budget in smaller facilities can be more exciting and fun. From the itw I felt like all the staff had a very heavy weight on their shoulders to keep the place running with a lot of compromise and keeping the legacy equipment alive can be more hassle than just simply doing music connected with our time and situation. And what I felt from them is really the burden of this legacy. Have a good weekend!

[@tasteapiana]

@@DynamicRockers Hey, thanks, you, too. I get ya. It's a hard thing to smile when all you feel like doing is crying. My hope is that the larger facilities continue to shift so that our means and methods today are more appreciated and catered to. It might be higher volume throughput and shorter non-lockout sessions but they could become more like music community resource centers and less like dinosaurs of exclusivity who die out from the impact of affordable and handheld tech.

[@mariotorres6287]

A fascinating documentary of a legendary recording studio!! Totally enjoyable, and what a gorgeous setting in which to record!! It must truly be an honor to have the privilege to work there.

[@oleromer9525]

It is so nice and pleasant that you don't have stupid and annoying background music/noise. Thanks

[@Jamersonnut]

, Didn't 't intend to watch, but once I started,I ended up watching the whole documentary Thanks for posting!

[@lmc48]

Me too!

[@keithbutler2222]

What an amazing space. Inspiring. I always remember on my 'for your pleasure' album by Roxy music that it was recorded at AIR...I had no idea it had moved

[@halcyondaystunes]

So look forward to these little documentaries. Loved this one.😊

[@meyerstreetrecords]

Oh my what a space and studio! Thanks for the insight!

[@final_mile_music9713]

What a fantastic film. So good to hear from the team at AIR.

[@getitrealguymn]

Delightful in every way.

[@tekis0]

AIR is a truly professional recording studio. Outstanding place!

[@dreammix9430]

This was absolutely awesome! Thank you so much for the interview and the video

[@harrysutton8998]

Wouldn’t have been an AIR documentary if Glenn didn’t get a mention 👏👏👏

[@AdamBrownMods]

You've spoiled us with this! Cheers SOS!

[@johnwelsh2769]

I got a tour of Air in 2005 with George Martin. It was a great day, then he drove us to Abbey Road.

[@MixedByDotRob]

What a great documentation! Thank you, Sound on Sound! Only Glen is missing in the intro!

[@ciatangallaghe2485]

Still the best music magazine on the planet

[@carlasker9285]

Fantastic video!

[@zvotaisvfi8678]

Wow such amazing respectful people !

[@joshuaotchere8460]

Exciting stuff

[@gdn101]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@TheShpmusic]

I love Air Music. 🤩😍🥰

[@GlennEvans]

Very interesting. Thanks!

[@TheWorldTeacher]

Thank you.

[@LeSonduGrec]

Thanks for this gem ❤

[@MichaelNatrin]

Fantastic video.

[@marcdanielnelson317]

I enjoyed this dearly. 🦆

[@AaronSof]

This is near where I live. I'd love to record there.

[@SuperMcgenius]

Yes the Nev consoles have a great big fat full sound.

[@LightsandMotion]

lovely!

[@BassistPaul]

Excellent. And to think one of the first jingle sessions I did in the early 80's (for Double Decker choccy bars!) was at the old AIR in Oxford Street... And George M. is sadly missed.

[@allankidston7813]

Top class doco. Great to hear Geoff Emerick mentioned. (Beatles fan, loved Geoff's book, made you feel you were in the studio itself).

[@DocECS69]

With that many staff members, must be an expensive place!

[@DynamicRockers]

Oh yeah those guys know their job. It's without counting the orchestra, the engineer talks about 150£ for a second at one point! that's insane.

[@rewind2play]

These videos are so intresting shame there is no music to accompany the content

[@thaexception3406]

Niice

[@musiqsoundsproductions]

Wouldn't it be great if AIR Studio's Montserrat was still alive?

[@1962RJP]

Seeing this 11 years later, sigh, we’ve lost so much craftsmanship, intelligence and love in our music making today.

[@whatspadethinks]

While the democratisation of music production sounded great on paper, in practice it's caused it's own set issues. The main one is what you're saying: anyone can get a laptop, interface, DAW, mic preamp (if that), a mic and headphones to mix on...which means, good & bad, ANYONE can get shelf space on the digital "record store"/streaming service. With amateurs and pros alike simultaneously throwing millions of tracks at the wall nothing sticks. And I'm someone who thinks the best talent is often undiscovered.

[@m.o.n.d.e.g.r.e.e.n]

we're truly in a golden age of music right now, it's just being made in a slightly less romantic way

[@johnbowman3630]

Is that what Rolling Stone told you?

[@distractionchannel4954]

👌❤️

[@vipinled4591]

💖💕✊

[@mudchair16]

Desecration.

[@Neil-pv8pw]

i used to live in the basement was responsible for setting it up, they asked me to do it because i knew them the beatles and had secretly written most of the beatles songs and john and paul wud pay me a fiver for each song. but although i had all the talent only worked for a fiver a project they used me for all their projects. it was sitting a bar and hearing all the hits id written but not taken credit for. i got the idea from mygreat great grandfather who ghost wrote for some bloke called shakespear,

[@russ254]

Your lucky you can tell people about it, thanks to my dad, John Internet.

[@Neil-pv8pw]

@@russ254 no thats what i said im gen zer and my gen made tapes and sold them at gigs and its hard for modern generations to understand there were no cams at our gigs so with no record companies hiring just re releasing back catologue you a generation of good that young kids cant understand, why you dont have videos and the reason it wasnt the culture. i ws asked whats do i know about music and i was pointing out my history and not like jason bonham or lennons sons i was a grass roots musian, we got paid to put bums on seats. the boomer gen got signed to records see zappa interview where he quotes old jewish guys saying just sign them up and put out. my gen ate drunk and slept jam band stuff, which was a great system simple form songs but with long soloing so it wasnt just the great song but musicianship people got to see, now todays musicians never look up or connect with the audience they are all a victim of some disease which connects them to an emotionally damaged demo graphic our demographic was intergenerational. in my 20s i played with guys in their 60s and mydad played reaper barn with 50 year old american black guys yes true diversity, my playe with champion jack dupree and after a season touring with jack my dad moved on to sessions and became a songriter and my dad hired jimmy page as his session guitarist. music was too political it was moon in june stuff and then mid 70s you had satanism with black sabbath who also made their first album with the same producer work for tom allom. todays musics are no longr putting putting bums on seats but are preachers of social justice and bcos social justice is based on lies they only attract their own demographic. thats why the festival circuit was invented so ed sheeran could look like he had 1000s of fans when in truth the audience was not there to see him, they were there to see the acts that could put bums on seats

[@doctornova3015]

Uh, for a documentary about a studio the intro music seems a bit loud compared to everything else. It's a bit assaulting.

[@TheDinnermoney]

Interesting, I wonder if the church organ still works...

[@harrysutton8998]

The church organ now has the air conditioning integrated into it!

[@snails9505]

I though the M50 was available again new?

[@fivechordmusic]

Are they hiring? Beautiful place! All you need is ears :)

[@janrehak5287]

ještě snad ukazujte že s vámi někdo něco potřebuje a že něco lze tomu se opravdu podivím kde jste - jestli nejste v blbákově a tovnou se připravte na to co přijde

[@sonnioffice6439]

MIC LOCKER

[@PaulPaul-vj2vx]

This is so beautiful, and what i am afraid of is, that in 10 years with new AI technology and intelligent sound libraries such studios wont have any jobs to record, because all will be done by 1-2 super creative guys on an imac in a living room … still art, but such places will shut down so soon, only a handpicked few will be able to survive… dont believe me? Look at the development from a Nokia 3310 to an iphone 14pro max … who could have guessed that development?

[@alexandereditsvideo]

"I find your lack of faith disturbing." - Darth Vader

[@PaulPaul-vj2vx]

@@alexandereditsvideo 😝😝 … lets see, i hope i will be wrong😁 but i really think that AI is going to replace so much… like master engineers, color grader, composer, musicians and therefore recording studios like these…

[@alexandereditsvideo]

@@PaulPaul-vj2vx Well I believe there will always be human studio engineers because even the best AI doesn't compare with the creative instincts and ability of a living, breathing, feeling human being. All the same I find AI has given us some very powerful and useful tools, but without a human operator music has no soul.

[@PaulPaul-vj2vx]

@@alexandereditsvideo yes, there always will be humans involved, but such studios make their living from recording for film, but in 10 years from now, I fear this will be done by AI and sound libraries.. Ai will work in the background while one or two guys decide where to go artistically... AI will compose, will mix, edit, master the material, and humans will only be overseeing the process and "liking or disliking" the AI suggestions... for example I am pretty sure, that in 10 years no one will use drum loops, but there will be a plugin with which you can say: I want a drummer like John Bonham, and then AI will go through all LED Zeppelin music, extract and analyze the drums and then create a new drum track with SD3 samples in the style of John Bonham... and no one can distinguish if its a real human "playing like Bonham" or AI... sad but I guess that's what we are heading to...

[@alexandereditsvideo]

@@PaulPaul-vj2vx Maybe you've got the right idea but music is an emotional medium and AI might be able to "fake it" but again we out here with good ears will know the difference and continue to support real human artists. Your Jon Bonham example is interesting because what you're suggesting is that AI in ten years will have advanced to the level of a thinking, feeling sentient human being, with all the memories, life experiences, and beautiful imperfections of a real man or woman. With all the love, anger, joy and rock 'n' roll energy of someone who has actually lived on the earth. I believe you are overestimating the power (and future power) of computers, and underestimating the abilities of human wetware - our brains, guts, and hearts, our entire nervous system is a supercomputer that silicon chips cannot compete with.

[@wyrlismike]

did that guy say their neve console wasnt class A ???? ugh

[@jgerman5544]

Hmmm. What example does she give for the gear that takes down a session that is costing 1000's of pounds per hour???? Pro Tools! "It breaks for no apparent reason". For those of us who have a relationship with it, this is dark comedy.

[@janrehak5287]

No tak se rozločíme s tím blbnutím - jste sony studio nejste - tak se rozloučíme a ukončíme to

[@twoeggcups]

Ironically the audio on this film is awful. WTF happened?

[@mirkomarkovic3438]

Dolby atmos 😂😂😂😂

[@effystrip2480]

I couldn't finish this, the amount of "um" they all said literally ten times per sentence was too frustrating. So unprofessional. Amazing studio though.

[@danv8717]

I couldn't agree more! At times this was painful to watch. So many people these days appear to be incapable of communicating in an articulate manner.

[@jtsotherone]

@@danv8717 perhaps because they are professionals at the top of their game as opposed to media-trained people without any distinguishing talents? I know who I'd prefer to see. The video is excellent.

[@danv8717]

@@jtsotherone I strongly disagree. Being ineffective at communicating, especially in an environment where communication is essential is anything but professional. Also an individual who presents themselves with blue hair, and wears clothing that would be deemed inappropriate in most places doesn't scream I'm at the top of my game. Perhaps they could take a page out of Sir George Martin's book since they respected him so much. He was the definition of professionalism.

[@jtsotherone]

@@danv8717 the irony is that all the people in the video are literally at the top of their game. Check the blue-haired Ms. Cruickshank's IMDB for proof, and Geoff Foster's resumé speaks for itself. At least 3 of the people in the video worked for AIR at the time Sir George Martin was there, so it can be assumed he was perfectly happy with their performance. It's comments such as yours that put 'real' industry professionals (not publicity-crazed ones) off doing interviews like these where we actually get to see inside a top-notch facility.

[@effystrip2480]

@@jtsotherone These people were selected by Air Studios to represent them on a video to be uploaded for the world to see and they have language skills that any self-respecting public school teacher would roll their eyes at. Air Studios is touted as a top shelf studio but having people represent it that can't even articulate the spoken word above the level of a 12 year old is bizarre to say the least. Beyond this complaint the studio itself is fantastic so hats off to those that designed it.

[@philipppaulk]

Pw: amsadmin 😂

[@soulchorea]

💀 someone's gonna hack that thing during a session and start moving their faders all over the place 🤣

[@philipppaulk]

Fun fact: happened to me during a session on a 88RS in 2009 or so. VNC wasnt new to me, but while I was listening to something, the mouse on the Win XP screen suddenly began to move and i was super irritated. AMS logged on for some maintenance and voltage checks. Thankfully Mark left a .txt note on the desktop and said everything is fine.

[@soulchorea]

@@philipppaulk oh man 😅

[@ErinIsBlueBlue]

More of this please ! Fantastic !