SUPER Cool Timesuck! A Virtual Tour of Abbey Road Studios

A couple of years ago, a friend who worked high up at EMI, owners of Abbey Road Studios, arranged for a buddy and me to have a private tour of the facility. We started in Studio 3 where Florence + the Machine was still working on the Ceremonials album (I touched some of her stuff when I wasn’t supposed to) before moving to Studio 2 (the space where the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Oasis and countless others make classic albums; I touched more stuff including a piano that said “Lady Madonna Piano: DO NOT TOUCH) and then into Studio 1 where a 65-piece orchestra was finishing up the soundtrack for the upcoming Harry Potter movie (I touched the score in the control room.)

It was fantastic.  All that history. All that vintage gear.  All those ghosts.

Unfortunately, such an opportunity has been unavailable the general public. It is, after all, a working studio and it’s tough to work with tourists constantly traipsing through the place.  They’d probably just touch stuff that they weren’t supposed to.

Now, though, Abbey Road is offering a virtual tour through the entire space thanks to a partnership with Google.  Click on the graphic to get started. You will be amazed.