The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 827: More stories about famous recording studios
This may sound weird, but I love the smell of a proper professional recording studio. The air is kept clean and dust-free to protect the equipment. The A/C is usually cranked up to offset the heat generated by the electronics. There’s a slight whiff of ozone created by all the electrical circuits. And it’s usually very, very quiet, thanks to loads of isolation and baffling and soundproofing.
To me, a recording studio is the musical equivalent of an operating theatre, a place that’s dedicated to one thing and one thing only. And what goes on within its walls is deadly serious.
Okay, so maybe I’m not saying that recording a song is the same as a heart transplant, but both places have the same sort of vibe.
There used to be dozens and dozens (hundreds?) of high-end recording studios around the planet. People would travel thousands of kilometres to work at them because they were thought to be magical in some way.
But that was when you needed a fully-equipped recording studio to make a record. Today you can do a pretty good job with a laptop in your bedroom.
This means many of the legendary studios are gone, victims of the changing economics of the music industry. Fortunately, though, a new of these behemoths still exist.
This is another look at some of the world’s legendary recording studios, both past and present.
Songs heard on this show:
David Bowie, Life on Mars
Sex Pistols, Holidays in the Sun
The Verve, Bittersweet Symphony
Mumford & Sons, Believe
The Clash, The Magnificient Seven
Black Keys, TIghten Up
Tragically Hip, Poets
Bob Marley, No Woman No Cry (Live)
If you want to listen to a playlist of the above, Eric Wilhite has created one.
Don’t forget that you can get the podcast version of this podcast through iTunes or wherever you get your on-demand audio.
The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:
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- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7
- Live 88-5/Ottawa
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener
- FM96/London – Sunday night at 7, Monday night at 11
- Power 97/Winnipeg (Sunday nights at 11)
- Rock 97.7/Grand Prairie – Sunday nights at 6.
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton
- The Zone/Victoria
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- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown The show runs at 11 am Sunday. This, by the way, is a great option for American listeners who are prevented from listening to the show live because of geo-blocking,
We’re still looking for more affiliates in Calgary, Kamloops, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, Windsor, Montreal, Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and St John’s and anywhere else with a transmitter. If you’re in any of those markets and you want the show, lemme know and I’ll see what I can do.
