Editing Abbey Road Studios (section)

==History==
===1920s–1940s===
Originally a nine-bedroom [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] [[townhouse]] built in 1831 on the footpath leading to [[Kilburn Priory|Kilburn Abbey]], the building was later converted to flats where the best-known resident was [[Maundy Gregory]], who was famous (or infamous) for selling political honours.

In 1929, the [[Gramophone Company]] acquired the premises. The property benefited from a large garden behind the townhouse, which permitted a much larger building to be constructed to the rear; thus, the Georgian façade belies the true dimension of the building. The architectural partnership [[Wallis, Gilbert and Partners]] was hired to convert the property into a [[recording studio]], an unusual request at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=Kevin |title=[[Recording the Beatles]] |last2=Kehew |first2=Brian |author-link2=Brian Kehew |publisher=Curvebender |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-9785200-0-7 |location=Houston, Tex |pages=15–16}}</ref> Three purpose-built studios were constructed and the existing house was adapted for use as administration offices. [[Pathé]] filmed the opening of the studios in November 1931 when [[Edward Elgar]] conducted the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] in recording sessions of his music.<ref name="saga">[http://www.malonedigital.com/starwars.pdf "Recording the Star Wars Saga"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110409081816/http://www.malonedigital.com/starwars.pdf |date=9 April 2011 }} Retrieved 4 August 2012.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpDP9VTamZY |url-status=dead |year=1931 |title=Sir Edward Elgar, Master of the King's Music. "Land of hope & glory" |via=YouTube |access-date=27 November 2016 |archive-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808210419/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpDP9VTamZY }}</ref> In 1934, the inventor of [[stereophonic sound|stereo sound]], [[Alan Blumlein]], recorded [[Mozart]]'s ''[[Jupiter Symphony]]'' which was conducted by [[Thomas Beecham]] at the studios.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Early stereo recordings restored|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7537782.stm|first=Martin |last=Shankleman |publisher=BBC |date=1 August 2008 |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref>

The neighbouring house is also owned by the studio and used to accommodate musicians. During the mid-20th century, the studio was extensively used by British conductor Sir [[Malcolm Sargent]], whose house was located near the studio building.<ref>Discography in ''Sir Malcolm Sargent: a Tribute''.</ref>

The Gramophone Company merged with [[Columbia Graphophone Company]] to form [[EMI|Electric and Musical Industries]] (EMI) in 1931, and the studios later became known as EMI Recording Studios.<ref name="Hewitt">{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/may/25/tvandradio.television |title=One for the road |last=Hewitt |first=Paolo |date=24 May 2000 |website=The Guardian |access-date=25 April 2018 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308122636/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/may/25/tvandradio.television |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1936 cellist [[Pablo Casals]] became the first to record [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s [[Cello Suites]] No. 1 & 2 at the command of EMI head [[Fred Gaisberg]]. The recordings went on to spur a revolution among Bach aficionados and cellists alike.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Siblin, Eric |title=The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Crows Nest, New South Wales |page=unstated |isbn=978-1-74237-159-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Euf2Loch7YcC |via=Google Books |date=4 January 2011 |access-date=17 October 2016 |archive-date=24 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724205749/https://books.google.com/books?id=Euf2Loch7YcC |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Fats Waller|"Fats" Waller]] played the Compton organ there.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

[[Glenn Miller]] recorded at the Abbey Road studios during [[World War II]], when he was based in the United Kingdom.<ref>[http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/history-of-abbey-road/1940s/ Visit Abbey Road. "1940s"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119152517/http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/history-of-abbey-road/1940s/ |date=19 November 2008 }}, ''Abbeyroad.com'' (16 September 1944). Retrieved 29 July 2011.</ref>

In 1931 an [[echo chamber]] was built in the studios, in the early days of artificial reverberation.<ref>Curtis Roads (2015) | Composing Electronic Music - A New Aesthetic| Oxford University Press</ref>

===1950s–1970s===
[[File:Abbeyroadtomswain.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Studio Two, Abbey Road Studios|Pianos used by many recording artists over the years in Studio Two of Abbey Road Studios]]

In 1958, Studio Two at EMI became a centre for rock and roll music when [[Cliff Richard]] and the Drifters (later Cliff Richard and [[the Shadows]]) recorded "[[Move It]]" there,<ref>{{Cite news |title=EMI puts Abbey Road up for sale: Ten things you need to know about the iconic recording studio |date=16 February 2010 |newspaper=[[Daily Mirror|The Mirror]] |location=London |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/emi-puts-abbey-road-up-201857 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728061714/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/emi-puts-abbey-road-up-201857 |archive-date=28 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> and later pop music material.

EMI is closely associated with the Beatles, who recorded almost all of their albums and hits there between 1962 and 1970 using the four-track REDD mixing console designed by Peter K. Burkowitz.<ref>[http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/jaes.obit/JAES_V60_7_8_PG639.pdf Peter Karl Burkowitz 1920–2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213091609/http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/jaes.obit/JAES_V60_7_8_PG639.pdf |date=13 December 2014 }} Obituary by the AES</ref> The Beatles named their 1969 album ''[[Abbey Road]]''.<ref name=SoS>{{Cite web|title=Abbey Road Studios, London|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/abbey-road-studios-london|first=Hannes|last=Bieger|website=[[Sound on Sound]]|date=November 2012|access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Lancy |first1=Justin |title=The Technical Constraints That Made Abbey Road So Good |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/the-technical-constraints-that-made-abbey-road-so-good/381820/ |website=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=14 February 2019 |date=23 October 2014 |archive-date=23 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141023231140/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/the-technical-constraints-that-made-abbey-road-so-good/381820/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |doi=10.1057/9781137463388_7 |chapter=Abbey Road Studios, the Tourist, and Beatles Heritage |title=Relocating Popular Music |pages=129–147 |year=2015 |last1=Atkinson |first1=Peter |isbn=978-1-349-69057-2}}</ref> [[Iain Macmillan]] took the album's cover photograph outside the studios, with the result that the nearby [[zebra crossing]] has become a place of pilgrimage for Beatles [[aficionado|fans]]. It has been a tradition for visitors to pay homage to the band by writing on the wall in front of the building even though it is painted over every three months.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Lawrence |last=Pollard |date=7 August 2009 |title=Revisiting Abbey Road 40 Years On |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8188475.stm |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=2 November 2010 |archive-date=18 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218075439/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8188475.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2010, the zebra crossing at Abbey Road was given a Grade II [[Listed building|listed status]].<ref>{{Cite news |first=Matthew |last=Taylor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/02/ringo-starr-childhood-home |title=Housing minister tries to save Ringo Starr's childhood home |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 January 2011 |access-date=19 August 2011 |location=London |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308151036/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/02/ringo-starr-childhood-home |url-status=live }}</ref>

After becoming the studio's general manager in 1974, [[Ken Townsend]] began a rebranding effort to capitalise on the studio's connection with the Beatles. To emphasise the studio's independence, Townsend commissioned the artist Alan Brown to design a unique logo, and in 1976 the facility officially changed names from ''EMI Studios'' to ''Abbey Road Studios''.{{sfn|Womack|2019|pp=237–238}}<ref name="Womack">{{Cite web |last1=Womack |first1=Kenneth |title=The Legacy of Abbey Road: Rebranding EMI Studios for the Ages with Ken Townsend |url=https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/the-legacy-of-abbey-road-rebranding-emi-studios-for-the-ages-with-ken-townsend/ |website=[[Cornell University Press]] |access-date=30 May 2022 |date=25 September 2019 |ref=none |archive-date=15 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215081930/https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/the-legacy-of-abbey-road-rebranding-emi-studios-for-the-ages-with-ken-townsend/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|A 2012 article in ''[[Sound on Sound]]'' magazine instead dates the name change to 1970.<ref name=SoS />}} Having previously been mostly restricted to UK-based EMI acts, the studio's name-change served the added purpose of encouraging non-EMI acts to record at the studio.{{sfn|Womack|2019|pp=237–238}}<ref name="Womack" />

Notable producers and [[sound engineer]]s who have worked at Abbey Road include [[Fred Gaisberg]] (who had first recorded [[Enrico Caruso]] in Milan in 1902, and had set up the first recording studio in London at [[Maiden Lane, Covent Garden|Maiden Lane]] in 1898), [[Walter Legge]], [[George Martin]], [[Tutti Camarata]], [[Geoff Emerick]], [[Norman Smith (record producer)|Norman "Hurricane" Smith]], [[Ken Scott]], [[Mike Stone (record producer)|Mike Stone]], [[Alan Parsons]], [[Peter Vince]], Malcolm Addey, Peter Bown, Richard Langham, Phil McDonald, John Kurlander, Richard Lush and [[Ken Townsend]], who invented the studio effect known as [[automatic double tracking]] (ADT). The chief mastering engineer at Abbey Road was Chris "Vinyl" Blair, who started his career as a [[tape recorder|tape deck]] operator.

From 1966 to 1971, the [[Walt Disney Music Company]] recorded vocals, instrumentals and narration and dialogue for over a dozen albums at Abbey Road for U.S. and international release, including ''The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Doctor Dolittle, Heidi'' and ''The Wizard of Oz''. Most of the sessions included [[The Mike Sammes Singers]], who backed up The Beatles on "I Am the Walrus" and "Good Night."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hollis |first=Tim |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61309354 |title=Mouse tracks : the story of Walt Disney Records |date=2006 |others=Greg Ehrbar |isbn=1-57806-848-7 |edition=First |location=Jackson |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |oclc=61309354}}</ref>

In 1979, EMI commissioned the British jazz fusion band [[Morrissey-Mullen]] to record Britain's first [[digital recording|digitally recorded]] single record at Abbey Road Studios.<ref>''Gramophone'' AUDIO NEWS: "EMI digital recording" July 1979. Retrieved 19 August 2010. {{Cite web |url=http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/July%201979/125/750999/AUDIO+NEWS |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801052833/http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/July%201979/125/750999/AUDIO+NEWS |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 August 2012 |title=EMI digital recording |access-date=25 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Mullen+Morrissey&pg=PT110|title=EMI Enters Digital Race with System|first=Nick|last=Robertshaw|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=26 May 1979|pages=3, 71|language=en}}</ref>

===1980s–2010s===
{{Multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=220
|image1=Abbey Road Sign Sander Lamme.jpg
|image2=Abbey Road Studios Wall.jpg|alt=A grey topped white wall completely covered in handwritten messages
|image3=Abbey Road sign - "Help us keep this wall clean. Get back to writing on our wall.".png
|image4=Abbey Road sign - "please don't write here there and everywhere. Keep it to our wall.".png
|footer=Abbey Road has become a London tourist attraction, with the studio erecting Beatles lyric-themed signs encouraging fans to keep graffiti to the studio's property.
}}

Abbey Road Studios got its start in the [[film score|film scoring]] business in 1980 when Anvil Post Production formed a partnership with the studio, called Anvil-Abbey Road Screen Sound; with ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark (soundtrack)|Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' being the first major film soundtrack recorded in Studio 1. The partnership started when Anvil was left without a scoring stage when [[Denham Film Studios|Denham Studios]] were demolished. It ended in 1984 when EMI merged with [[Thorn Electrical Industries]] to become [[Thorn EMI]]. Abbey Road's success in the scoring business continued after the partnership ended.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}

From 18 July to 11 September 1983, the public had a rare opportunity to see inside the Studio Two room, where the Beatles made most of their records. While a new mixing console was being installed in the control room, the studio was used to host a video presentation called ''[[The Beatles at Abbey Road]]''. The soundtrack to the video had a number of recordings that were not made commercially available until the release of ''[[The Beatles Anthology]]'' project over a decade later.<ref>''[[The Beatles Book]]'' July & August 1983.</ref>

In September 2012, with the takeover of EMI, the studio became the property of [[Universal Music Group|Universal Music]]. It was not one of the entities that were sold to Warner Music as part of [[Parlophone]] and instead the control of Abbey Road Studios Ltd was transferred to [[Virgin Records]].