Inside The Abbey Road Reverb Chamber
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Located deep in the heart of Abbey Road Studios, the original Studio Two echo chamber has lent its rich ambience to everyone from Cliff Richard to the Beatles. Resurrected in the 1990s, it’s a part of recording history and a unique resource for today’s artists and producers. In our exclusive video, Mirek Stiles explains how EMI’s studio boffins developed their secret weapon, and puts it through its paces on drums, guitars, vocals and more.
Chapters
00:00 - What Is An Echo Chamber?
01:30 - Abbey Road Reverb Development & Use
04:31 - Listening To The Studio 2 Echo Chamber
06:03 - Abbey Road Echo Chambers
08:24 - Snare Sound
09:10 - Has The Space And Usage Changed?
11:06 - What Are The Pipes For?
12:08 - Synths With The Echo Chamber
13:10 - Microphone & Speaker Setup
14:43 - Guitar Sound
16:31 - Waves Abbey Road Reverb Plug-in
17:15 - Full Mix With Reverb
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More of this kind of thing SOS, please? Thank you very much.
It's great that you're mentioning the names of the people who made this stuff happen.
That was cool to hear him just talking in the room and hearing the natural echo/reverb effect in the microphone.
I visited in the 70's . I worked for neves and we built studio 3 desk . Met all the staff , the lathe room was amazing . The lathe operator was unique and in demand . He wore a cloak , a large hat and resembled Dr Who . I wonder if any footage exists Inc him . The two maintenance guys , Tom and Jerry I think we're ex BBC . Like two Profs . Lovely guys .
The original 'L' shaped reverb room of studio 2 (used as an air raid shelter during ww2) was dismantled somewhere around 1990.
It was situated behind the north wall of the studio, next to the garage where the old location recording van used to be parked.
It use to have a much longer reverb time when listening closely to Cliff/Shads records, recorded by Malcolm Addey (today still a engineer/masterer in New York) between July 1958 until 1968.
Abbey Road Studios is the very lucky beneficiary of a dream staff employed by the deep pockets of a major label and a nationalized broadcast base. The timing was everything, as Abbey Road’s EMI affiliation guaranteed it steady traffic of the music industry’s very best, who could avail themselves of innovative design to make their artistic dreams come true before anyone had heard such sounds. Kind of a self-sustaining loop, started at the perfect time and in the ideal place.
Even as American studios leapt ahead in terms of track counts, and the trend to client engineers, Abbey Road had a sound and had it first in the English-American pop battle of rock and roll. Their lead was brief but meaningful and, for one customer, The Beatles, it was everything. With their solid financial footing, Abbey Road was able to supply musical visionaries with anything their hearts desired, including an unlimited collection of instruments and a book of top players. I’m just old enough to have experienced in my own work the American boom of the 1970s and I can tell you, even then, we envied the magic coming out of Abbey Road.
Was fortunate enough to visit Abbey Road last year and listen to the echo chamber first hand. Sent hairs on the back of my neck up hearing the familiar reverb from so many of my favourite records. The room itself actually had a massive bump around 150/200hZ to my ears. Amazing video
The mid range 'bump' is actually from 150 to about 350 hz - but this was usually eq'd out quite a lot on the sends or returns.
It's a lovely thick, warm reverb quite unlike most digital emulations, which tend to be hard sounding and overly bright.
I've learnt a lot about real chambers by copying it's sound on my Lexicon PCM 91 in cascade mode.
The history, people and inventions of Abbey Road are part of our shared World heritage of sound. The Waves plug-in is amazing too. I've used it on lots of productions, and it always gives specific tracks a distinctive sonic placement 👍
Definitely. Recording history is super interesting, and Abbey Road might be THE most important recording studio facility ever, historically. I would love to tour it. It'd be a religious experience.
I've been trawling YT looking for something informative and it's SOS to the rescue again.
Great video as usual, many thanks. 🤘🤘
Genius. Works great for me on my Yamaha RX15 drums, but essentially, it has only one preset: "Bad sounding room". Very interesting video, though.
@@SarcasticTruth77 The first improvement that came to my mind was a moveable backdrop or wall to influence the "room size" and reverb time. Second improvement: Moveable Curtains for high-frequency control. The idea of using an actual room for a room is great. It's just I don't like the room. It is almost as bad as my kitchen cluttered with pyramid wall decorations just to get rid of the... let's call it "ambiance".
I like to use figure 8 patterns with the null sides towards the source speakers in my room sometimes, it’s a great way to hear the echo off the walls. I didn’t hear you mention this miking technique but I’m sure you’ve tried it also. Great video!
Wonderful to have an experienced professional talk and demonstrate in this clear and casual manner. Great get!
I'm blown away how that small room made the snare sound so massive 9:00
Great video... lovely to hear some actual examples 👍
Sounds fantastic. Great song and mix!
Great video and educational content! Loved the history. That console was remarkable too.
Fantastic insightful video, really well made and presented
Thanks for documenting one of the chambers left. It inspired me to use chambers in my mixes more :)
So now I know where those old Cliff Richard records got their great vocal reverb from :)
great video. wow to that Neve desk too!
Fascinating, I learned a ton! This guy has really done his homework on the fascinating history of this place. Nails it with his comment at 8:15 about using real acoustics.
If anyone is wondering, the "S.T.E.E.D" idea stands for "Send, Tape, Echo, Echo, Delay." I've been inside it, and the Abbey Road chamber is kind of a mildewy-smelling mini dungeon, but it's one of the coolest rooms I've ever experienced!
If walls have memory (stone tape theory) and can absorb energy imagine the sounds held within those walls and ceiling 😳
you guys are nailing these vids. it seems you are really trying to find unique presentations. thanks
Excellent Video.
Interesting stuff !! I’ve often wondered about how reverb techniques were achieved in the past .
Just the history of what Abbey Road Studio and genius it has for a pedigree most awesome and amazing. With that said thank for all the hard work on this great video. History will always remember Abbey Road Studio for there shall not ever be another which could match it's awesome glory.
I have been working on my Lexicon PCM 91 in Cascade mode for the past year trying to get as close as possible to the sound of this chamber, as it was in the mid to late '60's.
I've used recordings from Syd Barratt's vocal out takes from his solo albums and footage from George Martin's film of the Hollies doing the vocals from On A Carousel.
Digital reverb never sounds as rich or dense as the real thing, but I've got pretty damn close!
Brilliant, mates!
Super interresting!
It sounds amazing on the high registers of the synth!
It seems to introduce a hum though
Excellent
That was fasinating~!
Good insight
Thanks! 👍
I had a tour of the facilities back in the 70s. Had tea with Kim Wilde! I remember a few anecdotes of the engineers sometimes running the chamber on the roof at night but forgetting to shut the door!
I have the plugin version of this, but seeing this video actually helped me understand it
8:30 gate it a bit and then brickwall compress it. Boom. Instant 80s
Cheers
Interesting, thank you! Inspiring too, I will surely give this concept a go in some real rooms, halls, cathedrals and... aquariums. I can't wait to dial in some submerged reverberations.
Very interesting indeed. Supposedly, time was when certain producers and engineers could identify a studio by listening to a recording and especially the (unique) reverb.
Thnks
Great info and presentation on the old live chambers. Funny how the demo music is so sterile, synthetic and robotic, contrasting to the totally organic short reverb.
I can attest to reamping really taking your sound to the next level. I underestimated that for so long and just used amp simulators to do this; but even if its indeed just in the same room you're in; running the mic again on your speakers.. it can make all the difference. Digital recording nowadays is almost too perfect... you need those imperfections for it to sound alive.
Is that vocal sample from a real song? Love it!
It's great that these iconic rooms are still in working condition, both the studio and the echo chambers. BUT... when Mirek actually talks about how creative the engineers back then were; my thinking is: how much of this can be found with YOU guys today? As in completely putting things upside down, building rooms and equipment from ground up, busting existing rules and whatnot. As opposed to conserving things and never change anything because these tools created the Beatles' music and such. I sense a loss of this "explorer attitude", while the "museum conservationists" kinda took over.
I do not mean this in any disrespectful way, it just crossed my mind when he was talking about his colleagues from another decade.
exactly what ive been thinking recently of how the 'explorer attitude' has died in todays audio engineers, who just stick to what exists and don't try building/experimenting with new stuff. A possible reason could be because majority of todays audio engineers don't have degrees in other disciplines of engineering like electronics/mechanical which teach the core technicalities of how all these things were/are built. Its almost like to 'think out of the box', you firstly need to know whats inside the box, thats where the information is lacking in todays sound engineers, most just want to learn mixing/mastering from youtube and earn quick buck. Back then audio engineering used to be a specialisation that was done after a broader base engineering, unlike now where you have diploma and 3 year degree programs that just teach you the cream and what is important to mix a record and make money.them not knowing the fundamentals is why the creativity hasn't developed. Also a general lack of interest in going into the depths and history of the existing 'museum conservations' dies out the idea of creativity.
Aaah it looks like the pool rooms in there!
The soundproofing false wall , I imagine before that users of the chamber would always be afraid to crank up the speaker volume to reduce adjacent studio's bleedthrough, in case they retaliate by playing louder
I own a Keeley Abbey Chamber Reverb pedal and I would love to find out the settings to get the sound of the original room. What position would the Decay knob have? How much Blend (wet/dry)?
Great look into one of the most beloved studios of the world.
BUT: What the flying frik have they done to that vocal? 5:00 It sounds like it was created by a machine. What the hell. It did get better with the chamber though. It really did. But, what the frik.
Re: vocals-
It genuinely sounds like a test-to-speech synthesizer running through Melodyne or something.
Who was that last number? That shit was catchy!!
what the name of the artists of the demo song ?
Was in the chamber room talking to one of the engineers a couple of years ago. I asked him about the Waves plugin. He said he prefers to use the VST because it's always available and easier to set up! Go figure
Necessity is the mother of invention. Remove the need and the VST is possibly more appealing.
that drum on 5:30 tho, feels like it is punching my face
I'm surprised he didn't mention the contribution the Haas effect is having. That to me seems to be 90% of the huge sound the chamber adds. But it is of course in combination with reverb. You wouldn't get this effect with Haas alone.
Whats that song at the end?
What console are we seeing here?
If you're sending the dry signal through a speaker, and then recording the reverb, you'll still also be recording the dry signal again (along with the reverb). Obviously there's no way to eliminate the dry signal completely, and just record the reverb. But I was wondering if you encounter any phasing problems when doing this? Especially when pre-delaying the send.
They showed the setup , which has the speaker facing a corner and angled upwards. So, other than the lows, the mics would be directly exposed to the direct sound. And they may be EQ'ing out the lows before sending them in anyway, since they might get quite muddy. I would think think that pre-delaying, if anything, would reduce the issue even more.
@@deanroddey2881 Yeah true, you're right. And it's probably negligible anyway. I overthink things sometimes (I think - maybe - or do I?).
It's a very bathroomy sound, which I don't like on vocal, but it really does something great to the synths and good on guitar too.
6:00 Studio 2 proper. 10:40 Geoff Emerick revived disused chamber for Beatles Anthology.
Hey, its just a rectangular room with some columns in it!
✨✨👏👏
Does anyone know the name of the song?
Back when audio engineers were actually engineers - that is electronics geeks.
5:24 I mean, look. If your going to push a single button while being filmed - this is a master class. I honestly don't believe there is any other way of doing it.
One of the best skills behind the desk is to look like you're really doing something
What are those big pillars? Anyone know? Are they pipes with 15"/18" drivers in or just something to "shape" the echo?
Yeah he calls them pipes at 11:06. They are just cylinder things, they diffuse the sound so it bounces round the room more evenly. No speaker inside or anything, just a surface for sound to reflect off.
@@callumhall967 Thanks.
All you need to do is put a bunch of people that already share your views in a room and then discuss your opinions. The louder you agree with each other, the richer the reverb tail sounds.
Surprised it’s so small. You can always shorten time with mic placement but you can’t lengthen it, right?
this reverb remind me to rush song
Honestly, when he was cutting the vocal reverb on/off at the end, I thought it sounded better off.
Wasn't that impressed until the guitars. Which makes absolute sense in that the chambers were created in a time of very dominant mid frequency based music. A bit of honk also helped the room bloom.
Who is the recording artist?
Often when she said it didn't matter its the way it grows made me wondered why she didn't bother
For a small moment I thought its was Bono who presents this video...
Calling it now, Universal Audio's new reverb plugin will be the abbey road chamber.
I sure as hell hope so!
Isn’t there one from waves?
@@rgrgraterol Yes, Waves has done one already.
@@rgrgraterol Yeah but waves is dog shit my friend.
@@producermathew Compared to UAD, definitely. But sometimes you got low pockets and gotta grab the budget (waves) version of stuff.
The snare through the chamber sounds like a toilet seat being slammed shut. :D
Why do I love this reverb chamber on the Beatles records so much, but not on this demonstration ?
"Bog Echo"
You know, there are actual people out there who believe the singers were actually recording IN THE ECHO CHAMBER!! 😀
it is amazing how they can market and sell a shit room with tiles falling off the walls, the reason it is famous is because of the recordings that were made there (it isn't even the same size anymore), there weren't many options back then so they used what you had, you are buying overpriced nostalgia, if you buy this plugin you will not sound like the Beatles. The reverb sounds perfectly fine, but seriously you can get this sound with any decent reverb plugin, it is not magic, it is marketing. I apologize for the rant but I am more than a little annoyed with these plugin companies. They are spending more time and money on marketing rather than innovation, Waves has lost focus and is falling behind
Waves golden years are long gone. Their last great products were the Rennaissance plugins and that was nearly 20 years ago.
Then you get Joe Meek who LITERALLY recorded in a bathroom.
Ha ha.. Love this " so where should we store these useless bass pedals off the B3?". "Oh, just toss them in the echo room."
That is NOT a Hammond B3 pedalboard of 25 notes. It is an 'AGO' full 32 note. You can stop the vid and count the toe levers. They are not Hammond levers BTW. Probably belongs to some other electronic brand.
@@garysmith8455 I love that you commented on this. I made an assumption and now stand corrected. I have a Hammond rig. I really don't play the pedals so, when moving it around my room (it's on wheels) the beautiful pedals would get propped up in the corner, then a real organ player would come in and ask if we could use the pedals (happened more than once) so I have since fixed the pedal board to the Hammond (it's not a B3 but a 1939 "D" model) and the pedals are also on their own wheels now. It's a much better set up with the pedals and moves around room easily. But I do watch a lot of recording vids and have noticed many times "the pedals" propped against the walls. The Hammond pedals are pretty massive, good of you to notice the 'even more' massive 32 note rig. Cheers. Todd
01:54 .there is a indian guy in the frame . far right
Yeesh... to be honest, it *DOES* sound quite "bathroom-y", with a very short early reflection and almost no reverb tail to speak of. I'm not sure I could even call it a "pretty" or "pleasing" sound...
Super interesting, but that was a really bad choice for a vocal track to demo that type of verb.
interesting, sounds like crap to my ears until he drops the vocal into the mix.
Is he deaf? That hum is annoying, soo loud!! :)
..or maybe that is a part of the magic sound... 😏
@@mcadder nah haha
Hum, you mean tone of the reverb? Either way, you ask a question like a douche. Grow up.
Wow, it doesn't sound like the 60's echo chamber AT ALL!!! It's too short, boxy, not very good sounding. They better rebulid it to the original specs.
Sounds good on everything but the singer. Too metallic. He sounds better to me dry.
sounds gash tbh
The Beatles were just another crappy bubblegum-pop group.
What's the song at the end?