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A great tour through Studio 2 by Rick Beato and Mirek Stiles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HtA-vvXTKo

Mirek mentions Cliff and The Shadows a couple of times in relation to the introduction of amplified instruments but Rick has a bit of a fixation on the Beatles, I guess reflecting the relative lack of profile of our heroes in the USA. Also, I gather that it was Geoff Emerick who was the first to start breaking "the rules" in recording Cliff and The Shads and then took much of that later into the Beatles sessions.

Paul.

Many thanks, Paul.That is very interesting. Studio 2 looks like a relic from the 50s, which is s wonderful thing. Modern recording studios probably don’t look like that anymore or are as big. The room added its voice to the recordings we love.

Yes, a Shadows fan would have looked in the closets as Bruce and Brian did and looked for the Chinese drum. It might still be there in a corner, buried under stuff.

Best,

Andy

Hi Paul,

Thank you for posting, I found the discussion on the mic’s very interesting.

I couldn’t find much information, but I believe that Abbey Road used a Neumann 47 for mic’ing up Vox amps in the early 60s, this was angled at 45 deg and may have been be a significant factor in the Hank’s sound, I wonder if this came up during the extensive research you did?

Regards

Gary

Yes it was a great episode from Rick Beato and a good look at Abbey Rd studios.

Gary,

The famous photo of The Shadows in studio 2 supposedly taken during the recording of QMS clearly shows what look to be U47's almost directly in front of their two-tone AC15's about 2 feet out. I guess that they probably used the cardoid setting to reduce the spill from the other amplifiers and drums and I wouldn't be surprised if they did experiment with some off-axis mic positions. We'll probably never know.

However, as the video showed, much of the magic was in the acoustics of the studio and the vintage recording gear (not to mention The Shadows, of course!).

Paul.

Thank you Paul!

Abbey Road Sudios says the sign is an exact replica of the warning sign outside Studio Two, which has remained unchanged for decades. The sign must have been etched in the memories of the Shadows.

I ndtalled thé sign on a door in our practice studio. I’ve tried everything to improve my playing without success. I am hoping this will help.

Andy

I think you may be spending too much time looking at the sign Andy! LOL

Haha, yes. A bit of whimsy. The sign arrived today. The door leads to the echo chamber.

My apologies for the digression. Now, back to regular programming.

Anfy