Abbey Road Studios Select SSL Duality for new Studio 52 Production/Mix Room

The new Duality room will be available as a state-of-the-art mixing and production facility for traditional client attended sessions and will assist with the additional workload from the new Online Mixing Service.

“When we decided to open a new mixing and production facility, the engineers were adamant that they wanted an SSL Duality,” says Mirek Stiles, head of audio products for Abbey Road Studios. “It really is a fantastic console. The Duality lends a hand to projects with no compromise. The channel layout and center section are just the same as the legacy SSL consoles we know and love, with the added bonus of DAW control. I have come to the conclusion that Duality is THE most compact and versatile large format console for the modern studio.”

Abbey Road Studios is among the most famous and innovative recording studio complexes in the world and has been at the heart of the UK music industry since opening in 1931. The studios have hosted countless landmark recordings that have provided enjoyment to people across all cultures. Continuing its innovative tradition and the huge success of their Online Mastering Service, Abbey Road is embarking on a new Online Mixing Service. Clients will book mix sessions online and upload pre-recorded files, along with instructions and examples, to the Abbey Road web site. The Abbey Road engineers will work their mixing magic in unattended sessions and upload results for client approval.

“Throughout its history, Abbey Road Studios has always been at the forefront of innovation and technology,” states Stiles. “In this tradition, we are constantly evolving and expanding the services that we offer to clients all over the world. Over the last decade, Abbey Road Studios has introduced audio plug-ins and hardware reissues of legendary EMI recording equipment, sampled software instruments and our ground-breaking Online Mastering Service. Because of Duality’s ease of use and DAW control, we believe it will be a valuable tool to help our innovative new Online Mixing Service.”

According to Stiles, the Duality will not only aid the team in achieving the efficiency required to service the demands of the Online Mixing Service, it will also help them deliver the additional professional sonic edge many people struggle to achieve in their own project studios. “A lot of projects these days tend to be mixed ‘in the box,’ but at Abbey Road Studios, we strongly believe that breaking a multi-track DAW project out over an analogue desk like Duality really opens up the sound of a mix.”

“Our new venture is very exciting as it opens up tremendous possibilities for the creative community world-wide,” says Sam Okell, recording engineer for Abbey Road Studios. “When starting a mix on an analogue desk, I’m able to get a rough balance of how I want the track to sound very quickly. Being able to reach for a fader, EQ, compression, panning and aux sends on each track is infinitely quicker than doing so with a mouse or control surface, where you can normally only access processing on one channel at a time. I find this a much more natural and intuitive way of working and Duality delivers this capability while giving me control of all facets of our Pro Tools® software from the console surface. Duality is a win/win for everyone.”