by Isabella Podwinski
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| The REDD.17 console was the first generation of consoles designed for EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London.(Supplied: MONA/Jesse Hunniford) |
An iconic piece of popular music history has found its way to a new home on the other side of the world.
An original REDD.17 console, used to record and mix music at Abbey Road Studios, is the centrepiece of a new recording studio at the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) in Hobart.
The vintage console, one of only four ever built, was famously used to mix several albums by The Beatles and supplied the special tape effects on their 1966 song "Tomorrow Never Knows."
The console was bought in 2014 by Australian businessman David Roper who, along with others, formulated the studio idea.
MONA FOMA artistic director Brian Ritchie developed the idea further and presented it to MONA owner David Walsh.
It is now part of Frying Pan Studios, which will become the first recording studio housed by a museum in Australia.
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| John Lennon and George Harrison (left) with legendary producer George Martin (far right) in the Abbey Road Studios.(Supplied) |
David Walsh is no stranger to collecting cultural memorabilia, reportedly buying David Bowie's handwritten lyrics for the pop classic "Starman" for last year for $339,000.
Named for its location opposite Frying Pan Island, the studio venture will be led by producer, studio designer and sound engineer Chris Townend.
Townend has worked with bands like Silverchair, Violent Femmes and Portishead.
"It's not every day that you have the opportunity to design a fully functioning recording studio inside a museum," he said in a statement.
"Frying Pan artists will benefit immensely from the surrounding inspiration, ridiculous location and abundance of equipment, both historic and hi-tech."
A collector of recording equipment dating back to the 1950s, Townend will also bring to the studio gear used at Motown and Capitol Records.
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| Studio designer and sound engineer Chris Townend at the helm of the REDD.17 console. (Supplied: MONA/Jesse Hunniford) |
Walsh described the studio venture as "the essence of MONA".
"The major product will be music, of course, but made in an environment redolent of passion and daring."
The REDD.17 will sit alongside other vintage recording gear, as well as modern high-end digital equipment at Frying Pan.
When first developed in the late 1950s, the REDD.17 was credited as a game changer in music production, and was the first generation of desk consoles designed and custom-built by record company EMI for their Abbey Road studios.
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| The REDD.17 allowed music engineers to experiment with sound.(Supplied: MONA/Jesse Hunniford) |
The REDD — which stands for Record Engineering Development Department — was primarily used in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and allowed music engineers to experiment with "more control than ever", Abbey Road archives note.
On the Abbey Road website, a veteran engineer recalled the differences between the REDD.17 and another from the series.
"Sonically, the differences become most apparent by turning up the drive control and really pushing the console. The REDD.17 is the more colourful and heavy-handed of the two — the overdriven, out-of-control sound of Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn album comes to mind."
The REDD.17 and subsequent REDD.37 and .51 desks were used to mix and master a handful of influential albums, including an anthology of The Beatles and Pink Floyd's first two albums, but it did not stop there.
The REDD.17 was later moved to Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, London where it was utilised on albums like the White Stripes' Elephant and Tame Impala's Innerspeaker.
First published at ABC News, February 1, 2023
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