what’s upUKwhatsupuk@audiomedia.comTechnology Goodbye, Under Abbey Review Road?When it was announced Abbey Road Studios was up for sale, petitions were quickly raised against it.KEVIN HILTONKEVINdiscoversHILTON ponderswhat thetheTechnologyrole the studiosStrategyhaveat theplayedBBCinactuallyour musicalmeansandforculturalthe broadcaster.heritage.The Beatles are held in great affection by mostBritish Brits, and newspapers there was a love wailing a good and juicy a gnashing storyof involving teeth when the the BBC. news If it’s broke about that editorial AbbeyRoad failings, Studios, overspending, where the Fab perceived Four recorded bias, or most theof inflated their records, salaries of had presenters been put and up executives, for sale by its allowner, the better. EMI. Reports Except on it proposed wasn’t. It restructuring almost had been, of thebut organisation not at the and time services, BBC Radio and how 2 presenter the Licence Chris FeeEvans is spent, led come a campaign in a close to second.save the studios for thenation So the and press Andrew was Lloyd in paroxysms Webber showed ofinterestin joy buying and fury it. in equal measure whenthe The BBC story Trust, that the the broadcastersonly recording studio mostpeople governing have body, heard of published was to be asold broke in theFinancial strategy review Times at on the February beginning15, 2010. The paperis of respected March. In this and Director-Generalusually well informed, but muchof Mark the Thompson piece headlined has set out “EMI’s a longlong and windingroad list of leads proposals to Abbey and analysis Road sale forsign” read like apress the future release. of the BBC.Soon Thethe media,news was all over the media.Chris h o w Evans e v picked e r ,up the story the following dayon focused his breakfast on threeshow and ran with it, devoting,with controversiala few exceptions, his Friday programme tosuggestions; toclose the digitalradio stationsrecordings made at the studios.6Music The immediate and the fear Asian was Network, that the building at 3Abbey and reduce Road, by NW8, half would the BBC’s be turned web into luxuryapartments presence. This or offices. resulted That in acres was understandable;ofthese newsprint, days with the either actual commentatorsbricks and mortar of aproperty, saying this or often was just “a the good land thing” on which it stands,are because worth no more one than listened what to goes digital on within it.radio But anyway; this overlooks or presenters the fact from that thethere are fewstudios channels left concerned in the UK and big musicians enough for orchestralrecording arguing sessions. how it Despite would be the “a rise bad of the projectstudio thing” and laptop because technology, there would mainstreamartists and be no producers outlet for still new want music strings or and brasson recordings, specific making platform for for an a large ongoing demandoutside community. the needs of The classical public labels.ralliedThrough round, all with of this the EMI inevitable maintained a noncommittalFacebook stance. campaign A statement swinging finally came onSunday, February into 21: action. “In response to recent pressspeculation EMI confirms The it is frenzy holding preliminarydiscussions for the revitalisation surrounding of Abbey Roadwith interested and appropriate this review third parties.”The future of Abbey was Road stoked Studios was furtherby cemented leaks to on Monday,February the press 22, the when EnglishHeritage week before awarded thebuilding Grade II Listedstatus. This is usuallygranted to preserve aproperty of architecturalimportance, but in thiscase Abbey Road has beenlisted for its “outstandingcultural interest and toensure that recordingartists for generationsto come can continue tomake and record music inthe same rooms as musicalicons of years gone by”.That seemed to be it.But examining thechronology of eventsand other activity justbefore and during thismedia roller coasterraises more questions.Cynical observers ofthe music business areconvinced that AbbeyRoad Studios had been onthe market unofficially foryears; all that was neededwas the right offer.Like other big recordcompanies EMI hasbeen struggling sincethe late 1990s, hit hardby the downloadingrevolution and the rise oflean independent labelsand artists going out on their own.EMI was thrown publication. a lifeline By in contrast 2007 when anothermajor investor BBC policy Terra document Firma.itwas bought by equityIn its statement EMI was says introduced the new owner with almost “madethe preservation of no Abbey publicity. Road Reaction a priority”, to even thethough the studios Technology had been losing Strategy money seems for toseveral years. In the have middle been of 2009, limited EMI to received postingsan offer of over GB£30 on million the BBC to website, buy Abbey strange Road.This was rejected because EMI the believed main business it should ofcontinue to own the broadcasting studios. – getting programmesAbbey Road to the branded audience online – isIn July last year anmastering service was now launched, more linked giving to artists new technologiesthan to be ever mastered before. bythechance for their recordingsthe studios’ engineers. Abbey Road’s operationshave expanded over A the Central years beyond Position recordingand mastering; an interactiveThe Technologydivision wasStrategylaunchedfor DVD authoring andacknowledgesthe studiosthis:have“Technologybeen usedfor the Channel 4 TVisseriescentralLivetofrommuchAbbeyof whatRoad.theThere is also Abbey RoadBBC doesLive,anda locationthis is becomingrecordingand distribution service.increasingly so right across theThe same day thatBBC...AbbeyThe moveRoadtowardswasdigitallistedby English Heritage,contentEMIandannouncedfile-basedamediarangeisof branded merchandisingleading tobasedsignificantarounddemandthestudios, making them even more of a commodity.This includes t-shirts, laptop cases, and notebooksbearing the Abbey Road name, slogans such as‘Eight Track Mind’ and images of the TG12345 MkIIrecording console.The most puzzling thing in all this is that ListedStatus was applied for in 2002 by an unnamedparty. Roger Bowdler, Head of Designation atEnglish Heritage, admitted in an interview onRadio 4’s PM programme on Tuesday, February 23,that talk of the studios being sold “concentratedsome minds” and resulted in the pending listingbeing confirmed.A spokeswoman for English Heritage toldme that Listed Status provided “an extra layer ofprotection”. She added that while this doesn’tprohibit a change of use for the building therewould be a “lot more scrutiny” of an application.“But it would probably be difficult to find anotheruse for it,” she said.Abbey Road’s importance in the history ofrecording is unquestionable. Even without TheBeatles it would be a shrine because Sir EdwardElgar and the London Symphony Orchestrarecorded Land of Hope and Glory in its Studio 1,and Pink Floyd created Dark Side of the Moon inStudios 2 and 3.But Led Zeppelin’s groundbreaking first albumwas laid down at Olympic Studios, EMI’s otherstudio asset. I didn’t hear Chris Evans shout whenit was closed in February 2009.Some good has come out of this saga –the future of an important artistic resource in theUK has been secured – but some suspect thata lot of very murky things have gone on at thesame time. …1416AUDIO MEDIA MARCH 2010AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010
Brits, and there was a wailing and a gnashingof teeth when the news broke that Abbeyrecording sessions. Despite the rise of the projectstudio and laptop technology, mainstreamin buying it.The story that the only recording studio mostartists and producers still want strings and brasson recordings, making for an ongoing demandpeople have heard of was to be sold broke in theFinancial Times on February 15, 2010. The paperis respected and usually well informed, but muchof the piece headlined “EMI’s long and windingcommittal stance. A statement finally came onSunday, February 21: “In response to recent pressroad leads to Abbey Road sale sign” read like apress release.speculation EMI confirms it is holding preliminarydiscussions for the revitalisation of Abbey Roadand distribution service.The same day that Abbey Road was listedwith interested and appropriate third parties.”The future of Abbey Road Studios was furtheron his breakfast show and ran with it, devoting,with a few exceptions, his Friday programme tocemented on Monday,February 22, when EnglishHer itage awarded thebuilding Grade II Listeds t at u s. Th i s i s u s u a l l ygranted to preser ve aproperty of architecturalimportance, but in thiscase Abbey Road has beenlisted for its “outstandingEnglish Heritage, admitted in an interview onRadio 4’s PM programme on Tuesday, February 23,cultural interest and toensure that recordingar tists for generationsto come can continue tothe same rooms as musicalicons of years gone by”.That seemed to be it.B u t e x a m i n i n g t h ec h r o n o l o g y o f e v e n t sand other activity just“But it would probably be difficult to find anotheruse for it,” she said.before and during thism e d i a r o l l e r c o a s t e rraises more questions.C y n i c a l o b s e r v e r s o fthe late 1990s, hit hardb y t h e d o w n l o a d i n gon the BBC’s IP-based networks.” The conclusionis that broadcasting is no longer just aboutterrestrial transmission and traditional engineeringprinciples, but a whole world of new media formsof distribution and reception, in which the BBC iscompeting with the likes of Google, Microsoft, andFacebook.Tech ChiefThis is reflected in the background of the BBC’sChief Technology Officer. <strong>John</strong> Linwood joined theCorporation in April 2009 from Yahoo, where hehad been Senior Vice President of InternationalEngineering. Prior to that he had worked atMicrosoft, Omega Software, and The DodgeGroup. “What the BBC is doing today is not aboutanalogue broadcasting,” he says. “There is a move toIP operation and into the software world, which ismy background and why I was appointed.”There are two primary elements to theTechnology Strategy: business requirements and aseries of common principles for how work is done inall technology areas. The former cover collaborationand sharing technologies within and outside theBBC, having core business systems and services,securing data management, promoting R&D, andemploying flexible, adaptable ways of operation.One Of ManyCentral to this is the BBC’s move to tapelessproduction but Linwood says the TechnologyStrategy is about more than that. “It’s one ofmany elements,” he explains. “There are contentacquisition, delivery, and IT networks to consideras well. The key message is that technology is anincreasing part of what the BBC does and so weneed to help senior management understand howwe use technology and how that supports ouroverall business.”Goodbye, Abbey Road?EMI was thrown a lifeline in 2007 when itown. their on out going artists andIn its statement EMI says the new owner “madeFirma.Terra investor equity by bought wasthough the studios had been losing money forevenpriority”, a Road Abbey of preservation thean offer of over GB£30 million to buy Abbey Road.receivedEMI 2009, of middle the In years. severalcontinue to own the studios.it shouldbelieved EMI because rejected was Thismastering service was launched, giving artists theonlinebranded Road Abbey an year last July Inthe studios’ engineers. Abbey Road’s operationsbymastered be to recordings their for chanceand mastering; an interactive division was launchedrecordingbeyond years the over expanded havefor the Channel 4 TV series Live from Abbey Road.usedbeen have studios the and authoring DVD forThere is also Abbey Road Live, a location recordingof branded merchandising based around therange a announced EMI Heritage, English byThis includes t-shirts, laptop cases, and notebookscommodity.a of more even them making studios,‘Eight Track Mind’ and images of the TG12345 MkIIas such slogans name, Road Abbey the bearingThe most puzzling thing in all this is that Listedconsole.recordingparty. Roger Bowdler, Head of Designation atunnamedan by 2002 in for applied was StatusLinwood comments. “And we can apply these tousing streams over IP and codecs and how we aremoving from dedicated hardware to software.”A Helping HandLinwood observes that how audio is treated is alsohelped by the older techniques. “There are basicslike not getting background noise from lighting ona recording,” he explains. In general, he says, thereis a move towards embedded audio, with discretechannels for surround sound being looked intonow. “5.1 will be the norm for some things,” he adds,“like music and sport but perhaps not for news. It’sall about adding value where appropriate.”In the strategy review Mark Thompsonrecommended that the BBC should do “fewerthings better”, rather than trying to do everything.HYDRA2, FROM CALREC.INTELLIGENTLY NETWORKED.SOPHISTICATED1-TO-N ROUTINGCONTROLLABLETRANSPARENTPLUG AND PLAYSUPPORTS GPIOKEVIN HILTON ponders the role the studios have played in our musical and cultural heritage.it. against raised quickly were petitions sale, for up was Studios Road Abbey announced was it WhenThe immediate fear was that the building at 3studios.the at made recordingsapartments or offices. That was understandable;luxuryinto turned be would NW8, Road, Abbeyproperty, or often just the land on which it stands,a of mortar and bricks actual the days theseBut this overlooks the fact that there are fewit. within on goes what than more worth arestudios left in the UK big enough for orchestralThrough all of this EMI maintained a non-labels.classical of needs the outside“Our review was done with the full knowledge ofthe whole BBC and is fully in line with the overallthinking,” says Linwood. “The amount of technologyused within the BBC is increasing. Mark talks about90p in the pound for content production anddelivery, and large amounts of those are technologybased.What is being spent on technology isincreasing and there is certainly no talk of cuttingthat.”The Future…The Technology Review has been officially endorsedby the BBC Trust and was published in full duringJanuary. How many of the BBC’s services will be leftto be carried by all the technologies available to itafter the strategy review is finally approved remainsto be seen. TRANSPARENT1-TO-N ROUTINGSUPPORTS GPIOTRANSPARENTSOPHISTICATEDINTELLIGENTFIBER OR COPPERSERIAL DATAFIBER OR COPPERSERIAL DATAPLUG AND PLAYPutting Sound in the PicturePLUG AND PLAYCONTROLLABLE1-TO-N ROUTINGSOPHISTICATEDSUPPORTS GPIOhe Beatles are held in great affection by mostRoad Studios, where the Fab Four recorded mostTowner, EMI. Except it wasn’t. It almost had been,its by sale for up put been had records, their ofEvans led a campaign to save the studios for theChrispresenter 2 Radio BBC time the at not butnation and Andrew Lloyd Webber showed interestChris Evans picked up the story the following daymedia.the over all was news the Soonsome minds” and resulted in the pending listing“concentratedsold being studios the of talk thatA spokeswoman for English Heritage toldconfirmed.beingprotection”. She added that while this doesn’tof layer extra “an provided Status Listed that mewould be a “lot more scrutiny” of an application.therebuilding the for use of change a prohibitSOPHISTICATEDSUPPORTS GPIO1-TO-N ROUTINGCONTROLLABLEFIBER OR COPPERTRANSPARENTmake and record music inSERIAL DATAPLUG AND PLAYSOPHISTICATED1-TO-N ROUTINGREDUNDANTSUPPORTS GPIOTRANSPARENTSOPHISTICATEDSERIAL DATASUPPORTS GPIOSERIAL DATA1-TO-N ROUTINGTRANSPARENTCONTROLLABLEPLUG AND PLAYSOPHISTICATEDFIBER OR COPPERLinwood says the BBC uses a “vast amount oftechnology” and needs a “holistic view” of it. Overthe past 10 to 15 years the BBC has moved fromits famous historical position of using equipmentdesigned in-house by talented but sometimeseccentric engineers. There is more off-the-shelf gearin use today, a lot of which is developed or suppliedby third party partners, including Siemens, whichstill has five years of its contract with the BBC leftto run.If the BBC needs something that is notcommercially available, then, Linwood says,the BBC R&D department will design it. Despitethe move towards a more IT way of working, goodold broadcast engineering skills have not beendiscarded. “Certain engineering principles still apply,”recording is unquestionable. Even without Theofhistory the in importance Road’s AbbeyElgar and the London Symphony OrchestraSir Edwardbecause shrine a be would it Beatlesand Pink Floyd created Dark Side of the Moon in1, Studio its in Glory and Hope of Land recordedBut Led Zeppelin’s groundbreaking first album3. and 2 Studiosstudio asset. I didn’t hear Chris Evans shout whenotherEMI’s Studios, Olympic at down laid wasSome good has come out of this saga –2009.February in closed was itUK has been secured – but some suspect thatthe in resource artistic important an of future thesame time. murky things have gone on at thevery of lot aHydra2 forms the routing backbone for both the Apollo and Artemis consoles.These desks are just one type of client capable interfacing with Hydra2, whichprovides an enormous 8192² synchronous router at its core. A range of I/O boxescan be connected via high density 512 bi-directional copper or fiber connections,while mini-GBIC connectors keeps connections simple and installation easy.Highly scalable, Hydra2’s router is a TDM-type router, capable of ‘one-to-many’routing and truly point-to-point. This allows for enormous networks with highly flexibletopologies involving multiple routers, inputs/outputs, control rooms and studios. Andwith adaptive, intelligent software which automatically recognizes changes to thenetwork and updates all its clients, it’s also a very social network.Hydra2. Minimizing installation overheads and maximizing audio routing flexibility.2calrec.comconvinced that Abbeyarebusiness music theRoad Studios had been onthe market unofficially foryears; all that was neededLike other big recordoffer.right the wasc o m p a n i e s E M I h a sbeen struggling sincerevolution and the rise oflean independent labels1-TO-N ROUTINGINTELLIGENTFIBER OR COPPER<strong>Audio</strong><strong>Media</strong>_HYDRA_173x122.indd 1 31/03/2010 10:14AUDIO MEDIA APRIL 2010 17A U D I O M E D I A M A R C H 2 0 1 014
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