The Studio
The year was 1964 and in a small renovated recording studio within an old milking shed in Chelsea, London, two young men were about to go out on a limb to follow their dream and inadvertently change music forever…
As one of the first indie studios in England, the modest Sound Techniques made a name for itself with a beautiful live sound and its own hand crafted mixing console. In that studio Geoff Frost‘s electronic mastery and head engineer John Wood‘s perfect ear created some of the finest music in the UK; Artists such as Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Vashti Bunyan, The Incredible String Band, John Martyn, John Cale, The Yardbirds and The Who all recorded sessions, enamoured with the studio’s rich sound.
As their reputation grew Frost began crafting his hand-built desks to measure for major studios including Elektra, Trident, De Lane Lea and Sunset Sound; The Sound Techniques influence sparked right at the heart of some of the greatest music ever recorded. From London to Los Angeles, from Jamaica to Paris and back again, these bespoke Sound Techniques consoles captured and created seminal tracks and albums for Hendrix, The Doors, The Beatles, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, The Stooges, T-Rex and Lou Reed; A few names among many.
Now, four decades after the doors closed on the Chelsea studio, a new chapter in the fascinating Sound Techniques story is being written; One which will bring us full circle and help discover, once and for all, just how deep the Sound Techniques secrets go.
These are The Parts You Don’t Hear and this is The Untold Story of Sound Techniques.
The latest …
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John C. Wood: A filmic angle on Sound Techniques
With a career spanning nearly 50 years, beginning as a 15 year old at De Lane Lea, Soho, John “Fingers” Wood has a resume the size of a Russian novel. Taking…
4 min read
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Just Another Diamond Day with Vashti Bunyan
The endlessly charismatic and beautiful Vashti Bunyan has just added yet another layer to the weird and wonderful onion which is The Parts You Don’t Hear. Her legendary story and her fragile…
4 min read
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This was Ian Anderson: Jethro Tull and Sound Techniques
Ian Anderson, multi instrumentalist and leader of Jethro Tull invited directors Neil Innes and Nick Turner to his beautiful house to chat about the band’s first record This Was… The album’s title, Anderson confessed, was a…
4 min read
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Ed Jones & the Most Collectable Sound Techniques LP
The Human Beast’s Volume 1 has the enviable honour of being a better find on the collector’s circuit than a signed rare Beatles acetate. Landing the top spot on Record Collector Magazine’s most…
4 min read
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The Purple Gang strikes twice!
Chris Joe Beard talked to us in his garden studio near Manchester about his band The Purple Gang who had 2 recording sessions at Sound Techniques, Chelsea. The first session was 4…
4 min read
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Judy Dyble introduces Fairport Convention
Original Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble invited us into her Oxfordshire home to tell us about the origins of one of Sound Techniques most prolific and beloved bands. Judy’s memories of the inception of…
4 min read
