British Grove
Studio Focus
BRITISH GROVE STUDIOS
In 2002, Mark Knopfler set out to create a studio that would be ‘a monument to past and future technology’. The result was British Grove Studios. Located in its namesake mews in Chiswick, West London, it is as impressive on the eye as it is on the ear; and thanks to an extraordinary team and work ethic, it’s one of the world’s leading facilities. Studio manager, David Stewart (also the man who helped manage the studio build), gives Headliner an exclusive tour. Words Paul Watson | Photographs Simon Camper
Builder’s tea and digestive biscuit in hand, David Stewart and I begin our tour of British Grove in Studio Two, the smaller of the studio’s two control rooms, and it’s looking particularly worked in. “Yeah, Mark [Knopfler] is in at the moment, this is kind of his day off, but he’ll be back tomorrow; normally it’s a bit cleaner than this,” Stewart smiles, as I look in awe at the miked up guitar cabs, and some kind of Wurly, which looks like a work in progress. The centrepiece of this room is an immaculate API Legacy console. “It’s a lovely desk, and in fantastic condition. We have configured it, and customised it, as our rooms were designed as surround rooms, so we commissioned a surround panel, remoted the patch, and made a few other modifications to fit it into this room.” Out into the corridor, there are an array of Studer tape machines, most of which came from Master Rock in Kilburn when it closed its doors. “These Studers are 30 to 40 years old, and required a lot of work, but we have gone
STUDIO TWO: The epic API console with all the trimmings.
34 Headliner
through every card in each of them – and there are three cards per track, so that’s quite a lot! Each of the cards has half a dozen capacitors and circuit chips, and we replaced all of them on all six machines,” Stewart explains, as I try to do the maths. “Quite often, we run two [Studer] 16s together, and they’re now fantastically reliable. Oh, and we’ve also just got this up and running [ushers me towards a classic Studer J37]. It took a while to get it in working order, but it was worth it.” As we make our way to the ‘scary room’ (the rack room), Stewart explains that the studio’s stunning Bösendorfer piano was also acquired from Master Rock. Wouldn’t mind having a tinkle on those ivories, I think to myself, as he opens the rack room door. “So this is where it all happens,” Stewart says, as I eye racks and racks of kit. Where to begin?! “The Studio One rig is 88 I/O – and these are all Prism Sound converters; we then have 48 I/O – again, all Prism Sound - for Studio Two; and then we have a print rig, so you can record to that, also.”
British Grove’s relationship with Prism Sound dates back to 2005, when the studio started working its first sessions: “I think on those sessions we ran with the Apogees, but, of course, we needed another system to bring into play when we got to open Studio Two; we needed another suite of converters, and that’s when we came to the Prism Sound kit – we now have 24 units, so not an inconsiderable amount! “We had a requirement for top quality converters, and after evaluating several, we came to the conclusion that Prism Sound offered the best we could get at the time and our opinion hasn’t changed. And more than that, we also have a number of Prism Sound two-channel converters, which are also fantastic, and some Lyras, which are great for location work. But more than that is the willingness of the Prism Sound team: whenever we have any problem, they work with us to get it resolved, and you really can’t put a price on that. They have saved the day on several occasions! “I know the Prism guys also have a new