Studios 301 is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n recording studio. Established in 1926, Studios 301 is the longest running professional recording studio in the southern hemisphere. It is also Australia’s largest Studio complex featuring state of the art 72 channel Neve 88R console and 72 channel SSL K Series console. Separating from EMI

EMI

The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 in 1996 it now has four complexes around the world, the largest of these based in Sydney suburb of Alexandria

Alexandria, New South Wales

Alexandria is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Alexandria is located 4 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...

. Other locations include Byron Bay

Byron Bay, New South Wales

Byron Bay is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. At the 2006 Census, the town had a...

, Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 and Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

.

Background

Founded in 1926, the Columbia Gramaphone Studios were one of the oldest established in the world. In 1954 they relocated and were given a new name, EMI Studios. In 1978 they were renamed again as Studios 301 and completely re-equipped. Now privately owned, 301 have one of the largest recording rooms in the Southern hemisphere. In 1996 Studios 301 underwent a multi million dollar relocation & re-build. Studios 301 are part of the SAE Technology College group. With their own mastering division, 301 can offer a complete recording service, from pre-production to final master.

Studios 301 Mastering

Since 1980 Studios 301 Mastering has been catering for a multitude of Australian recording artists along with an ever-expanding international clientele. 301 Mastering is Australia's premier and largest fully purpose designed and built mastering complex. It features specifically tailored acoustics and monitoring along with high-end analogue and digital signal processing including vintage custom EMI TG mastering consoles and components providing a smooth, warm analogue sound. It is situated within the Studios 301 recording/mixing complex in Sydney.

Timeline

Significant dates in the studios history are as follows:

• 1926: Original Columbia Graphophone Studio opened in Homebush
• 1928: Recording made of the arrival of Kingsford-Smith and Ulm from their America-Australia Flight.
• 1930: First Experimental radio transcription was made in the studios.
• 1932: First landline recording of the running of the Melbourne Cup.
• 1950: Recorded the first symphony in Australia. (John Antill's ballet suite with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra)
• 1954: Studio relocates to 301 Castlereagh Street (Name changes to EMI Studios)
• 1958: Stereo Recording is introduced. (First Stereo recording is of Don Burrows All Star band)
• 1962: The first fully transistorised mixing console is installed. (Designed and built by EMI)
• 1965: A Scully 4 track 1/2" recorder introduced for music recording.
• 1969: Transition to 8 track recording using a 3M 1" machine.
• 1973: The EMI "Abbey Road" Console with a 16 track 2" machine is installed.
• 1975: Transition to studer 24 track 2" recording
• 1978: A total refit and redesign of all studio facilities. (Name changes to Studios 301)
• 1979: Australia's first fully digital recording is made. (Kerrie Biddell and her band)
• 1985: The studio’s first SSL console is installed. (Richard Lush records Debbie Byrne album)
• 1996: EMI sells 301 in a management team buyout of Studios 301
• 1998: SAE Group of Companies acquires Studios 301
  • The 301 Studio Group takes over Soundtrade Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
• 1999: Studios 301 recording facilities are relocated to Alexandria at a cost of A$8 million under the direction of Tom Misner
• 2001: Studios 301 Cologne, Germany opens
• 2002: Studios 301 Byron Bay opens
• 2003: Soundtrade Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) re-opens after a major refurbishment and is renamed Studios 301 Stockholm.
• 2006: Studios 301 Mastering relocates to brand new premises next to the 301 recording studio complex at Alexandria in Sydney.