EastWest Studios

EastWest Studios

Industry	Music
Founded	1957 as the United Recording Corp.
Headquarters	Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Area served	USA
Key people	Bill Putnam, founder Doug Rogers
Products	Recording Studios
Website	eastwest-studios.com

EastWest Studios is a historic recording studio complex located at 6000 W Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.^[1] Originally constructed by Bill Putnam in the 1960s, the studios are currently owned by sound developer Doug Rogers and managed by Candace Stewart.^[2][3] The studio has won the most technical excellence awards, and has garnered the most Best Engineered Grammys.^[4] The studio's sister company, EastWest Sounds, has also been well-known for its award-winning virtual instrument libraries, such as the Symphonic Orchestra library.

Live rooms and consoles

EastWest Studios consists of three main studios.^[1] Studio 1 features a live room which is 58' x 42', an isolation booth measuring 20' x 23', 9' Bechstein piano, concert lighting system and one of a limited number of classic Neve 8078 consoles remaining in the world today. Studio 2's live room measures 35' x 24', with a 10' x 14' isolation booth and 8' x 6' vocal booth and a classic RCA custom Neve 8028 console.^[5] The smallest of the rooms, Studio 3, is 31' x 15' with a Steinway piano and a Classic Trident A Range Console. All three rooms are fit with Flying Fader Automation.^[6]

History

In 1957, legendary engineer Bill Putnam established the United Recording Corp. studio complex at 6050 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.^[7] In 1961, Putnam acquired neighboring 6000 Sunset Boulevard, remodeling and incorporating the building into the complex.^[2] The buildings were then renamed United Western Recorders,^[8] and catered to some of the biggest artist of the era,^[9] including Frank Sinatra,^[10] The Beach Boys, and Elvis Presley.^[11]

In 1984, Bill Putnam sold the studio complex to Allen Sides, who renamed the buildings Ocean Way Recording.^[12] Ocean Way continues to operate in the 6050 Sunset building to this day, however, Sides sold the studios at 6000 Sunset in 1999.

Cello Studios operated at the 6000 Sunset complex from 1999-2002.^[13] During that period, the studios hosted high-profile rock artists such as Blink-182, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Weezer, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Audioslave, and Mars Volta. Cello Studios closed in 2002.^[13]

On January 17, 2006, Doug Rogers acquired ownership of 6000 W Sunset Blvd. Rogers commissioned designer Philippe Starck (SLS Hotel Los Angeles, St. Martins Lane hotel, London)^[14] to refurbish and redesign the artist lounges, kitchen, and reception areas,^[2] which had previously suffered water damage. Careful to preserve the integrity of the original recording facilities, Starck and Rogers implemented a brand new design to create “a place where artists can meet, mingle, and be inspired.”^[15] The studio complex became Starck’s first and only recording studio design.^[15][16]

In March 2009, the renovated studios, renamed EastWest Studios, opened to the public. Since then, clients have included: Nas, Red Hot Chili Peppers,^[17] Rihanna,^[18] Maroon 5,^[19] PJ Harvey,^[20] The Decemberists,^[21] Sum 41,^[22] Band of Horses,^[23] Norah Jones,^[24] Richie Sambora,^[25] Jerry Lee Lewis,^[26] Foster the People,^[27] Black Rebel Motorcycle Club,^[28] Common,^[29] Rod Stewart,^[30] Goo Goo Dolls,^[31] Luis Miguel,^[32] Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros,^[33] Neil Diamond,^[34] Nas,^[29] Sara Bareilles,^[35] David Campbell, Slash,^[36] Ozomatli,^[37] We Are Augustines,^[38] Pepe Aguilar,^[39] Tegan & Sara,^[40] Jason Mraz,^[41] Metric,^[42] Superbus,^[43] Chris Isaak,^[44] Best Coast,^[45] The Head & The Heart,^[46] and Neil Young,^[47] as well as producers Don Was,^[48] No ID,^[49] LA Reid,^[18] and Polow da Don.^[18]

Virtual Instruments

The studio complex currently houses the offices of EastWest Sounds Virtual (software) Instruments,^[50][51] which are recorded in EastWest Studios.^[52]

One of the company's most known libraries is their Symphonic Orchestra library, a 24-bit orchestral sample library. The library was conceived American producers Doug Rogers (head of the East West sample library company) and Nick Phoenix (head of the Quantum Leap a sample library empire, and cofounder of Two Steps From Hell) and later brought to Grammy-winning recording engineer Professor Keith O Johnson.^[53] Recording took place in a 2500-seater concert hall, starting in August 2002. The resulting multi-channel recordings would later be edited for nearly another year.^[53] 4 editions of the library have been released: Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus.^[54]

TV, film, web and radio

Four episodes of NBC’s The Voice: Season 2 were partially filmed in Studio 1, as Adam Levine’s team prepared for “Battle Rounds”.^[55] Two seasons of VH1’s Rock’n’Roll Fantasy Camp with engineer Eddie Kramer have been filmed in the studios.^[56]

Music for the popular TV show Glee^[57] has been recorded in the studios, as well as the soundtracks for the films Burlesque^[58] and The Rum Diary.^[59] Additionally, the soundtracks for video games The Sims 3^[60] and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception were recorded in the studios.^[61]

On August 6, 2010, Massive Attack recorded in Studio 1 with Jason Bentley for the KCRW show Morning Becomes Eclectic.^[62]

KT Tunstall,^[63] Saint Motel,^[64] and Ocean Grove^[65] have all recorded web specials for Cambio Connect in the studios.

Macvision’s special on Snoop Dogg was filmed in Studio 1 in December 2010.^[66]

Singer/songwriter LP performed “Into the Wild” from her debut EP live in Studio 1 in December 2011.^[67]

Tom Petty recorded a radio show in association with South by Southwest and Sirius XM in Studio 2 in 2011.^[68]

Nick Jonas filmed a video for a song he wrote and produced with Gabrielle Gigure in Studio 2 for the 2011 Quaker Chewy Superstar.^[69]

References

External links

• Official EastWest Studios Site