Studio Miraval
Studio Miraval is a recording studio in Correns in southern France, situated in the heart of the department of Var near the French Riviera. Many famous musicians have recorded there, including Rammstein, Sade, AC/DC, The Cure, and Shirley Bassey. It is a residential studio, much like Château d'Hérouville, with a chef-in-residence, three dwellings, and a swimming pool. The recording studio itself measures 300 square meters (3,200 sq ft) with a 10-meter (33 ft) ceiling. The control room measures 60 square meters (650 sq ft).
History
The studio was created in 1977 by jazz pianist Jacques Loussier and sound engineer Patrice Quef. Loussier began by recording his own work, mainly for films, and then started taking on French clients such as Maxime Le Forestier and Pierre Vassiliu. Miraval achieved fame thanks to Pink Floyd, who came there in 1979 to record part of their album The Wall, the liner notes of which credit Miraval. Subsequently, equipped with one of the first SSL mixing consoles in France, Miraval recorded AC/DC, The Cure, Muse, Wham!, David Sylvian, Chris Rea, Sade, the Go-Betweens, Steve Winwood, Yes, UB40, Chris Braide, Shirley Bassey, the Gipsy Kings, Rammstein and many others. In 1992, Loussier sold Miraval to an American buyer. The studio remained active, in particular for the recording of Jacques' trio's albums. Since 2003, when Courtney Love spent several weeks there, the studio has throttled back, and it has suffered from the declining record sales plaguing the music industry in the 2000s. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been renting Miraval since the summer of 2008, which probably hinders commercial exploitation of the recording studio.