Armstrong's Studios
Encyclopedia
Armstrong Studios -- also known as Bill Armstrong's Studio and later renamed AAV (Armstrong Audio Video) is an important Australian commercial recording studio
located in Melbourne, Victoria.
During the decade from 1965 to 1975, Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne was arguably the top independent recording studio in Australasia.
Founder Bill Armstrong was born in Melbourne in 1929. After studying electrical engineering at Caulfield Technical College[1] he started his career as an engineer at radio station 3UZ from 1954–56, where his work included disc cutting of radio shows and live-to-air orchestral music broadcasts. From 1956-60 he was the manager of a recently founded independent label, W&G Records, whose A&R manager Ron Tudor discovered and signed The Seekers. Armstrong established the W&G disc-cutting room and in 1957 built their recording studio in West Melbourne. That year he also supervised the sound system for Phillips Bell at the Main Stadium at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.
From 1960-61 Armstrong was the manager of the Custom Recording Department at 3DB
in Melbourne, where he recorded radio commercials and soundtracks for television advertisements. From 1961-65 he was manager of Telefil Sound Recording and Film Studios, which was at the time the largest commercial recording studio in Melbourne. Housed in a converted Melbourne cinema, it was equipped with one, two and three track Ampex recorders, and its clients included the local divisions of the EMI, CBS and RCA labels.
In 1965 Bill Armstrong opened his own studio in a small terrace house in Albert Rd, South Melbourne. Over the next few years it expanded into six adjoining properties, including four studios equipped with 4-track machines. In 1968 Armstrong installed one of the first 8-track recorders in Australia, followed by 16 and then 24-track machines, together with state-of-the-art mixing desks in the early '70s. During this time, many of Australia's most distinguished producers and engineers worked there, including Roger Savage, Ern Rose, John L. Sayers, John French, Ian Meldrum, Howard Gable, David Mackay and Peter Dawkins.
Ian Meldrum: "I was so keen on the idea (of becoming a producer) that I went into Bill Armstrong's recording studios every day, all day, while The Groop were recording. And thanks to a young engineer by the name of Roger Savage, and Bill Armstrong who owned the studios, they allowed me to spend all of my spare time in the studios, teaching me to become a panel operator"
In 1972 the company bought a former butter factory in Bank St, South Melbourne, and converted it into a five-studio complex, making Armstrong the largest commercial studio in the southern hemisphere. At this time Armstrong was responsible for 80% of the locally recorded hit records for major labels including EMI, RCA, Mushroom and Fable. In 1974 the studios were sold to the Age Newspaper Group and the name of the company was changed to Armstrong Audio Video (AAV).
The eighties came and nothing slowed down. Young engineer Doug Brady joined the crew and started off with a bang, recording and mixing Australia's highest selling record of all time: John Farnham's Whispering Jack and went on to win ARIA engineer of the year three times. James "JIMBO" Barton was also added to the roster. He went on to work with Julian Menndelson & Trevor Horn, multi-platimum Queensrÿche and won a GRAMMY for BEST LIVE RECORDING for Eric Clapton's "Unplugged". There was more to come, with U2, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Bob Dylan, Split Enz, and Australian Crawl all using the facilities.
In the 1990s the audio operations of AAV were acquired by a staff consortium headed by producer-engineer Ern Rose and the company's name was changed to Metropolis Audio. A controlling share was later acquired by another audio-visual company, Celtex, but this company eventually got into financial difficulties and Metropolis was abruptly closed down by the building's owners in 2006[2].
In the meantime Edensound Mastering had taken residence in the famed 180 Bank Street building and directors Martin Pullan and David Drew took the opportunity to take over the lease and return the studio to its original Armstrong name. Doug Brady returned as a partner in the business having recorded numerous giant albums and recording projects as a freelance including the music for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. After a massive revamp including the installation of a vintage NEVE console, Armstrong Studios today continues to be one of the foremost recording facilities in the southern hemisphere.
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
located in Melbourne, Victoria.
During the decade from 1965 to 1975, Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne was arguably the top independent recording studio in Australasia.
Founder Bill Armstrong was born in Melbourne in 1929. After studying electrical engineering at Caulfield Technical College[1] he started his career as an engineer at radio station 3UZ from 1954–56, where his work included disc cutting of radio shows and live-to-air orchestral music broadcasts. From 1956-60 he was the manager of a recently founded independent label, W&G Records, whose A&R manager Ron Tudor discovered and signed The Seekers. Armstrong established the W&G disc-cutting room and in 1957 built their recording studio in West Melbourne. That year he also supervised the sound system for Phillips Bell at the Main Stadium at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.
From 1960-61 Armstrong was the manager of the Custom Recording Department at 3DB
3DB
Mix 101.1 is a radio station broadcasting in Melbourne, Australia. Its target demographic is the under 25-54 yr old age group. Mix 101.1 is part of the Australian Radio Mix Network and broadcasts on the 101.1 MHz frequency...
in Melbourne, where he recorded radio commercials and soundtracks for television advertisements. From 1961-65 he was manager of Telefil Sound Recording and Film Studios, which was at the time the largest commercial recording studio in Melbourne. Housed in a converted Melbourne cinema, it was equipped with one, two and three track Ampex recorders, and its clients included the local divisions of the EMI, CBS and RCA labels.
In 1965 Bill Armstrong opened his own studio in a small terrace house in Albert Rd, South Melbourne. Over the next few years it expanded into six adjoining properties, including four studios equipped with 4-track machines. In 1968 Armstrong installed one of the first 8-track recorders in Australia, followed by 16 and then 24-track machines, together with state-of-the-art mixing desks in the early '70s. During this time, many of Australia's most distinguished producers and engineers worked there, including Roger Savage, Ern Rose, John L. Sayers, John French, Ian Meldrum, Howard Gable, David Mackay and Peter Dawkins.
Ian Meldrum: "I was so keen on the idea (of becoming a producer) that I went into Bill Armstrong's recording studios every day, all day, while The Groop were recording. And thanks to a young engineer by the name of Roger Savage, and Bill Armstrong who owned the studios, they allowed me to spend all of my spare time in the studios, teaching me to become a panel operator"
In 1972 the company bought a former butter factory in Bank St, South Melbourne, and converted it into a five-studio complex, making Armstrong the largest commercial studio in the southern hemisphere. At this time Armstrong was responsible for 80% of the locally recorded hit records for major labels including EMI, RCA, Mushroom and Fable. In 1974 the studios were sold to the Age Newspaper Group and the name of the company was changed to Armstrong Audio Video (AAV).
The eighties came and nothing slowed down. Young engineer Doug Brady joined the crew and started off with a bang, recording and mixing Australia's highest selling record of all time: John Farnham's Whispering Jack and went on to win ARIA engineer of the year three times. James "JIMBO" Barton was also added to the roster. He went on to work with Julian Menndelson & Trevor Horn, multi-platimum Queensrÿche and won a GRAMMY for BEST LIVE RECORDING for Eric Clapton's "Unplugged". There was more to come, with U2, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Bob Dylan, Split Enz, and Australian Crawl all using the facilities.
In the 1990s the audio operations of AAV were acquired by a staff consortium headed by producer-engineer Ern Rose and the company's name was changed to Metropolis Audio. A controlling share was later acquired by another audio-visual company, Celtex, but this company eventually got into financial difficulties and Metropolis was abruptly closed down by the building's owners in 2006[2].
In the meantime Edensound Mastering had taken residence in the famed 180 Bank Street building and directors Martin Pullan and David Drew took the opportunity to take over the lease and return the studio to its original Armstrong name. Doug Brady returned as a partner in the business having recorded numerous giant albums and recording projects as a freelance including the music for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. After a massive revamp including the installation of a vintage NEVE console, Armstrong Studios today continues to be one of the foremost recording facilities in the southern hemisphere.