The EMI TG12345 was a

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

for their

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

, which was used to mix several influential albums, including The Beatles' ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...

'' and Pink Floyd's ''

The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Capitol Records in the US and on 16 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK. Developed during live performances before ...

''.

Overview

The TG12345 was installed in Abbey Road Studio Two in late 1968, making it possible for the studio to double the number of tracks it could record simultaneously, from four to eight. The mixer had twenty-four microphone inputs and eight tape outputs, a significant increase over the eight microphone inputs and four tape outputs of the REDD .51 mixing console that it replaced. This also enabled the studio to replace its four-track

Studer Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professi ...

J37 multitrack tape recorder with the eight-track 3M M23. The TG12345 was Abbey Road Studios' first solid-state mixing console and, unlike its predecessors that were based on

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

s, it featured a

compressor A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Many compressors can be staged, that is, the gas is compressed several times in steps o ...

as well as equalization built into each channel. Several influential albums were mixed on the console, including The Beatles' ''

'' and Pink Floyd's ''

''. The original console was rescued from a skip, restored over a period of 4 years and placed for auction in October 2024

Hardware recreations and software emulations

In 2011, Chandler Limited released the Curve Bender, a rackmount recreation of the TG12345's EQ section. In 2014,

Waves Audio Waves Audio Ltd. is an Israeli developer and supplier of professional digital audio signal processing technologies and audio effects, used in recording, mixing, mastering, post production, broadcast, and live sound. The company's corporate headq ...

released a plug-in that emulates two channels of the TG12345.

References

{{Reflist Mixing consoles EMI