Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producers

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

, John Burgess, Ron Richards, and Peter Sullivan. In 1970 the company established its own professional audio recording facilities, AIR Studios.

History

In 1965, producers

, Ron Richards, and John Burgess of

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

and Peter Sullivan of Decca founded the company in order to produce music independently and license the final masters to the record companies, creating the opportunity for producers to earn bonuses and royalty payments. In 1970 AIR opened its first recording studio complex in London.

AIR Studios

Oxford Street, London (1970–1991)

AIR's first recording facility was meant to be suitable for both dubbing films and making records, so the company sought a central location with easy distance from the Claridge's and Connaught hotels to appeal to producers from around the world. Eventually a site in

Oxford Circus Oxford Circus is a road junction connecting Oxford Street and Regent Street in the West End of London. It is also the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station. The junction opened in 1819 as part of the Regent Street development under John Nash ( ...

on the fourth floor of 214

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

, atop the Peter Robinson department store was secured, and in 1969 the company began a year of construction costing £136,000. The studios were outfitted with £200,000 worth of equipment, opening with a high-profile launch party in October 1970. The Oxford Circus facility included two large studios (one 58×32 feet, the other 30×28 feet) and two small ones. The studios contained two

Bösendorfer Bösendorfer (L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH) is an Austrian piano manufacturer and, since 2008, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation. Bösendorfer is unusual in that it produces Imperial Bösendorfer, 97- and 92-Key (instrument) ...

pianos, many soundproof booths, and a 56-channel

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 ...

, custom-designed by Neve Electronics to AIR's specification. AIR London became popular in the 1970s for

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

recordings. It also became one of the most in-demand music studios in London by 1973.

AIR Lyndhurst Hall, Hampstead (1991–present)

In 1991, with the lease on the Oxford Street premises coming to an end, AIR Studios relocated to a building that was formerly the Lyndhurst Road Congregational Church, a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

designed in 1880 by Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse and located in the

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

suburb of north London. The space was revamped as a recording facility and opened for business in December 1992. The Lyndhurst Hall location features a hexagonal room large enough to record both a full orchestra and a chorus at the same time, making it a key London facility for

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s and classical recordings, as well popular music, television

post-production Post-production, also known simply as post, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording indivi ...

, and dialogue, sound effects and music for

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s. Spitfire Audio has recorded many of its digital audio samples here. Employees include Olga Fitzroy.

AIR Montserrat (1979–1989)

In 1975, AIR was sold to the Chrysalis Group, and Martin used the infusion of cash to build a residential studio on the island of

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

, a British colony in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

where the producer had a residence at Olveston House in Salem. The studio was built near Martin's home, situated on a hilltop overlooking the sea within a 26-acre farm and surrounded by mango, citrus, and coconut groves. After two years of construction, AIR Montserrat () opened in July 1979, complete with several surrounding villas where clients could stay while working at the studio. The first band to record there was the Climax Blues Band who were recording their album ''Real to Reel''. As of 1979 the studio consisted of a 46-channel Neve

, a pair of MCI 24-track recorders, three Ampex ATR-102 2-track tape recorders and an MCI synchronizer (for any 46-track work), with JBL and Tannoy monitors.

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

recorded ''

Volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

'' at the Montserrat studio in May 1979, naming the album and its

title song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the then dormant Soufrière Hills

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

on the island.

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

recorded three albums at the Montserrat studio in the 1980s.

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...

recorded their hugely successful '' Brothers in Arms'' album at the studio between 1984 and 1985. Other well-known studio clients at AIR Montserrat included

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

('' Ghost in the Machine'' and ''

Synchronicity Synchronicity () is a concept introduced by Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, to describe events that coincide in time and appear meaningfully related, yet lack a discoverable causal connection. Jung held that this was a healthy fu ...

''),

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which wa ...

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...

(pre-recorded '' Junk Culture''),

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, Gerry Rafferty, Rush,

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

, Midge Ure, Little River Band,

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series ''The Big Time (TV series), The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to gain a ...

and

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

. By 1986, the studio equipment list read, in part: In 1989, shortly after the Rolling Stones had recorded their '' Steel Wheels'' album there, Hurricane Hugo devastated the island. While the Montserrat studio facility sustained only minor damage, it was never reopened, mainly due to changes in the recording industry. According to George Martin, The abandoned studio buildings were still standing as of 2021, but have been long neglected and have fallen into dereliction; their roofs are failing, leading to extensive damage to the floors of the accommodation area and the inner part of the studio complex, making them unsafe to walk on. The facility is now a modern ruin and is closed to the public. Olveston House operates as a guest house. The 2021 Australian documentary film ''

Under the Volcano ''Under the Volcano'' is a novel by the English writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) published in 1947. It tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British Consulate general, consul in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, Quauhnahuac on the D ...

'' interviews more than a dozen major artists and technicians who worked in the studio during the 1980s, and also includes archival narration and commentary by George Martin.

References

External links

AIR Studios website

Video tour and producer interviews shot at Air Studios
Recording studios in London George Martin Mass media companies established in 1965 Music production companies