It had become more and more over due: visiting London Rock City! So this was exactly what we finally did. In the middle of May 2008 we decided to go for the island for a complete week. And because travelling alone is just half the fun, the whole thing started with a little side trip to Paris in order to pick up good old Tom VDH...
And here we are already in Calais, where a ferry that seemed to have just come out of a vintage science fiction movie prepares to tear off terrified Tom's reached out hand with a single bite... He could be saved in the last moment, though.
Barely two hours later we arrived at the cliffs of Dover; the sea being as smooth at glass. Now the great adventure could begin: Driving on the wrong side of the road, British Pounds, five o'clock tea, Guinness, and - most importantly of all - grilled sausages and beans for breakfast!
And here we are at our first appointment already. This one took us high into the sky, in fact into the 29th floor of London Centre Point where the Alchemy Mastering studio is situated. Ray Staff directly assembled the alpha compressor into his console - maybe as a permanent resident soon?
By the way, this is what Ray sees when he does not have his eyes on the instruments for a moment. For us, this was also great, because we just did not find the time for a London sight seeing tour because of so many studio appointments. An amazing vantage point!
Tom and Dominik in front of the famous Konk studio. It had already been built in 1973 by Ray Davies (founding member of the Kinks). We had the great honour to meet Ray in person; followed by a nice posing action in front of his door after the product demonstration.
But now let's have a few into the inside of Konk studios, too: Ben Mason creates a truly monstrous drum sound by using the mpressor - and shows himself so impressed that we had to leave the unit at Konk for further evaluation straight away. Mission accomplished ;-)
Ok, ok, clocking is an important and better not underestimated topic for us studio freaks. Still: Would I place such a chunk next to my racks in order to improve things... hmm, I don't know. But anyway: A proof of working hours in form of photo evidence - who else could offer that?
And now for something completely different: The expedition to the two Abbey Road studios as a hopefully interesting alternative to the world's most famous zebra crossing, which we simply dropped because of tourist congestion and high traffic volume.
A real, true technical delight: Tom Williams presents the original EMI TG Equipment that still is in daily operation at Abbey Road (besides loads of other equipment worth a photo story of its own). Doesn't that look familiar somehow? Oh yes, it does!
And this is also not unknown to quite some people, is it? On the drive to the next appointment we by chance cross the Battersea Power Station which has been the model for Storm Thorgerson's ingenious cover artwork for Pink Floyd's album 'Animals'.
Finally, something to eat! A good opportunity to meet some new and old friends. From left to right: Robert King from Z-Noise Recording Studio, Jules Standen from gearslutz, Dominik und Tom. After the nice Thai meal we had chocolate cake with courgette as a desert. Great!
Power station, second encounter: Here we are straight in the heart of Metropolis. In one of the numerous mastering suites, Crispin Murry enjoys the versatile functions of the alpha compressor. Only two days later, a demo unit left our factory to stay at Metropolis for a couple of weeks...
A view into Steve Rhodes' completely new built-up Alpha Centauri Recording studio. If you are into high end outboard equipment, I am pretty sure you will love this place - what a great collection! You can't see Steve in the picture, but there is an old friend at the right image border.
On visit at the mixing god's: Just one floor below we met Alan Moulder in his Assault & Battery Studio. Alan just gives the alpha compressor a try - no big surprise, as he already owns an mpressor anyway. For us, this was the absolutely perfect completion of a wonderful journey.
Finally, we want to dedicate a big and sincere Thank You to 'Uncle' Clem Rumley who runs the definitively coolest bed & breakfast location in entire London. As far as I am concerned, the gain in weight was about 5 kilo. At least it felt like it ;-) Many thanks, Clem, and see you soon!
