To come back! Abbey Road Studios reopen after COVID hiatus

LONDON (Reuters) – London’s famed Abbey Road Studios reopened on Thursday after closing during the coronavirus lockdown for the first time in its 90-year history.

Famous for recording artists like Edward Elgar, the Beatles and Lady Gaga, the studio’s mixing desks were powered up for a socially distanced session with famed American jazz singer Melody Gardot.

“We didn’t even stop for a world war, so it feels like a real moment to come back,” Isabel Garvey, managing director of Abbey Road Studios, told Reuters.

Music industry workers have been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus lockdown, enacted in Britain on March 23. Many have been barred from lockdown state support schemes due to the irregular nature of music work.

Garvey said around half of Abbey Road staff were unable to work out of the studio during the lockdown.

“I think music has transported people over the past 10, 11 weeks of lockdown,” Garvey said.

“So to have artists back to record, make music again, maybe even relate to the experience that they’ve had, that’s really good. We need that as humans, I think. .

Gardot’s recording session offered a potential glimpse into the future of music production in a post-COVID world.

The singer joined her producer Larry Klein from Los Angeles remotely from Paris. Both appeared on the big screen at Abbey Road to communicate with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who performed there for the first time since lockdown.

“We’re using the best technology and musicians in the space to make it all work,” Garvey said.

THE MUSIC MUST CONTINUE

Gardot said it was an honor to become the first artist to record at Abbey Road since it reopened and told Reuters “the music must go on” even if a bit of the magic was missing because of her distance from the musicians.

“It’s a bit frustrating at times because of course, like so many other things, you miss tactility,” said Gardot, who previously recorded at Abbey Road in 2009.

Opened by Elgar in 1931, the studio is reporting a good slate of future bookings, but social distancing measures mean there will be some limitations – especially for the large orchestras often present recording the big soundtracks of movies.

Abbey Road boss Garvey said orchestral capacity at its largest studios had been cut in half following a review.

“Registration here is still really viable – it will just be with a smaller number,” she said.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand… so it’s looking good but it will take time to get back to normal levels.”

Gardot said she wanted to seize the moment rather than wait until 2021 before making music again, when life could return to normal.

“I can’t wait to do something, to create something, to make music,” she said.

Writing by Andy Bruce, additional reporting by Sarah Mills; edited by Stephen Addison and Estelle Shirbon

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