History

York Street Recording Studio is New Zealand’s Premier Recording Studio based in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded and built by producer Malcolm Welsford and Jaz Coleman it quickly became New Zealand’s leading music recording, mixing and mastering facility.

The Neve

The heart of the control room is the vintage 1974 EMI Neve. There were 7 of these consoles made by the legends at Neve specifically for EMI studios around the world, one of which was in Wellington, New Zealand. One is at U2′s studio in Dublin, one is at ICP studios in Brussels, Belgium, two have been put together as one large console and is in Steakhouse studios in Hollywood CA, two are currently being put together at the Great Linford Manor in England and number 7 is here at York Street in New Zealand, which is the only one left in original condition and retains the same warmth and clarity as the day it was built.

York Street’s console (serial number A3095) is fitted with 24 inputs all with the very rare and sought after 1093 modules (5 band EQ) and has 16 returns. The console uses 1977 channel routing units and 3415 line amps. Kept in immaculate condition, the console is a lovely sounding beast.

The Studio Rooms

The Control Room

York Street’s large control room is well lit and air conditioned making long recording and mixing sessions more comfortable. All equipment is well laid out and maintained to a high level with a logical, adaptable and easy to use signal path.

Engineers and Producers enjoy the confidence of making decisions in a reliable, natural sounding control environment. What they hear, the eventual CD buyer will also experience.

The Live Room

The recording area is composed of a 1,000 sq ft (93 m²) main room and mezzanine, with two adjoining isolation rooms and a third separate isolation booth.

The main room is 20 ft (6.1 m) high and is New Zealand’s only high-stud professional studio live room. It has virtually no permanent acoustic absorption, relying on room shape and deflective elements to achieve control of reverberation. The result is a space in which instruments have the opportunity to develop their natural timbre, and performers can hear each other and play together in an enjoyable, relaxed atmosphere.

Each isolation room is decoupled from the main room, further reducing any possible spill and allowing York Street engineers to record full bands playing live with virtually no bleed.

The studio has been frequented by various artists from throughout New Zealand and Australia, as well as several other artists from around the world. The list of the studios clients includes; Silverchair, Crowded House, Bic Runga, Shihad, Interpol, Che Fu, Dave Dobbyn, Daniel Bedingfield, Goldenhorse, No Doubt, Fur Patrol, The Feelers, Strawpeople, Killing Joke, Bailterspace, Semisonic, The Exponents, Headless Chickens, The Stereo Bus, Engelbert Humperdinck, Hello Sailor, Blindspott, Tadpole, Head Like A Hole, Zed, Ben King, Pluto, Supergroove, Brooke Fraser, Payola, Carly Binding, 48May, and Dukes.

Producers who have worked at the studio include; Mitchell Froom, Jaz Coleman, Youth (producer), Gil Norton, Malcolm Foster, Chris Van De Geer, Andrew Buckton, Malcolm Welsford, Danton Supple, Tchad Blake, Brian Paulson, Greg Haver, Bradey Blade, P Money, and Jonathan Campbell.