The Warehouse Studio

The Warehouse Studio is a music recording facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, owned by Bryan Adams.

The building

The Warehouse Studio is housed in the oldest brick building in Vancouver, which is located in present-day Gastown. Originally built by the Oppenheimer Brothers in either June 1886 or July 1887 as Vancouver's first wholesale grocery business, it also served as Vancouver's first City Hall. For most of its 115+ year history, the building held a glass factory and storage warehouse for Pilkington Glass Company.

The old Warehouse Studio was in the basement of Bryan Adams' former West Vancouver house, located on the 3330 block of Mathers Avenue, and held an SSL 4072 G+ (now in Studio 1). While he was on tour, Bryan would allow other bands to record there, but because of the intrusion on privacy and noise, he had plans to create a studio complex in the heart of Vancouver. In 1991, he bought the abandoned, burnt-out brick building. Despite heavy taxes by the City and the cost of making it earthquake safe, Bryan restored it. The building was sheared in two, and one-half of it was gutted into an open air courtyard with a parking lot and small putting green. The other half is the 3-storey studio, in which he made sure kept a lot of its old character and charm.

In 1998, Bryan received a City of Vancouver Heritage Award for his effort.

The studios

The acoustic and technical considerations of The Warehouse Studio while it was being built, and up until 2003, were handled by Ron "Obvious" Vermeulen. He headed a team of musicians and technicians in designing the studio. The current Technical Director is John Vrtacic.

Studio 1 - SSL 4072 G+

Opened on October 18, 1999, it is the third studio to be in operation. Found on the first floor, it is the most popular mixing studio. It has a large iso booth attached, and a small lounge and kitchen.

The control room has a 72-channel Solid State Logic SL 4000 G Series Master Studio System console, with Total Recall and Black E Series EQ installed.

Studio 2 - Neve A6630

Opened in February 9, 1998, it is the second studio to be in operation. Located on the second floor, it is the main tracking room. The dimensions of the live room are 32 ft by 58 ft with a 24-ft ceiling, with three isolation booths. There is also a lounge area, a long table for dining, full kitchen services, and a small patio for smoking.

Neve A6630 console

The Neve A6630 installed in Studio 2 is one of the three legendary custom-ordered consoles built for Sir George Martin. Built in 1979, it was installed in AIR Studios London on Oxford Street. It later found a home in Atlantic Studios in New York, until Bryan bought it in 1991. Ron Obvious rebuilt and modded the console, and it was installed into Studio 2.

It is a split console, with 58 channels, 24 busses, and a 32 channel tape monitor panel (58x24x32). The mic pres are remote, meaning the actual pres (34427 modules) are housed in rolling carts on the live room floor. The mic trim pot on the console sends a control voltage to the pre. The main 52 channels have 31106 EQ modules.

Some mods that have been done to the console include:
* GML Automation faders (installed in February 2001).
* 6 custom "Sleve" strips: an SSL mic pre and EQ circuitry housed in a Neve channel strip.
* In-line monitor panel.

Studio 3 - SSL 9080 J

Opening on July 9, 1997, it is the first studio to be in operation. It is a 5.1 mixing studio (no live room is attached), located on the third floor. It has a large lounge area with full kitchen services, and a small patio for smoking and the barbecue.

The control room houses an 80-channel Solid State Logic SL 9000 J Series Total Studio System console.

Edit Suite

On the first floor is the Edit Suite, a room with a Pro Tools rig and a Mackie Digital 8-Bus console for monitoring, and a small iso booth for any recording needed.

Mobile Unit

The Warehouse Studio also has a mobile unit which recorded Bryan Adams' album "18 til I Die" in Jamaica and in Provence.

Credits

* Stars - "In Our Bedroom after the War"
* AC/DC - "Stiff Upper Lip", "Black Ice"
* Avril Lavigne - "Under My Skin"
* Bryan Adams - "18 til I Die", "Room Service", "On a Day Like Today"
* Atreyu - "The Curse"
* Biffy Clyro - "Puzzle"
* Billy Talent - "Billy Talent II"
* Chevelle - "Wonder What's Next"
* The Cribs - "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever"
* Good Charlotte - "Good Morning Revival"
* illScarlett - "All Day With It"
* Matthew Good - "Hospital Music"
* Metallica - "Cunning Stunts"
* Mudvayne - "L.D. 50"
* Nickelback - "Silver Side Up", "The Long Road", "All The Right Reasons"
* Nirvana - "From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah"
* R.E.M. - "Reveal", "Around the Sun"
* Reset - No Limits
* Rise Against - "Siren Song of the Counter Culture"
* Shakira - "Fijación Oral Vol. 1", "Oral Fixation Vol. 2"
* Simple Plan - "Still Not Getting Any..."
* Slayer - "God Hates Us All"
* The Tragically Hip - "World Container"

Producers and Engineers
* Bob Clearmountain
* Bob Rock
* GGGarth
* Mike Fraser
* Randy Staub
* Dave "Rave" Ogilvie
* David Bottrill
* Andy Wallace

External links

* [http://www.warehousestudio.com/ The Warehouse Studio (official site)]
* [http://home.conceptsfa.nl/~mlassauw/bryan/Interviews/canadian.htm Interview with Bryan Adams by Canadian Musician]
* [http://thebadhouse.homestead.com/warehousearticle1.html Article on The Warehouse Studio, originally on bumph.com]
* [http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_bryan_adams_warehouse/index.html Interview with Bryan Adams, conducted by Bob Clearmountain, that appeared in Mix Magazine] ( [http://www.bryanadams.nu/reviews/mix_magazine_jan2000.html scans] )