In the 1960s there was little in the way of pre-built recording consoles, and most studios built or commissioned their own desks. EMI was no exception, choosing to manufacture all of its own mixers for use at Abbey Road Studios well into the 1970s. Early EMI mixers were simple devices designed to combine the signals of a few microphones into a single mono feed recorded straight to disc.
As microphone technology improved, engineers realised they could use separate microphones to capture different sections of an ensemble, achieving better balance and freeing musicians from crowding around one microphone. By the mid 1950s EMI had entered a golden era of mixer design, and these developments would play a significant role in the sound of the Beatles’ recordings.
EMI’s first steps toward modern console design came with its move into stereo recording in 1954. Technical Engineer Len Page responded to the company’s new requirements by forming REDD, the Record Engineering Development Department. This group was established in 1955 and operated from EMI’s Hayes facility. One of EMI REDD’s core goals was the creation of a true stereosonic recording desk. Page’s team delivered the first result of their work in December 1955 with the REDD.1, although its limited facilities meant it served only as a temporary solution while work continued on a more advanced system.
During this period REDD became aware of a new stereo desk developed in Germany by Peter Burkowtiz of EMI Electrola. Working for Carl Lindstroem Gesellschaft, Burkowtiz had already designed consoles for Electrola’s studios, and REDD eventually commissioned him to design a similar stereo desk for EMI in London. The result arrived in 1958: the REDD.17. With its self-contained components, dedicated faders, and bass and treble EQ on each channel, the REDD.17 was the first EMI desk recognisable as a modern recording console. Featuring Siemens V72S amplifiers and offering two echo sends and returns, it quickly replaced the REDD.1 and became the new standard at Abbey Road. Its portable construction also made it ideal for mobile and remote recording sessions.
Although the REDD.17 was a major step forward, REDD was already preparing a new generation of mixers. These efforts led to the creation of the EMI REDD.37 and EMI REDD.51, the consoles that would go on to define the sound of the Beatles’ recordings throughout the first half of the 1960s. Built in extremely limited numbers, these desks remain regarded as some of the most iconic and influential mixers in recording history.
