Shure Notes Issue #14 - Making an Independent Recording




"Just like any musical instrument, microphones have ‘personalities’. Every engineer will have his own personal choice of microphones and might use a different one for the same instrument and a different player. Our focus at Gold Star was to suggest that each engineer experiment until he or she found out what worked best." David S. Gold and Stan Ross, founders of Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios Hollywood’s Gold Star Recording Studios was founded by David S. Gold and Stan Ross at 6252 Santa Monica Avenue in 1950. Until it closed in 1984, Gold Star was the birthplace of many classic recordings and notable careers.
			This way to the Wall of Sound Front door at Santa Monica Boulevard and Vine
	The studio generated over 100 Billboard Top 40 hit records, more RIAA/National Endowment of the Arts "Songs of the Century" than any independent studio in history, the most-programmed record in BMI history (“You‘ve Lost that Lovin‘ Feelin‘” by The Righteous Brothers,) the world’s first recording production style (the “Wall of Sound”), the first hit record incorporating 'musique concrete' [phasing] (‘The Big Hurt’ by Miss Toni Fisher). It was hailed by the National Association of Recording Arts and Science’s (NARAS) Grammy Magazine as one "of a handful of studios that made recording history". Gold Star also pioneered or gave the first popular exposure to such modern innovations as phase shifting, ‘looping’, controlled distortion, ‘flanging’ or automatic double tracking (ADT) and many other recording techniques commonly used today while recording numerous Broadway and movie musical scores, television and film soundtracks and classic pop, rock & roll, R&B and jazz performances.

	“The Wrecking Crew” – studio musicians at Gold Star, circa 1962 Photo: Hal Blaine The over 100 Billboard Top 40 Hits recorded at Gold Star included the following RIAA/NEA "Songs of the Century": La Bamba - Ritchie Valens Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran Oh, Donna - Ritchie Valens Tequila - The Champs* I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin - Righteous Brothers Be My Baby - The Ronettes* We thank Messrs. Gold and Ross, true recording trailblazers (come on now, Good Vibrations and the Wall of Sound?) for their assistance with this issue. While the studio is closed, its website is open. Learn more about the studio’s star-studded history at www.goldstarrecordingstudios.com.



		Also in this issue: Making an Independent Recording Part II Home of the Hits: L.A.'s Gold Star Studios The Buzz form Electric Lady Studios Product Spotlight Shure Notes® Archives Letter from The Editor E-mail to a Friend Change My Preferences Privacy Policy