CONSOLE TECHNOLOGY Future Classics


Often the topic of fierce debate, Kevin Hilton attempts to answer the age-old question of what, exactly, makes a console classic?


The SSL SL 4000E quickly became a standard in the recording industry after its launch in 1981


LIKE LOVE, hate, and genius, classic is an overused word, to the point where it can be almost meaningless. But in the right context it still has some relevance, so that something that has stood the test of time can be described as ‘classic’. This is as true for mixing consoles as it is for cars, but, in both cases – aside from the practical matters of performance and ease of driving – what makes for something that endures can often be hard to quantify. This nebulous quality is summed up by Tim


Summerhayes, who says that during the 1970s he kept hearing people say “Well, there’s just something about it,” when talking about equipment. “It related to new or old outboard equipment, a console, a tape recorder, and even samplers and drum machines,” he explains.


8 November 2013


“I think there are few if any classic digital consoles. But in decades yet to come perhaps today’s transparent beast will become tomorrow’s classic. Somehow I doubt it.” Dennis Weinreich


In the classic car world, marque names that


are still producing new cars today – like Jaguar, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo – exist alongside makes that are now only historic examples of past glories: Austin Healy, Jensen, Alvis. The same is true with consoles; SSL, Calrec, AMS Neve,


API, and Midas have all produced classics, as did EMI, Helios (originally made for Olympic Studios), and MCI, which are no longer produced. Summerhayes ‘grew up’ at RAK Studios in


St Johns Wood, London. RAK opened in 1976 and is still going today with its original API desks in Studios 1 and 2. Studio 3 houses a Neve VRP Legend with Flying Fader automation, while a SSL 4056 E with G series computer is in Studio 4, making the complex a working museum for vintage desks. Starting out in studio work, Summerhayes


says he “learned the trade on API, MCI, Harrison, and, of course, SSL”. He adds that “all were fabulous learning curves and were able to capture the sounds of the time”, making


The International Guide To Consoles 2013


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