Over the past few decades, the playing field for music recording has expanded exponentially. Hit pop singles can now be cut in bedrooms, entire orchestral film scores have been recorded one instrument at a time and remote collaboration is often the name of the game. But there’s still no substitute for a thoroughly equipped, expertly staffed recording studio.
And Los Angeles remains the mecca of the global recording industry. Perhaps no single studio is as inseparable from L.A.
’s musical heritage as Capitol Studios, which is currently poised to reopen for business after a two-year closure for earthquake renovations. Its subterranean echo chambers and flagship Studio A have become just as legendary as the countless records that have been cut there. “Capitol is just the most fantastic room,” says songwriter-producer Glen Ballard, who has worked in just about every L.
A. studio of note during his career. “With Studio A, so many of the [Frank] Sinatra records were recorded in there, the big bands, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra,” he says.
“You don’t need to do anything to it, just set up the mics and you’re good. That’s probably the great room for me.” Fortunately, there are plenty of other great, centrally located L.
A. rooms with equally storied histories that have been busy in Capitol’s absence. Westlake Studios, which famously served as home base to Michael Jackson in the 1980s, has continued to attract sessions like Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” and SZA.
