Rockfield Studios

Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, close to the village of Rockfield. The studio was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward.

Recording studios

Rockfield is a two-studio facility consisting of The Coach House and The Quadrangle. Both studios are in converted solid-stone farm buildings. Rockfield was one of the world's first recording studios to provide living accommodation for clients.[1]

The Coach House

Constructed in 1968, The Coach House includes a large 150 m2 live area with stone walls, a wooden ceiling and a Yamaha grand piano. It has a stone drum room, an acoustically variable second drum room, and two isolation booths. Recording equipment is based on a customised Neve 8128 recording console with vintage outboard processing, including Neve 1060 microphone amps, Rockfield's original Rosser Electronics microphone amps, API 550 equalisers and UREI 1176

History

Background and early history

The Ward family bought Amberley Court Farm in Rockfield, originally a Shire horse breeding centre, in the early 1950s and ran it as a livestock farm with 500 pigs and a herd of dairy cows.[5] Brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward were educated at Abergavenny Grammar School. Charles liked the early rock and roll music of Elvis Presley and began playing an acoustic guitar that he had purchased for £5. In 1960 the brothers formed a band, the Charles Kingsley Combo, and Kingsley wrote songs which they recorded on a tape deck borrowed from a local businessman.[6] The brothers decided to pursue a record deal and drove to EMI's pressing plant in Middlesex, London, where they were redirected to the label's offices in Manchester Square. That day, without an appointment, they met producer George Martin. He did not sign the brothers, but said the reason he arranged a meeting was that they were the first artists he had seen bring a portable reel-to-reel tape deck with them.[7][5]

The Ward brothers returned to London the following year and met producer Joe Meek at his studio. Meek signed them, and the brothers recorded songs as The Charles Kingsley Creation and as The Thunderbolts. After observing Meek's studio techniques, they set up a recording studio of their own in an attic space at Rockfield with a Rosser Electronics mixing console and a Ferrograph tape machine. In 1961 the brothers began recording local bands in their studio, which they named Future Sounds Ltd, charging £5 per acetate.[8]

Early success

In 1963 the Ward brothers converted an existing farmhouse building into a recording studio. They invested in an 8-track tape deck and lined the studio with feed bags for sound deadening.[7][9] In 1965 they made Rockfield the world's first residential studio, enabling bands and artists to live on the premises and stay in peaceful rural surroundings while they were recording.[1]

The first big hit recorded in the studios was Dave Edmunds' "I Hear You Knocking" in 1970.[1] In the early 1970s, the studios were used to record seven albums by Budgie, several by Hawkwind, one by Hobo, Peter Hammill's second solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night in 1973, Ace's hit single "How Long" in 1974, and Queen's album Sheer Heart Attack. Queen worked on developing their album A Night at the Opera and the song "

Later developments

As trends moved from the rock music of the 1970s and 1980s to the electronic music of the 1990s, which made greater use of technology and could almost be produced from a bedroom, there was less need for studio space and complex analogue recording systems. Rockfield was also facing competition, with many of the main recording labels creating their own residential recording studios, such as Virgin's "The Manor".[5] The Rockfield company was struggling and the Ward brothers decided to split the farm. Kingsley retained the Rockfield half and Charles refurbished a semi-derelict manor house on the opposite side of the valley to create Monnow Valley Studio.[5]

In financial difficulties, and with his wife Anne working full-time as a book keeper, Kingsley was approached by friend and record producer John Leckie to record the first album of Manchester band The Stone Roses.[5] The band was resident for 14 months in 1988-89 recording their first and second albums and saved the studio. Their residency attracted recording sessions from other bands, including Oasis.[5]

industry	Music
founded	1963
founder	Kingsley and Charles Ward
hq location city	Rockfield
hq location country	Wales
website	http://www.rockfieldmusicgroup.com/

Recording studios

The Coach House

The Quadrangle

History

Background and early history

Early success

Later developments

Artist roster

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s/2020s

External links

References