The Ultimate Tour Of Smart Studios

 
First off a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Butch Vig for arranging this amazing tour of Smart Studios. I have to say this. The tour we got was a walk through for us. Please do not attempt to go to the studio and expect the access that we were granted. This was a one time thing. 

We were told to go to the studio on Saturday September 13, 2003. We met up with Jay one of the engineers at the studio. He gave us an amazing tour of the studio and explained all the equipment in each room and what it did. He also answered any questions that we had. I have to give a really big THANK YOU to Jay for taking the time he did with us. He also told us about who had recorded in the rooms and how the studio actually works. 

 

Studio A

Upstairs

 

 When we arrived at the studio we were greeted by Jay who took us into the downstairs studio A. The first thing that you see in this room is the mixing console The Trident A-Range. It is an awesome site when you see it. The pictures below show the Trident mixing board, Shirley Hurricane amp from the 1996 tour and assorted amps that the band in the studio is using. The bottom row of pictures has some of the guitar's in the studio. The red Gibson 355 is a custom shop made for Duke. You can also see Steve's gold Jackson guitar. There are also photos of mic'd amps in the downstairs live room. Including the amp used on the main Smart Studios web site. 
 

 

Studio B

Downstairs

This is the guitar pick I was given in the studio. 
These are pictures of the upstairs studio at Smart Studios. This is where the band is currently recording there fourth album. The following pictures are of the studio and the bands actual equipment they are using to record the album. I have to admit when I went into this studio it had a really cool vibe. I remember thinking I am actually in the studio where the band is recording there album. 

The last picture on the top row is the Pro Tools rig the band is using to record the album. The middle row has pictures of the mixing board in the studio and a huge rack full or equipment. It also has Steve's Nord Lead that he uses on tour. The bottom row has a picture in the booth where Shirley is recording her vocals and two racks of guitars.

When we went into the upstairs studio I was expecting to see all the bands live equipment. It was not there we were told it was in storage. Although part of Dukes keyboard rig was in the studio. Still it was so cool to be in the studio. 


 
During the tour I took pictures of everything. Being that this was a once in a lifetime thing I had to get pictures with some of the equipment and awards. The Austrailian BG award that was downstairs was one of the coolest awards I have ever seen. I believe it was for 2 million copies sold. I also got this cool track sheet that the bands use while recording the albums.