EMI TG12345
_and_Microphones%252C_Abbey_Road_Studios.jpg)
_Caroline_Forbes.jpg)
The EMI TG12345 was a mixing console designed by EMI for their Abbey Road Studios, which was used to mix several influential albums, including The Beatles' Abbey Road and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.[1]
Overview
The TG12345 was installed in Abbey Road Studio Two in late 1968,[2] making it possible for the studio to double the number of tracks it could record simultaneously, from four to eight. The mixer had twenty-four microphone inputs and eight tape outputs,[3] a significant increase over the eight microphone inputs and four tape outputs of the REDD .51 mixing console that it replaced.[4] This also enabled the studio to replace its four-track Studer J37 multitrack tape recorder with the eight-track 3M M23.[5]
The TG12345 was Abbey Road Studios' first solid-state mixing console and, unlike its predecessors that were based on vacuum tubes, it featured a compressor as well as equalization built into each channel.
Abbey Road was recorded and mixed on that console. All members of the Beatles also recorded a solo album on it. John Lennon recorded Plastic Ono Band, Ringo Starr recorded Sentimental Journey, Paul McCartney recorded McCartney, and George Harrison recorded All Things Must Pass.[6] Others influential albums were also recorded on the EMI TG12345, such as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.[7]
The console was decommissioned in 1972 and stored dismantled in the attic of Abbey Road Studio n°3. Parts were scattered until the sound engineer Mike Hedges rescued it in 1988. Hedges worked during the following decades to reunite the original parts of the console. In 2018, Hedges contacted Malcolm Jackson of MJQ, a recording studio real-estate and used equipment broker, and Brian Gibson, former studio technician at Abbey Road Studio who worked on the console, to restore the EMI TG12345.[8] The restoration took four years, and the console was placed for auction in October 2024.[9] It was sold for £1,750,000.[10]
Hardware recreations and software emulations
In 2011, Chandler Limited released the Curve Bender, a rackmount recreation of the TG12345's EQ section.[11] In 2014, Waves Audio released a plug-in that emulates two channels of the TG12345.[12]
References
- ^ Stanfield, Geoff (2015). "An "Abbey Road" Plug-In? G. Stanfield Reviews Waves' Emulation of the EMI TG12345 Channel Strip". Tape Op. USA. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- ^ Massey, Howard (2015). The Great British Recording Studios. Lanham, Maryland, US: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4584-2197-5.
- ^ Pickford, John (2014-07-29). "Studio Icons: EMI TG12345 Mixing Console". MusicTech. UK: Anthem Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- ^ Pickford, John (2014-06-11). "Studio Icons: EMI REDD .51". MusicTech. UK: Anthem Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- ^ Harris, Tony; Burns, Phil. "Abbey Road Studios London". Archived from the original on 2016-02-11. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- ^ "The Beatles EMI TG 12345 Abbey Road Console - MJQ Recording Studio Property Sales & Lettings, Vintage/ Classic Recording Equipment Brokers/ Repair Specialists". 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
- ^ Stanfield, Geoff (2015). "An "Abbey Road" Plug-In? G. Stanfield Reviews Waves' Emulation of the EMI TG12345 Channel Strip". Tape Op. USA. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- ^ "The Beatles EMI TG 12345 Abbey Road Console - MJQ Recording Studio Property Sales & Lettings, Vintage/ Classic Recording Equipment Brokers/ Repair Specialists". 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
- ^ "Recording console used by Beatles on Abbey Road album up for sale". BBC News. 2024-10-29. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
- ^ "EMI TG 12345 'Abbey Road' Console | Reverb France". reverb.com. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
- ^ "Chandler Curve Bender Review". MusicTech. UK: Anthem Publishing Ltd. 2011-09-19. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- ^ "News: Waves & Abbey Road release EMI TG12345 plug-in". Sound on Sound. UK: SOS Publications Group. 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2015-12-03.