Stroll by the doorways of Atlantis in central Stockholm and you are feeling historical past below your ft. The studio stands at Karlbergsvägen 57 in Vasastan. Lengthy earlier than it grew to become a recording landmark the constructing was a neighbourhood cinema, opening in 1941 because the 330-seat Kadetten and renamed Terry in 1943. The theatre closed in 1959 and that very same 12 months the Metronome report label transformed the premises right into a recording studio. From that time Stockholm had a brand new artistic engine.
From cinema to Metronome to Atlantis
Metronome Studios opened in 1959 and was run by Anders Burman and Börje Ekberg with sound engineers Gösta Wiholm and Rune Persson. Early classes featured Siw Malmkvist and Owe Thörnqvist, and the rooms had been quickly busy with tasks for different labels together with Povel Ramel’s Knäppupp and AB Svenska Ord. In January 1968 Michael B. Tretow joined as an engineer, a pivotal addition to the studio’s story.
The Hootenanny Singers recorded at Metronome and when band member Björn Ulvaeus started writing with Benny Andersson, their songs had been largely tracked right here. Ulvaeus’ girlfriend Agnetha Fältskog additionally recorded on the studio, and he or she and Andersson’s girlfriend Anni-Frid Lyngstad contributed backing vocals to Ulvaeus and Andersson’s 1970 album Lycka. The 4 quickly started recording collectively as ABBA. Nearly all of ABBA’s early and largest hit singles, together with Waterloo, Mamma Mia, and Understanding Me, Understanding You, had been lower at Metronome. In 1978 Ulvaeus and Andersson, along with Polar Music co-founder Stig Anderson, established Polar Studios which grew to become ABBA’s residence base. Tretow left Metronome for Polar and later grew to become its studio supervisor.
In 1983 Metronome was bought by Janne Hansson, an in-house engineer for a decade, who renamed the ability Atlantis Grammofon AB. Hansson ran Atlantis till Could 2020 when a brand new possession group took over. The crew contains Polar Studios veteran Stefan Boman, former Kent guitarist Sami Sirviö, Martin Terefe, Jörgen Ringstrand, Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, and Jonas Kamprad. In the present day the studio is thought merely as Atlantis Studios and stays a magnet for artists throughout genres. Historic purchasers embrace ABBA whereas later eras introduced The Cardigans, Roxette, Opeth, The Hives and plenty of others.
A management room that breathes music
The principle management room centres on a Neve 8026 loaded with 1084 preamps throughout 24 channels. The outboard is a who’s who of character and management, with stereo and mono Fairchilds, LA-2As, 1176s and Pultec-style EQ alongside rigorously chosen trendy items. There’s even a compact EMI desk with 4 mic amps and onboard limiting, a tangible nod to traditional British console design. Engineers will fortunately combine by the desk when a undertaking requires it, printing choices within the second. Many classes undertake a hybrid method that makes use of the Neve, choose outboard and an in-the-box grasp session for closing tweaks.
Rooms with character
The dwell space is modular and musical. A big important room flatters drums, strings and horns, with two adjoining cubicles that provide contrasting acoustics, one tremendous dry for management and one a contact livelier with detachable gobos. Latest bookings vary from intimate drum-less jazz quartets to full-on rock and metallic. Ghost spent seven weeks right here on their final report which underlines Atlantis’ relevance to trendy manufacturing.
The mic lockers are wonderful. U47s, M49s, U67s, a 251, KM54s and stereo treasures such because the SM69 and SM23 sit beside a ribbon nook stocked with RCA and Coles. The stock allows elegant multi-mic arrays, from traditional acoustic guitar setups to sturdy ensembles recorded dwell with separation throughout the cubicles and the purple room upstairs.
The well-known Atlantis echo chambers
Objective-built concrete echo chambers stay certainly one of Atlantis’ nice belongings. Designed after early analysis journeys to American services, the chambers keep away from parallel partitions which will increase decay, and a classic Ampex speaker feeds the house. Push it and also you get a musical saturation that blends with the lengthy tail in a method plates and plugins not often seize. Softube’s Atlantis Twin Chambers brings a convincing digital model to the broader world, full with the power to drive the digital amp.
Softube Atlantis Twin Chambers: https://www.softube.com/plug-ins/atlantis-dual-chambers
Stefan Boman’s imaginative and prescient, from console to Atmos
Producer and mixer Stefan Boman is each co-owner and a artistic anchor at Atlantis. Beneath his stewardship the ability has benefited from a full rewire and a considerate refresh that features a welcoming bar and communal space which inspires bands and producers to dwell with their information whereas they work. Stefan’s private combine room homes a full Genelec immersive array and a big Avid controller, the setting the place he blended Opeth’s newest album The Final Will and Testomony. The room interprets exactly, whether or not you’re constructing a dense progressive metallic association or sculpting intimate vocals.
Be taught with Stefan at Kohle Audio Kult
Now you can sit over Stefan’s shoulder. His course at Kohle Audio Kult takes you inside his unique combine session for “Paragraph 1” from Opeth’s The Final Will and Testomony. He opens each layer, from plugins and outboard decisions to automation, results chains, bus structure and the pondering behind tone seize on the monitoring stage. The course is hands-on. You may obtain the unique multitracks, craft your individual combine, add it, and obtain a private assessment from Christian Kohlmannslehner. Standout mixes will probably be chosen for prizes from Softube which feels becoming given the studio’s hyperlink to the Atlantis chambers.
Get the course right here: https://www.kohleaudiokult.com/programs/opeth
Why Atlantis endures
Atlantis Studios at Karlbergsvägen 57 is a uncommon mix of provenance and practicality. The Neve, the Fairchilds, the EMI sidecar and people echo chambers present simple character. The rooms are versatile, the mic assortment is second to none, and the individuals who run it worth music above mythology. Whether or not you’re chasing the shimmer of seventies pop or the precision of recent metallic, Atlantis delivers. It’s dwelling proof that traditional instruments and modern pondering make information that final.
In case you are able to deepen your craft, begin with Stefan Boman’s Kohle Audio Kult course and work by the Opeth multitracks. Then take these classes again to your room, or higher but, convey a undertaking to Karlbergsvägen 57 and listen to your songs bloom in an area that helped outline the sound of standard music.
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing
Get the course right here: https://www.kohleaudiokult.com/programs/opeth
Watch the video right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyT3Bq5a314
Softube Atlantis Twin Chambers: https://www.softube.com/plug-ins/atlantis-dual-chambers
