Talk:Trident Studios

Bad Writing

This is terrible writing and it would be nice if it was cleared up, so we understand better what befell the studio: "In 1986, Short bought out the other investors and opened Trident 2 which was opened in 1983 and the investors were J.P. Illiesco and Rusty Egan. There were also another group of producers and investors who tried to buy Trident in the 80's after its initial closure headed by Neville Kernick-Nixon, Flood and John Keating, the former then opened The Mad House later known as The Music Station"

Copyright violation

Parts of this article are lifted verbatim from http://www.themarqueeclub.net/trident-studios which is clearly marked Copyright TheMarqueeClub.net. Please paraphrase the paragraphs from

Other artists who were sent from Apple Records...

up to about mid way through the paragraph beginning

The history of the Sheffield brothers and Trident Studios is also linked...

PeterGrecian (talk) 15:45, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Contradiction

This article seems to suggest that Paul McCartney's unused block time was given away to a then-unknown Queen, inadvertently starting the rise of the most successful British rock band since The Beatles, and then just a few sentences later states that McCartney purposely lent this time out to Queen, knowing that they had potential.

As I don't know the answer for sure, I'll leave it in for now, however it is surely more likely the former? McCartney has essentially admitted an admiration and respect for Queen (especially Freddie Mercury) but certainly stopped short of saying he liked them on The Magic Years documentary. Perry (talk) 21:38, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Sheffield Interview 2011

There is a reference that is simply called "Sheffield Interview 2011". What is that? Where was it published so that we can read it? As it is now, I feel it is not a trustworthy reference. Mark in wiki (talk) 10:28, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

For those reasons alone, I have removed it. The whole article lacks references, and although I have removed unsourced and opinionated text, there are still sections remaining that are not neutral in tone. Much more verified sources and far less hyperbole please.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 18:06, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

Sample discography section

In the article Goodbye Yellow Brick Road it says the album was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville. There's no mention of Trident at all. But in the article "Candle in the Wind" (about the 1973 song!) it says that the single was recorded at Trident. However, both the album and the single are listed in the "sample discography" section here, which makes me wonder if there are more mistakes here. Maybe we need to check each title one by one. Or is the article about Goodbye Yellow Brick Road incorrect? I do not know enough of Elton John (and do not want to) to make a decision here. But my first thought is: why would we want to list the single at all? It wasn't that succesful (only the 1997 remake was, but that wasn't recorded by Trident!). Mark in wiki (talk) 10:31, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

External links modified

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Unclear sentence

The article contains the sentence " In 1986, Short bought out the other investors and opened Trident 2 which was opened in 1983 and the investors were J.P. Illiesco and Rusty Egan. " - but which year was Trident 2 really started? If someone in the know could please clarify. Thanks Cyan22 (talk) 12:23, 31 July 2020 (UTC)

Wrong EQ on 1968 recordings

I'm a recording engineer who understands how professional tape recorders work. After extensive reading about the recordings made at Trident in 1968 I discovered some interesting information. The first 8 track recorder installed at Trident in early 1968 was made by the 3M Corporation in the USA. It was designed to use the standard USA 60 Hz AC current and the standard NAB USA equalization curve. The UK standards are 50 Hz AC and the CCIR (later known as IEC) EQ curve. The initial setup of the 3M machine at Trident did not correct for these different standards. It took several months for the engineers at Trident to fix these problems. The issues are described in the Beatles Recording Sessions book from 1988 where it talks about recording The Beatles song Hey Jude.

During 1968 many recordings made at Trident had the same sound quality problem. When the Trident tapes of the mono Hey Jude with NAB were played back at EMI with IEC they sounded wrong. The EMI engineers later tried to fix this with additional manual EQ adjustments. But the EQ inside the recorder and the EQ on the mixing console do not work the same way. The mono mix of Hey Jude was never really fixed. But it was fixed with the Hey Jude stereo remix a few years later. Other 1968 Trident recordings with the same sound quality problems are The Iveys album "Maybe Tomorrow" and The Van Der Graaf Generator album "Aerosol Grey Machine". Some tracks from the Iveys album were later fixed when the were remixed for the Badfinger album "Magic Christian Music". The VDGG album never was fixed.

The AC current mismatch of 60 to 50 Hz causes this machine to run at 83.33% of the correct speed. The math is 50 divided by 60 = .83333. The 3M machine running at the correct 60 Hz plays and records at 15 inches per second. But when the machine runs with 50 Hz current it runs at a non-standard speed of 12.5 inches per second. The speed 2.5 inch difference is rather small and not really a sound quality problem, provided that the record and playback speeds are the same. However, all other things being equal a slower speed has lower high frequency sound quality than faster speeds. This is one of the reasons why some music producers prefer to use the 30 inches per second speed over the more common 15. Also there is only one EQ standard for the 30 inch speed.

The real problem is not speed but the equalization EQ mismatch between NAB and IEC. The NAB standard was developed in the USA in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The European IEC standard was developed in Germany about 10 years later. IEC is technically more advanced with improved accuracy in the upper frequencies. However, it breaks compatibility with NAB recordings. Some music producers in the USA and UK actually prefer the NAB standard because of the "warmer mid range" sound. Both are professional standards that can sound great. Used properly, it's only a matter of taste and compatibility. But when NAB recordings were later played back improperly on an IEC machine the result is a "muddy" sound quality.

It's rather frustrating to know that the EQ mismatch and speed problems were explained in the Beatles Recording Sessions book from 1988 but either not explained or ignored by Ken Scott when he wrote his Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust book in 2012. Surely he knew and understood the problems at some point in time. Maybe he forgot. The Beatles Recording Sessions book also explains that there was a delay of several months between the time that EMI bought their first 3M 8 track recorder and the time they put it into service. During this time the engineers did testing or modifications on the machine. What exactly were they doing? It's not really explained in the book, but obviously, they understood the AC and EQ mismatch problems and were trying to fix them.

I am sure that the managers of Trident were embarrassed by their mistakes and didn't want to talk about it. This is the reason why most people never figured it out. I am glad they eventually solved the problem though. The 8 track recordings from Trident made in late 1968 sound excellent. Examples are the Beatles 8 track recordings from Trident that are on The White Album and the debut James Taylor album.

Lucky for us there is now software available that can correct for EQ mismatches. This article explains it: https://pspatialaudio.com/tape%20equalisation%20correction.htm

Someone who is a serious fan of the Iveys or Van Der Graaf Generator should get the software and use it to fix the "muddy" sound of these albums. Then we will all be able to hear the music as it was intended for the first time ever. Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2025-38605-43 (talk) 18:57, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Correction, apparently the 8 track machine installed at Trident in 1968 was an Ampex AG440, not a 3M machine. Regardless, it was made in the US and also used the US standard 60 Hz AC current and NAB EQ curve. These are not compatible with the UK standard 50 Hz AC and IEC/CCIR EQ curve. ~2026-14636-22 (talk) 23:38, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

This source says that the 1968 Trident 8 track machine was actually a 3M model M59.

https://gearspace.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/1002208-trident-studios-tape-machines.html ~2026-14636-22 (talk) 23:57, 10 March 2026 (UTC)