Abbey Road: Open House offered a limited number of visitors the chance to take a rare tour of the hallowed studios One, Two and Three for the very first time.
Smyle, which has been Abbey Road’s production partner for more than a decade, worked with the Abbey Road team to create the inaugural tour route, ensure Covid-19 health and safety protocols and devise additional content.
As part of the experience, Smyle helped to create the specially curated journey through the studios’ history. The experience brought to life the story of some of its landmark recordings through audio experiences, film and images. Visitors had the chance to view all three original recording rooms – studios which have played host to recordings from The Beatles to Ed Sheeran, Adele, Kanye West and Ed Sheeran. The Open House event also showcased the studios’ rich history of film scoring, demonstrating how the Studios have been used to record the scores for movies including Star Wars, the Harry Potter films and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Visitors also saw all three control rooms and the famous Studio Two Echo Chamber.
Highlights of the tour included equipment displays from the EMI TG Mk3 recording console, the famous ‘Mrs Mills’ piano, and many other notable instruments and artifacts from the studios’ collection – each displayed to full effect with innovative lighting and information displays.
Visitors had to pre-book a time slot for the tour, with a limit on groups of ten for each tour ensuring that numbers were carefully controlled. Smyle instigated a number of health and safety protocols once visitors joined the tour, including creating a one-way route through the studio for guests to follow, which was clearly signposted throughout the building .
Matt Holliday, head of production at Smyle said: “We were pleased to be able to support the visitor journey and help tell the story of the studio’s illustrious history. This marked the first time visitors have been given this level of access to Abbey Road and have been able to explore the studio’s incredible legacy. It’s important we did this occasion justice. We brought our expertise at hosting live events into making Abbey Road’s once-in-a-lifetime Open House an amazing experience.”
Abbey Road: Open House ran from 9th to 15th August 2021. Over the course of the seven days, some 2,100 music devotees enjoyed the unique 90-minute experience.
