CHRIS BOLSTER
We’re proud to partner with Abbey Road Studios to present Ask Abbey Road, a brand-new series where you get to put your pressing production questions to the experts at what is almost without question the world’s most famous studio.
In our first instalment, we call on the knowledge and expertise of Chris Bolster, an in-house engineer at Abbey Road with over 21 years of experience at the legendary recording complex. He has worked with pop, rock and electronic royalty including Foo Fighters, Kate Bush, Oasis, Matthew Herbert, Maroon 5, Ozzy Osbourne, Paul McCartney, Ray LaMontagne and Take That. His impressive CV also includes work on orchestral film soundtracks such as 12 Years A Slave, Harry Potter… and Beyond The Sea… which is where we begin our questions.
Irving Aguirre For orchestral recording, do you use the Neve console’s onboard preamps? How much of your setup is standard; how much is experimental?
Yes, I’m mostly using the Neve 88RS pres depending on the programme material being recorded. Sometimes, I may use some of the other preamps we have here: Neve 1081, Neve Montserrat, SSL, EMI TG, Telefunken, Avalon and GML. These are useful if you are looking to add a different colour to specific microphones. Orchestral sessions run very fast, it’s not like you can work on ‘getting a sound up’. The red light goes on, and that’s it – you’re off! So, not much time
