5150 Studios
Encyclopedia
5150 Studios is Eddie Van Halen
's home studio in the Studio City neighborhood
of Los Angeles, California
. The studio was built so that Eddie Van Halen could have more control over the recording process than he had in the past. Every Van Halen
album from 1984
onwards was recorded at 5150. They took the name for the studio (as well as the band's seventh album, released in March 1986) 5150
) from the California Welfare & Institutions code "5150
", police radio code for insane".
. He named it "5150" after the police code overheard by producer/engineer Donn Landee, one night on his police scanner.
Designed by Landee, the beta version of 5150 Studios was a high-ceilinged sixteen-track studio suitable for recording, overdubbing, and simple mixing, if needed. The recording room was roughly 600 square feet (55.7 m²), sound insulated with fiberglass
and rubber
, with a booth on the North end.
The construction on Eddie's property was passed off to city inspectors as a racquetball court, never mind the soundproof walls were cinder blocks filled with concrete. A hitch arose in the form of a powerful AM antenna from a sports station broadcasting 50,000 watts of power a few miles away. To prevent Eddie picking up boxing fights and football games through his wireless guitars, engineers wrapped a layer of grounded chicken-wire fencing around the studio, turning it into a Faraday cage
.
ended) and March 1990 (before starting work on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
), Eddie remodeled the studio, doubling the facility, replacing the main mixing board, and at the end of the recording floor, added an isolated drum room for his brother Alex
. When he was finished, it also featured a small video game and pinball arcade.
The studio met with controversy as the Hollywood Association of Recording Professionals cracked down on home studios in the Los Angeles
area, claiming owners were renting them out and hurting traditional recording studios. Eddie's studio proved otherwise, as Eddie insisted it's for himself to make music. Because of his testimony, Eddie Van Halen was given the proper zoning variance to legally make music at his house, which is already one of the most successful music studios in Southern California.
In 1999, Eddie remodeled the studio once again, by adding a 72-input analog mixing desk and a Mellotron
.
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
's home studio in the Studio City neighborhood
Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Studio City is an affluent residential neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando Valley. Studio City expands over four ZIP code areas: 91604 and sections of 91602, 91607 and 90210....
of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The studio was built so that Eddie Van Halen could have more control over the recording process than he had in the past. Every Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
album from 1984
1984 (Van Halen album)
1984 is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. One of the band's more popular albums , 1984 is to date the final album featuring singer David Lee Roth before he left the band in the spring of the following year.-Background and recording:Eddie Van Halen,...
onwards was recorded at 5150. They took the name for the studio (as well as the band's seventh album, released in March 1986) 5150
5150 (album)
5150 is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1986 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was the first to be recorded with new lead singer Sammy Hagar who replaced David Lee Roth....
) from the California Welfare & Institutions code "5150
5150 (Involuntary psychiatric hold)
Section 5150 is a section of the California Welfare and Institutions Code which allows a qualified officer or clinician to involuntarily confine a person deemed to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to him or her self, and/or others and/or gravely disabled...
", police radio code for insane".
The beginnings (1983-1989)
In 1983, Eddie Van Halen built his home studio near his home with wife Valerie BertinelliValerie Bertinelli
Valerie Anne Bertinelli is an American actress, best known for her roles as Barbara Cooper Royer on the television series One Day at a Time , Gloria on the television series Touched by an Angel and Melanie Moretti on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland .- Early years :Bertinelli was born in Wilmington,...
. He named it "5150" after the police code overheard by producer/engineer Donn Landee, one night on his police scanner.
Designed by Landee, the beta version of 5150 Studios was a high-ceilinged sixteen-track studio suitable for recording, overdubbing, and simple mixing, if needed. The recording room was roughly 600 square feet (55.7 m²), sound insulated with fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
and rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
, with a booth on the North end.
The construction on Eddie's property was passed off to city inspectors as a racquetball court, never mind the soundproof walls were cinder blocks filled with concrete. A hitch arose in the form of a powerful AM antenna from a sports station broadcasting 50,000 watts of power a few miles away. To prevent Eddie picking up boxing fights and football games through his wireless guitars, engineers wrapped a layer of grounded chicken-wire fencing around the studio, turning it into a Faraday cage
Faraday cage
A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static and non-static electric fields...
.
Remodeling and beyond (1989-present)
Between February 1989 (after the OU812 TourOU812 Tour
The OU812 Tour was a concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen. It was the second tour to include dates in Japan, and was the second with Sammy Hagar as vocalist...
ended) and March 1990 (before starting work on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is the ninth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1991 through Warner Bros. Records. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and maintained the position for three weeks...
), Eddie remodeled the studio, doubling the facility, replacing the main mixing board, and at the end of the recording floor, added an isolated drum room for his brother Alex
Alex Van Halen
Alexander Arthur "Alex" Van Halen is a Dutch-born American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Originally, his brother Eddie had taken lessons for drums, while Alex practiced guitar...
. When he was finished, it also featured a small video game and pinball arcade.
The studio met with controversy as the Hollywood Association of Recording Professionals cracked down on home studios in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area, claiming owners were renting them out and hurting traditional recording studios. Eddie's studio proved otherwise, as Eddie insisted it's for himself to make music. Because of his testimony, Eddie Van Halen was given the proper zoning variance to legally make music at his house, which is already one of the most successful music studios in Southern California.
In 1999, Eddie remodeled the studio once again, by adding a 72-input analog mixing desk and a Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
.
External links
- http://www.vintagekramer.com/5150e.htm Edward Studio and Storage Pictures – photos of 5150 Studio.