Genetic Studios
Encyclopedia
Genetic Studios was a recording studio near Reading, Berkshire
, UK.
and Alan Winstanley
. The facility was built in a barn at Rushent's home in Streatley
. Rushent decided to focus on electronic music
after working heavily with guitar-based punk
bands in the late 1970s – including The Buzzcocks and The Stranglers
. Rushent began the studio after seeing an advertisement for the Roland Micro Composer. He thought the device looked "pretty good", and bought a Roland Jupiter
synth to go with it.
Rushent purchased Synclavier
and Fairlight CMI
synthesisers (at £25,000 each) and an MCI
console to use in the studio. He spent £35,000 on the studio's air conditioning system, and had a Mitsubishi Electric
digital recorder costing £70,000.
After the success of Dare
in 1981, Rushent extended the studio to house a second control room
and recording booth. The MCI desk was moved to the new rooms, and a Solid State Logic
(SSL) desk was bought to be used in the original studio. Rushent later said that the new desk "had the most advanced mix functions of any board available at the time, so everybody wanted to use it. What everybody missed was the fact that, in [his] view, the SSL may sound technically correct, but it's never sounded musically correct." He stated that he hated working on the SSL, and that it "ended up ruining [the] main control room."
Rushent sold his home and Genetic in 1989, and the studio continued to operate until the early 1990s. The complex was sold for £906,000 in 2000, then £1.5 million in a second sale 3 years later. The site was later demolished and in 2007 a planning application was submitted to West Berkshire Council to build a £12 million luxury home.
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, UK.
History
Genetic was established in 1980 by Martin RushentMartin Rushent
Martin Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and The Buzzcocks.- Early life :Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father was a car salesman...
and Alan Winstanley
Alan Winstanley
Alan Kenneth Winstanley is a British record producer active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer.-Notable studio albums produced by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer:* One Step Beyond... – Madness...
. The facility was built in a barn at Rushent's home in Streatley
Streatley, Berkshire
Streatley is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England.-Location:Streatley is about from Reading and from Oxford. It is in the Goring Gap on the River Thames and is directly across the river from the Oxfordshire village of Goring-on-Thames...
. Rushent decided to focus on electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
after working heavily with guitar-based punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
bands in the late 1970s – including The Buzzcocks and The Stranglers
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
. Rushent began the studio after seeing an advertisement for the Roland Micro Composer. He thought the device looked "pretty good", and bought a Roland Jupiter
Roland Jupiter
Roland Jupiter was a series of analog synthesizers produced by the Roland Corporation. Models included:*Roland Jupiter-4*Roland Jupiter-6*Roland Jupiter-8...
synth to go with it.
Rushent purchased Synclavier
Synclavier
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
and Fairlight CMI
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
synthesisers (at £25,000 each) and an MCI
Music Center Incorporated
Music Center Incorporated is the former name of a United States manufacturer of professional audio equipment that operated from 1955 till 1982 when it was acquired by the Sony Corporation...
console to use in the studio. He spent £35,000 on the studio's air conditioning system, and had a Mitsubishi Electric
Mitsubishi Electric
is a multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group....
digital recorder costing £70,000.
After the success of Dare
Dare (album)
Dare is the third studio album from British synthpop band The Human League.The album was recorded between March and September 1981 and first released in the UK on 20 October 1981, then subsequently in the U.S...
in 1981, Rushent extended the studio to house a second control room
Control room
A control room is a room serving as an operations centre where a facility or service can be monitored and controlled. Examples include:*in television production, the master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations, television networks...
and recording booth. The MCI desk was moved to the new rooms, and a Solid State Logic
Solid State Logic
Solid State Logic is a manufacturer of high-end mixing consoles and recording studio hardware headquartered in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, UK.- Company information :...
(SSL) desk was bought to be used in the original studio. Rushent later said that the new desk "had the most advanced mix functions of any board available at the time, so everybody wanted to use it. What everybody missed was the fact that, in [his] view, the SSL may sound technically correct, but it's never sounded musically correct." He stated that he hated working on the SSL, and that it "ended up ruining [the] main control room."
Rushent sold his home and Genetic in 1989, and the studio continued to operate until the early 1990s. The complex was sold for £906,000 in 2000, then £1.5 million in a second sale 3 years later. The site was later demolished and in 2007 a planning application was submitted to West Berkshire Council to build a £12 million luxury home.