The Most Famous Recording Studios in LA

Without a doubt, Los Angeles is the place to be if you’re looking to make music in America. With Hollywood in the centre, there are countless stars, movie studios and recording studios all ready and waiting, drawing aspiring artists from all over the world to this bustling city. Whether you’re just starting out in the industry or you’re an old hand, Los Angeles is the place to be.

If you’re an aspiring artist, or you’re experienced but looking for a new path in the industry, consider taking a trip to the City of Angels. Attend parties, network, find people to work with or record in a music studio in Los Angeles.

The ideal place to meet people and start networking, Los Angeles draws vocalists, DJs, producers and musicians alike, most of them looking to collaborate and expand their careers. The city is full of some of the most famous and highly revered recording studios in the world that have hosted some of the most memorable names in music over the years. The list of these names goes on and on: Madonna, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles are just a few of the most famous names.

Paramount Recording Studios

Paramount is one of the biggest names in LA recording studios, with 14 studios, consisting of four pre-recording rooms, as well as separate mixing and mastering studios. It was founded in the early 1900s by United Phonographs and was a huge player in the development of the jazz and blues scenes in America. Since then, it has hosted some of the world’s most famous musicians, including Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Childish Gambino and the Backstreet Boys. Paramount studios have also been the home of a number of Hollywood blockbuster soundtracks, like The Little Mermaid, Spiderman and Dr. Doolittle.

Despite its success, Paramount studios closed down during the great depression years and sold many of their original masters and pressings as scrap metal. There were also many master recordings rumoured to have been thrown into the Milwaukee river when the studio began to shut down in 1932, and there have been several attempts to uncover and restore old records since then.

Capitol Studios

Known as one of the most distinctive and famous studios in Hollywood, the Capitol Studios building is a landmark of Los Angeles.

This studio was opened originally in 1956 by Capitol Records and was originally set up exclusively for artists signed to Capitol Records. The studios are now owned by Capitol Studio’s parent company, ‘Vivendi’. The studio has been expanded several times over its lifetime, and now features three studios and a set of production rooms, as well as echo chambers, which are a big selling point for this Los Angeles recording studio.

Capitol studios are extremely important in the formation of pop music in America. It is not just the recording studio where Frank Sinatra worked on many of his main hits in the 1950s and 60s but has also hosted legendary artists like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Oasis and Daft Punk.

Eastwest Studios

Eastwest studios is what became of Cello Studios after its 2006 bankruptcy. It is now one of the best known recording studios in LA, due to its amazing catalogue of artists who have worked there. Theses include Whitney Houston, The Beach Boys and Justin Bieber, and Eastwest has gained itself a reputation as it is responsible for the most albums to have won a Grammy between 2013 and 2017. Eastwest is said to boast lush interiors, which were designed to breathe new life into the studio without taking away from the acoustical properties of any of the studios or the surrounding spaces.

Eastwest also has a collection of sample libraries and world-class plugins, based on world much, choir vocals and orchestral strings. The studios are also home to one of the last remaining Neve 8078 consoles in the world and are known for their huge, expansive studio rooms.

Westlake Recording Studios

A lot of attention was given to the sound design of Westlake Recording Studios, as with many of the most famous recording studios across the world. Built during the 1970s, this studio was initially known as Westlake Audio and specialised in controlling reverb delay. This Los Angeles recording studio was designed to deliver a ‘flat response’ across each of its studios, making use of extensive acoustic treatments as well as bass traps. They were known as one of the first standardized recording studios in America.

Nowadays, Westlake is spread across two locations. Studios A and B are centred in Los Angeles, while studios C, D and E as well as two production suites are based in West Hollywood. Westlake has hosted some incredible artists, including Rihanna, Michael Jackson and Madonna, to name just a few.

Chris Skeldon

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