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 Celebrated for recording the
likes of Edward Elgar, The Beatles and Lady
Gaga, the studio's mixing desks powered up for a
socially-distanced session with acclaimed U.S.
jazz singer Melody Gardot.
"We didn't even stop for a World War so it feels
like a real moment to come back," Isabel Garvey,
Abbey Road Studios' managing director, told
Reuters.
Music industry workers have been among those
hardest hit by the coronavirus lockdown, enacted
in Britain on March 23. Many have been shut out
of state lockdown support programmes because of
the irregular nature of work in music.
Garvey said about half of Abbey Road's staff had
been unable to work away from the studio
building during the lockdown.
"I think music carried people through the last
10, 11 weeks of lockdown," Garvey said.
"So to have artists back recording, making music
again, possibly even relating to the experience
they've had, just feels really good. We need it
as humans I think."
Gardot's recording session offered a potential
glimpse into the future of music production in a
post-COVID world.
The singer joined remotely from Paris with her
producer Larry Klein from Los Angeles. Both
appeared on big screens at Abbey Road to
communicate with the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra, which performed there for the first
time since lockdown.
"We're using the best of technology and
musicians in the space to make the whole thing
work," said Garvey.
THE MUSIC MUST GO ON
Gardot said it was an honour to become the first
artist to record at Abbey Road since its
reopening and told Reuters "the music must go
on", even if a little magic was missing because
of her distance from the musicians.
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 "It's a little bit frustrating
sometimes because of course, like so many other
things, you miss the tactility," said Gardot,
who had previously recorded at Abbey Road in
2009. Opened by Elgar in 1931,
the studio reports a healthy list of future
bookings but social distancing measures mean
there will be some limitations - particularly
for large orchestras often present for the
recording of major film soundtracks.
Abbey Road boss Garvey said the orchestra
capacity of its biggest studios had been roughly
halved following a review.
"Recording here is still really viable - it's
just going to be with smaller numbers," she
said.
"There's big pent-up demand ... so it's looking
good but it will take time to ramp up back to
normal levels."
Gardot said she wanted to seize the moment
rather than wait until 2021 before making music
again, when life might return to normal.
"I'm chomping at the bit to do something, to
create something, to make music," she said.
(Writing by Andy Bruce, additional reporting by
Sarah Mills; editing by Stephen Addison and
Estelle Shirbon)
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