How Real World Studios has shaped the sound of contemporary music

Words by Jim Ottewill

From American R&B queen Beyoncé to the growling punk of Idles via hit soundtracks, the modern pop of Harry Styles and songwriting prowess of legend Van Morrison, a repurposed rural mill has been a birthplace for many of music’s most celebrated recordings. 

This setting amid the Bath countryside’s idyllic landscape might seem an incongruous location for audio excellence. But founder, songwriter and creative Peter Gabriel and his team at Real World Studios have been deliberate in their approach and uncompromising in their vision. As its website states, this was conceived by Gabriel in 1986 “as nothing less than the recording and mixing facility of his dreams”.

"Here, musicians can create alongside each other in the same space."

Situated in an old mill building in the village of Box, Wiltshire, near to the city of Bath, Real World was an innovative space when it was first unveiled in the mid-eighties. Previously, recording studios would see musicians and songwriters divided, working out of isolated rooms. But here, musicians could create alongside each other in the same space. It’s an ambition reflected not only in the layout but in the eclectic diversity of many of the artists to have passed through its door.

Klara Kjellén, an acclaimed Swedish songwriter and artist, recorded her 2020 album ‘Blossom’ at Real World and echoes sentiments shared by many: “It’s one of the most beautiful studios in the world!” she posted on Facebook. “[It was] the best musical moment of my career to record my album in this magical space at Real World Studios.” Grammy Award-winning US recording artist Alicia Keys went further. In the client guest book, she said:

“Real World is the best place on earth." - Alicia Keys

Peter Gabriel and his team built the studio with the intention of creating a creative and collaborative space for artists from around the world to come together and make music.

Proximity to water was a key consideration in the search for a suitable home for Real World Studios, according to technician Mike Large. Several sites were investigated in the area before they happened upon the former-mill in Box. Less than eight miles away from Bath and within easy access of London, the size of the internal space and the potential for different activities all held huge appeal. The studio facilities operate alongside Real World Records and the team behind the hugely popular festival World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) that started life in 1980. 

Real World is also a residential studio, an essential part of its operations, particularly at a point in recording history when many similar ventures have been forced to close their doors.

Speaking in a previous interview, Mike said: “He [Peter Gabriel] loved the idea of having more studios and more creative people around; creating a settlement of creativity, if you like. When people come here, there are other people recording and lots of stuff going on. It’s a different feeling. A key differentiator is that when you’re working here, you’re part of a creative community.” 

Alongside this fertile musical environment, the top recording facilities and striking architecture of the buildings are attractive to artists too. Entering the main ‘Big Room’ of Real World has been likened to “boarding a discreetly parked spacecraft” by some while the revered MPG Awards acknowledged its importance and influence by naming it as Studio of the Year in 2024. Staff have also been showered with accolades - Oli Jacobs won an engineering Grammy with Harry Styles' 'Harry's House' album, much of it recorded at Real World when he was Head Engineer.

"When you’re working here, you’re part of a creative community."

If views of nature and wildlife keep you inspired, then the Big Room’s iconic vista is perfect, embodying the collaborative spirit by ‘dissolving’ the control room/recording space dynamic. As hip hop legend Jay-Z said: “There’s this Big Room where everyone can sit together and add to the process. We were recording in the room, not a booth, so everyone got to see us recording the vocals.”

The studio features a Pro Tools | Ultimate HDX-2 system (64 i/o), custom Exigy monitoring and a 24-channel digital foldback system. The Wood Room can be used with the main space or on its own with its mobile recording set up based on a 24-channel Solid State Logic AWS 924 console. The Red Room is a third songwriting and production space, designed for mixing in Atmos in Music. This ongoing commitment to the latest tech illustrates how there’s a musical momentum at the heart of Real World. 

“It’s always a pleasure to work at Real World,” said Enda Walsh, Van Morrison’s engineer. “It has managed to embrace modern technology while still maintaining a fantastic, creative, old school working environment. I can’t think of any other studio that has done this so successfully.”

The latest tech illustrates how there's a musical momentum at the heart of Real World.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, it’s a who’s who of artists and stars who have harnessed the space to achieve lift-off with their music. Beyoncé has dominated the pop culture landscape for over 20 years with her music traversing styles. Albums have come as surprise drops and in video form while the latest, ‘Cowboy Carter’, takes the country genre into unchartered territories.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, it’s a who’s who of artists and stars who have harnessed the space to achieve lift-off with their music. Beyonce has dominated the pop culture landscape for over 20 years with her music traversing styles. Albums have come as surprise drops and in video form while the latest, ‘Cowboy Carter’, takes the country genre into unchartered territories. 

Beyonce’s 2011 release ‘4’ featured 10 studios and almost 20 producers. The one constant, apart from the singer herself, was recording engineer DJ Swivel, aka Jordan Young. In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Jordan talked about the making of the record, how it was put together in various studios around the world with Real World the first stop on their international tour.

"It looks like a madhouse for music … a really creative space." - DJ Swivel

“The first studio we went to overseas was in [England] … a place called Bath. Peter Gabriel has a studio in a village that looks like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ called Real World Studios,” he explained. “Beyoncé and I were in Gabriel’s private room … It has every musical instrument that he ever collected hanging on the walls. It looks like a madhouse for music … a really creative space.”

Bristol punk band Idles have hit their creative zenith in 2024 with sold out tours, Glastonbury shows and critical adoration for new album, ‘Tangk’. They decamped to Real Studios to make their February 2021 record, ‘Crawler’, with guitarist Mark Bowen producing alongside Kenny Beats. In an interview with Sound on Sound (SOS), the band described how they wanted to make “a markedly different’ album to their previous release, ‘Ultra Mono’, utilising the facilities and huge array of equipment of Real World to fulfil their ambitions. 

When recording drums, Bowen wanted to use as many microphones as possible to capture sounds from their original source. Using the Big Room, these microphones were connected to a 72-channel SSL 9000K desk.  “We were moving mics when we needed to rather than processing,” Bowen told SOS. “We recorded all the drums to tape as well, which was a big thing. Ran it quite hot, but not like crazy hot, onto the tape… We had a mantra: ‘Hiss makes hits’. All your favourite albums are hissy as hell. Like, you listen to Led Zeppelin, to the Beatles, to Motown, it’s filled to the brim with hiss. And I think that’s part of the charm.”

Peter Gabriel himself has used the studios for a variety of different endeavours

His Real World Recording Week in 1991 remains one of his most ambitious. This saw 75 musicians from 20 countries descending on the space during what was a hot and creative August week. The likes of the Grid, Sinead O’Connor, Jah Wobble and Colombia’s Totó la Momposina were all involved while finished albums made during this intense period included ‘Terem’ by The Terem Quartet and ‘Jubilation’ by The Holmes Brothers.

Even more ambitious was ‘Big Blue Ball’, a record led by Gabriel and Karl Wallinger of World Party and The Waterboys. This was based on recordings captured during three separate recording weeks and was almost 18 years in the making. In 2022, Gabriel released his latest solo album, ‘i/o’, his tenth and first in over twenty years. Featuring over two hours of music, it was also his longest too. On ‘i/o’’s release, Real World Studios posted: “Every corner of our studios have had its part to play on this record. From the band tracking in the Big Room and Wood Room, to Hans-Martin Buff’s immersive mixes in the Red Room, to Peter’s detailing in the Writing Room. From the engineers, to the house staff, to all behind the scenes - this was a real mammoth effort from all of the team.”

"Just to be in Real World’s beautiful environment gives so much to the project you’re working on." - Hinako Omori

Composer and musician Hinako Omori’s ‘a journey’ was released by Houndstooth and is a blend of field recordings with different meditative sounds and frequencies. Much of the audio of nature was recorded in the woodlands around the studio buildings before being brought inside to be reinterpreted and mixed. Hinako worked closely with Real World’s engineer Katie May to make the recordings after creating the synths and vocals at her home studio. In an interview with Roland, Hinako described the process in more detail in what became a truly special and unique record. 

“Just to be in Real World’s beautiful environment gives so much to whatever project you’re working on,” she said. “It helped me to create an immersive space that will hopefully allow the listener to take themselves closer to nature wherever they are.”

Hinako’s bold creativity is well aligned with the way in which Real World Studios has continued to evolve and redefine how it operates. 

Many big names within the music gear world such as Audio Technica and Universal Audio have used the space to launch new products. With the latter, this extended into a remix competition with Les Amazones d’Afrique while live gigs have also been hosted here too.

There's a deliberate aim to sustain the Real World for many years to come.

Another recent development has been the launch of songwriting and producer camps, initiatives aimed at getting creatives together to invest in the next generation of talent. Summer 2024 saw the ninth iteration of this camp while a masterclass series in July welcomed Beatles engineer Ken Scott and Adrian Utley from Portishead among the experts to share their studio insights and wisdom. This future focus is a deliberate aim to sustain the Real World for many years to come.

“Two things keep it fresh,” said Mike Large, Real World Studios’ technician. “One is that we have a lot of young people working here on the creative side - young engineers and assistant engineers. The other is the owner, because Peter has a very youthful mind. So that all helps.”

Visit realworldstudios.com for more information.