Surrey Sound Studios

Surrey Sound Studios was a recording studio located in Leatherhead, Surrey. It was founded by engineer & producer Nigel Gray (1947-2016).

Nigel Gray had engineered and produced The Police's first two albums there (Outlandos D'Amour and Reggatta De Blanc). Plus Stewart Copeland's Klark Kent records - his first experience of recording at Surrey Sound Studios was the "Don't Care" single.

The studio started as a 4-track studio in 1975. By late 1976, they had upgraded to 16-track and was mainly a demoing studio by then. It wasn't until June 1978 that the studio upgraded to 24-track, using mainly MCI equipment.

In 1987, Nigel Gray had sold Surrey Sound to a new owner.

Equipment (early 1978)

 * Alice 20-input/16-output desk
 * Audio & Design (Recording) compressors/limiters/expanders/noise gates/ADT
 * Dbx compressors
 * EMT stereo plate
 * Ampex AG440 2- and 4-track
 * Ampex MM-1000 16-track
 * Master Room reverb
 * Tannoy Reds
 * Broadwood grand piano

Source:

Microphones

 * AKG
 * Beyerdynamic
 * Neumann
 * Shure

(see Outlandos D'Amour and Reggatta De Blanc pages for microphone setups on The Police albums)

Outboard gear

 * AMS DMX 15-80 digital delay/harmonizer
 * dbx 162 stereo compressor
 * dbx noise reduction
 * Audio & Design (Recording) Ltd. Express limiter(?)
 * Audio & Design (Recording) Ltd. SCAMP modules:
 * S01 Compressor/Limiter
 * F300 Expander Noise Gate(s)
 * P200 Phaser(s)
 * S24 ADT flanger(s)
 * S100 Dual Gates?
 * Rebis RA402 parametric EQ

Tape machines

 * Revox A77 Mk. III
 * MCI JH-24 2" 24-track
 * Studer 2-track

Mixing desk

 * MCI JH-400B 28-input console /w automation

Monitors and other equipment

 * Electrovoice Sentry III or Tannoy Reds
 * Broadwood Grand Piano