Following in the Fab Four's Footsteps on Abbey Road

City of Portsmouth College students have followed in the footsteps of musical giants with a visit to the iconic Abbey Road Institute in London.

With music lecturers Gary Street and Gareth Howells, the students got the full tour and learned from some of the best in the music business.

It began with a two-hour mixing and mastering workshop from Charlie Thomas, whose credits include working with Pink Floyd, Whitney Houston, One Direction, London Grammar, Ella Henderson, Little Mix, Anna Calvi and 5SOS. Charlie is now based at the Kinks-owned Konk Studios in North London, and he passed on a trove of amazing professional tips to help the students on their current projects.

After this the students had a tour of the studios, the Dolby ATMOS suite, Angel 2 and smaller production suites, and then the legendary Angel 1 studio as it wasn't booked (Harry Styles had been in the previous week!).

The Angel 1 studio is not only where the Beatles worked their magic but is also where the likes of Adele, Sam Smith, The Cure, Björk, Mumford & Sons, Stormzy, Elton John, Florence + The Machine, One Direction, Robbie Williams, Liza Minnelli, Seal, Slade and Placebo have recorded. It’s also where incredible film and television scores have been recorded, including Alien: Romulus, Spectre, Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, Downton Abbey, Planet Earth, The Night Manager and The Blue Planet.

One student said: “The trip provided an excellent insight into Abbey Road Institute, what life is like as a student there, and what you would learn from enrolling there. The mixing workshop also taught me a lot about how to mix vocals, something which I was completely clueless about beforehand; many tips for general music production were also given, such as about signal chains and how to properly EQ a track.”

Gary Street added: “This was a fantastic trip, and we’re so grateful to Abbey Road Institute Campus and Admissions Manager Darren Suckling for making it happen. We’ll definitely return!”