The little Manitoba music studio that could
Take a journey back to the heyday of CBC Manitoba’s Studio 11
The sounds they are a-changin'. When you walk into CBC Manitoba's Studio 11, you envelop yourself into a bit of a bygone era. To the left is an old recording machine, to the right, a black baby grand piano, in front of you is the large control room, all around you is silence.
Not the kind of echoey silence that sends chills, but rather a comforting stillness where all those eerie ambient noises of an empty room get absorbed into the walls. It's hard to describe a silent room that sounds so good. That quietness gives you pause to think about what was recorded here. Which bands plugged in to the amps. Who was sitting at that piano.
Studio 11 is one of Manitoba's oldest recording studios. It was THE place to record in the days when you recorded on magnetic tape, listening to how high hi-fi multi-track recording could take you. It's a room that's been at the forefront of sound recording from the magnetic era (1950's) straight through to the digital era of today.
This room is a veritable who's who of Canada's music scene. From classic entertainers like Duke Ellington, Ray St. Germain and Glenn Gould to rockers like Kim Mitchell and 54-40 to hometown icons like The Guess Who and Crash Test Dummies, if you created music -- and journeyed through Manitoba at some point -- you most likely struck a chord in Studio 11.
See the studio in VR
Unfortunately, the busy days of recording in Studio 11 have come and gone. The room is used sparingly now, its talents somewhat put to rest as technology has progressed and the need for large recording studios has fallen to the wayside.
Fortunately, we have taken a few recorded hits from Studio 11's past and created a nostalgic 360° virtual reality experience so you can get a small glimpse of how the place was used.
Use your smartphone to move around the studio and watch Glenn Gould performing in 1966 at that old baby grand, Ray St. Germain singing in studio in 1965 and Brad Roberts from the Crash Test Dummies talking on CBC's Ear to the Ground in 1992.
There's also an extra treat for you audiophiles out there. At the three minute mark, there is a Foley sound effects station with a few of the objects we still have sitting in and around the studio. *mic drop*