page_title: Unique Recording Studios
section_title: Studio history
hierarchical_section_title: Unique Recording Studios / Studio history
caption_attribution_description: English: Unique Recording Studio C - 64 input Solid State Logic 9064J series console
context_page_description: Unique Recording Studios was a five-room recording studio operating near Times Square in New York City from 1978 until 2004. Founders and co-owners Bobby Nathan and Joanne Georgio-Nathan installed the first Otari 24-track tape deck in New York. The studio was known for its extensive collection of synthesizers, which attracted Steve Winwood, who jammed for many hours in the process of creating his multi-Grammy winning album Back in the High Life at Unique.
context_section_description: Unique Recording Studios started as a one-room rehearsal studio with a Tascam 8-track recorder in 1978, catering to new wave and hip hop artists. Early customers included Polyrock and Bill Laswell. The facility quickly expanded to 16 and then 24 tracks with the first Otari MTR-90 tape recorder, all in the first year of operation. During the same period, the main mixing console in the studio was changed three times, ending up with an MCI JH-600 series mixer with automation. Tommy Boy Records began asking for lengthy bookings to accommodate their artists, especially Planet Patrol. Planet Patrol's Arthur Baker also started to produce other artists, and his bookings eventually required a second room. Into this larger space Baker brought New Edition who recorded Candy Girl at Unique during 1982, with Baker and Maurice Starr co-producing. Candy Girl reached number 90 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 33 weeks.
  The studio complex was located in Manhattan just off of Times Square in the top three floors of the Cecil B. DeMille Building, adjacent to music-store row.  The business was owned and operated by husband and wife team Joanne and Bobby Nathan. The Nathans described themselves as "the pioneers in drum machines, samplers and digital recording on personal computers.
  Unique Recording Studios is credited for opening the first MIDI recording room in 1983 called "Midi City" which was later named Studio C, located upstairs from Studio A. The studio could hold 30 synthesizers, with room left over for sequencers and interfaces. Wall jacks made wiring easier and neater. The innovative concept gained Unique a nomination for the 1985 TEC Awards in the recording studio category.
  The studio was well known for its large collection of synthesizers and drum machines. Unique was one of the first studios to own a Polymoog synth, as well as the Minimoog, the ARP 2600, the Oberheim OB-X and 8-voice, and a Prophet 5. When Steve Winwood showed up in 1985 to get further inspiration for his project Back in the High Life, he booked all-nighters at Unique and played every synth, jamming with any other studio clients who were willing to join. Back in the High Life was recorded largely at Unique by Tom Lord-Alge with assistance from his brother Chris; Tom remembers taking an impromptu drum break played between songs by drummer John Robinson, and moving it to the beginning of "Higher Love", which satisfied producer Russ Titelman as the album opener. Titelman recalls that Winwood had been recording the album for a year at other studios but had reached a point where he needed more inspiration. Titelman brought the project to Unique for the variety of MIDI-connected synthesizers and for the familiar mixer – an SSL 4000E identical to the one at Winwood's home studio. Titelman obtained a huge drum sound by recording Robinson's drum kit in the center of Unique's main studio, surrounded by eight extra ambient microphones. The song "Higher Love" won a Grammy Award for the best single record of 1987, and the album won a Grammy for the best engineered album, honoring Tom's mix: his first time as head engineer. Chris recalled that the Lord-Alge brothers' status at Unique was raised after the success of the album: "Even though I'd had hits [before Unique], Bobby and Joanne Nathan insisted that I start out as an assistant, and they worked me really hard. But once Back in the High Life hit, it made it a lot easier for Tommy and me to do no wrong at Unique."
  In early 1986 before Back in the High Life was released, Unique reported to Billboard that they had renovated their main studio with a larger control room so that more outboard processing gear and MIDI synthesizer modules could be placed next to the SSL 4000E 48-channel mixer with Total Recall automation. Recording units included two linked Otari MTR-90 Mk II decks each with 24 tracks, and one Studer A-80 half-inch 2-track for stereo mastering. Video decks were installed to feed a video projector so that audio-for-television projects could be accommodated. The studio also owned a 32-channel Neve 8068
caption: Studio C in 1998 showing the Solid State Logic 9064J series console with 64 inputs
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