Visconti Studio

Description

As an inclusive creative practice and research hub, Visconti Studio’s aims are:

1. to facilitate both the preservation and further evolution of analogue music recording and studio practices;
2. to experiment with analogue and digital practices in order to explore the agencies inherent to studio-based creativity;
3. to interrogate cultural and technological histories, analogue nostalgia, and the materialism(s) of analogue and digital studio through documentation and analysis;
4. to have an impact on scholarly and practice-led research, creative and educational practice and industry decision-making.

The Studio’s large acoustic space and collection of vintage analogue equipment and instruments have attracted acclaimed musicians, producers and engineers. Legendary producers such as Tony Visconti, Chris Kimsey and Pete Walsh work in the Studio with staff, students and visiting artists to share their wealth of knowledge and produce new materials. The Studio organises public research events, workshops and podcasts in Kingston.

The Studio's core researchers are Isabella van Elferen, Leah Kardos, Michael Gatt and Jess Aslan. Researchers affiliated with the Studio explore the relationship between the analogue and the digital more widely, study practices of media archaeology, research cultural nostalgia and heritage, or question media specificities and media affordances. Those include Oded Ben-Tal, Scott Wilson, Maria Chatzichristodoulou and Simon Brown. Practice-researcher and composer Oded Ben-Tal applies innovative machine learning methodologies to music, exploring the potential of artificial and biological intelligence working together in musical creation; his research has attracted AHRC awards and his compositions have received international accolades.

Visconti Studio’s research is closely aligned with the creative and music industry. The Studio's partnerships with influential music producers open up a wealth of knowledge and professional networks not only to Kingston University students and researchers but also to many visiting artists. Aiming to revive and preserve analogue practices so as to propel them into the digital era, Visconti Studio aspires to impact the music industry by bringing together analogue equipment, practices and histories with digital technology. The Studio collaborates with, among other industry partners, Olympic Studios and Trident Audio. The Studio's record label Acid Grass Records develops student recording and production, and the Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra is bringing out the world’s first stylophone album, Stylophonika, with the Kingston-based Spun Out Of Control label in 2021.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

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University affiliation(s)

Kingston University
River House
53–57 High Street
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 1LQ