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Bill Thompson in the Ashly Audio shop in western New York at work building a console.

Driven By Demand: A Golden Era Of Mixing Console Development

The early-to-mid-1970s saw numerous advances in the evolution of the modern analog mixing console that continue to have an impact to this day – let's have a look back to that seminal time.

The early-to-mid-1970s saw numerous advances in the evolution of the modern analog mixing console that continue to have an impact to this day even as we’ve entered an era of digital dominance — let’s have a look back at that seminal era.

Ron Borthwick and Bruce Jackson were developing a very unusual mixing console for live sound, and it went on to become Clair Bros’ mainstay mixing console well into the ‘80s. It was unique on a number of fronts. The control surface folded right out of the case — no heavy lifting up on to a table. It was also the first console to have plasma bargraph meters, which also displayed simultaneous RMS and peak levels.

Further, the meters were conveniently located beside the faders, and according to Jackson, it was the first live mixing console to have parametric EQ. “To be able to continuously tune the frequency and change the shape was a fantastic new experience,” he notes. “The continuously variable frequency control of a parametric EQ let you sneak up on exactly the right area of interest.”

The folding console utilized by Clair Bros for top touring artists for several years beginning in the mid-1970s.

Also about this time, Graham Blyth and Phil Dudderidge, co-founders of a then-fledgling company in England named Soundcraft, introduced the Series 1 console. It offered a 16 input x 2 output configuration and came built into its own flight case, as well as being outfitted with 4 bands of equalization, sends for monitor and “echo,” as well as an optional 19-pair multicore cable with stagebox.

Aside from its musical sonic characteristic later termed the “British sound,” the Series 1 – and subsequent Series 1S, which introduced the concept of sweepable mid-band EQ – was extremely simple to use. A 4-output version was also created for the recording market.

The Series 1 made its debut in 1974 at the Frankfurt Musikmesse and Houston Summer NAMM show. “The thing that surprised me about those first two shows was that there wasn’t anything like the Series 1 out there,” recalls Dudderidge,

Shortly after, Greg Hockman, then of Kalamazoo, MI-based SysTech, became the initial importer of Soundcraft consoles into North America, eventually opening the company’s first North American office. (Harman acquired the brand in 1988.)

One of the first Soundcraft Series 1 consoles ever produced.

Meanwhile, in western New York state, Bill Thompson and Dave Malloy adopted the Ashly Audio name and started designing and manufacturing pro audio gear. The two created elaborate custom consoles, complete with electronic crossovers, compressor/limiters, and parametric equalizers.

Demand grew, and more-standardized production console models followed. By the mid-1970s, the SE Series was much in demand. It was available with 24 channels, 4 mono submasters, stereo submaster, 2 echo (or cue) sends, parametric equalizers, sub-master limiters, stereo mixdown, 4-way crossover, and much more.

Demand for the individual components utilized in these consoles drove Ashly to devise a series of rack units that could be used in a modular fashion. The first rack product, the SC-66 stereo parametric equalizer, proved a success and spurred the subsequent SC-50 compressor/limiter.

Eventually, the company moved away from consoles altogether to specialize in processing gear and power amplifiers and more, which continues to this day.

An SE 24 console built for the band Bubbling Brown Sugar by Ashly Audio in 1976.
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