Abbey Road Studio One Washing Line Fabric

£135.00

Release date: 1 January, 2025

Formats: 
Collectables
SKU:
ARS1307

Description

Encapsulating 55 years of iconic recordings and scores for film and games, we’re proud to present this slice of history from Studio One.

Back in 1970, Studio Manager Ken Townsend and engineer Peter Dix added blue panels to the walls and opened the false ceiling in Studio One to achieve its now-legendary reverb time. Crucially, they hung 21 rows of acoustic fabric in the space created at the top of the room. We affectionately refer to these rows as the “washing lines”, and from 1970-2025, their fibres have influenced every piece of magic born in Studio One.

Not only the magic of film and game scores, but also David Gilmour’s layered guitars on Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, Kate Bush’s inspired choreography for Sat In Your Lap and Little Simz’s lush strings and percussion on Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.

In March 2025, the new Studio One was unveiled, having undergone six months of extensive restoration and enhancement for the first time since 1970. Part of that refurbishment saw the legendary washing lines reclaimed for careful preservation, bringing 55 years of sonic DNA from iconic recordings and scores down to the studio floor for the first time. We’re proud to share a slice of that history with you.

From John WilliamsRaiders of The Lost Ark in 1981 and Star Wars: Return of the Jediin 1983 to Michael Kamen’s Brazil in 1985 and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s The Last Emperor in 1987, to Howard Shore’s GRAMMY and Oscar-winning scores for The Lord of the Rings trilogy between 2000-2004, to Steven Price’s Oscar-winning Gravityin 2012, Ludwig Göransson’s Black Panther and Alexandre Desplat’s The Shape of Water in 2017, Alan Silvestri’s Avengers: Endgame in 2019, Hildur Guðnadóttir‘s Tár in 2022 and Harry Gregson-WilliamsGladiator II in 2024 – this Washing Line Fabric has helped shape thousands of sessions, absorbing every note, nuance and emotion. Now, carefully preserved and reimagined, it has been transformed into a timeless piece of memorabilia for you to treasure.

Each piece of Abbey Road Studio One Washing Line is encapsulated in a Crystal Clear PMMA Acrylic and individually engraved with “The Fabric of Studio One” as a limited edition. The UV filters within the resin will stop any colour fading and carefully preserve details of the material.

Clear Acrylic Encapsulation of FREE ISSUE Fabric Washing Line Pieces. 100mm length x 65mm width x 30mm thick

Artist: 
Abbey Road Studios