Operated by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the historic RCA Studio B in Nashville has recently installed an API Box console in its their control room. This choice reflects RCA’s efforts to balance the legacy of country music and the technical progress being made.

Studio Manager Justin Croft says that it was essential shared the studio’s vibe: ‘We wanted the Box in an enclosure from the famous WSM radio station that broadcasts the Grand Ole Opry,’ he says.

RCA studio B has a long-standing partnership with API – housing a custom 1971 console ‘filled with API parts, including 2520 op-amps and Melcor 1731 op-amps’ as well as a new eight-slot lunchbox. ‘The Box has solved so many problems,’ Croft reports. ‘We had no signal routing going on but now [the Box] is running the studio loudspeakers. We mix on it live to two track, use it for reverb returns, we use its preamps and EQs… We’ve recorded vocalists, choirs, orchestras, jazz bands and concert bands. ‘We’ve noticed a big jump in audio quality since acquiring the Box.’

Croft says even though he expected great things from the Box, he was still surprised by some of its facilities: ‘I love the compressor, that’s something I wouldn’t expect to find on a unit like this,’ he says. ‘I use it all the time.’

RCA Studio B’s operations include including educational recording projects for middle schools, high schools, and colleges. ‘We educate students about studio recording,’ Croft confirms. ‘We also do group tour recording packages, where the public is invited to be a “star for a day”, singing along to a hit song that was originally recorded at the studio. We also record special projects that have historical relevance to the studio.

‘I love API,’ he enthuses. ‘The Box is a great unit. We’re overjoyed with it.’