Ardent Studios

 

'60s recorder:
Scully 280 4tr

 

Later recorder:
Studer 827 24tr

Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry, John King, and Fred Smith, in 1959. Initially, it was a studio in John Fry's family garage, where he recorded his first 45s for the Ardent Records label. Equipment in the studio included an Altec tube mixing console, Ampex 2-track tape recorder, a Pultec equalizer, and Neumann microphones.

In 1966, the studio moved to a commercial location shared with a bookshop. Tom Dowd was consulting with Auditronics on an early multitrack console for nearby Stax Records, and Fry ordered the same input modules for his second mixing board. When the studio upgraded to a Scully 4-track tape recorder, Ardent became the first 4-track studio in Memphis.^[2] It was also the first studio in the area to use EMT plate reverbs.

Looking towards the future, on October 25th, 1968, Fry Acquired the 2000 Madison parcel of land and broke ground on the future home of Ardent Studios, marking the beginning of a new chapter in its evolution.^[3]

On Thanksgiving weekend, 1971, Ardent Studios fully moved to its current location on Madison Avenue, consisting of two studios, A and B.^[4]

In 1980, Ardent expanded once more, Adding studio C.^[5]

In 2022-24, Ardent underwent a large-scale renovation in all of its control rooms and common areas, keeping the live rooms original and intact.^[6]

Ardent currently has four studios and one mastering vinyl mastering suite.^[7]

Studio A: houses a 72 Channel Neve 88RS.^[8]

Studio B: SSL 9080 J series^[9]

Studio C:72 Channel Custom Wunder Console with 1073 type modules.^[10]

Studio D: Neve 8424^[11]

Mastering Neumann VMS70 lathe.^[12]

All rooms have Pro Tools HD and Studer A800 and 827 Multitracks.^[13]

The studio is managed by Jody Stephens, the drummer for Big Star, an early Ardent group whose first two albums appeared on the Ardent Records label in the early 1970s. All three Big Star albums were in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The song “In The Street” from their first album became the theme for “That 70s Show.”

In the 2000s, younger artists such as The White Stripes, 3 Doors Down, Cat Power, North Mississippi Allstars, The Raconteurs, Low Cut Connie, and Guy Sebastian recorded at Ardent. The soundtracks for Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan were also produced at Ardent.

As of February 2024, there are four studios available, each corresponding to the first four letters of alphabet and differing in and musical gear, mixing and recording capacities.^[14]

Ardent Studio recorded Sam & Dave, Led Zeppelin, Isaac Hayes, Leon Russell, and the Staples Singers, and in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s recorded James Taylor along with ZZ Top, The Tragically Hip, George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., Joe Walsh, and Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Ardent became home to young producers and engineers such as Jim Dickinson, Terry Manning, Joe Hardy, John Hampton, Paul Ebersold, and later Skidd Mills, Jeff Powell, Brad Blackwood, Pete Mathews, and Jason Latshaw.

The studio also helped record soundtracks for Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan.

•  
  Studio A console:
  Neve VR60 48x48
•  
  Studio C console:
  SSL Duality SE 48ch
•  
  Studio C tracking room
•  
  Today's recorders:
  Pro Tools HD3 Accel, etc.

• Official website

35°8′15″N 89°59′40″W / 35.13750°N 89.99444°W / 35.13750; -89.99444