Malcolm Toft gives a fascinating insight into his career, from building his first mixing desk at age 17, being part of the team at the launch of the iconic Trident Studios, where he recorded Elton John, Queen and David Bowie, to founding Trident Audio Developments to manufacture his consoles and then setting up his own recording studio in Devon where he continues to design and manufacture music equipment today.
Show Notes
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:25 - First Encounters With Recording Equipment
04:12 - Getting A Recording Studio Job
07:46 - The Launch Of Trident Studios
17:48 - Designing And Building Trident Consoles
25:41 - Setting Up Malcolm Toft Associates
30:29 - A New Studio And Working With Jo Meek
33:28 - Designing The Toft Audio Console for PMI
36:52 - Ocean Audio And The Punishr
40:57 - Current Projects
Malcolm Toft - Biog
Professor Malcolm Toft is a legendary recording engineer and console designer with over 50 years experience in the recording industry. Malcolm joined Trident Studios in 1967, first as an Engineer, becoming the Studio Manager in 1971. He recorded David Bowie’s Space Oddity album and mixed The Beatles’ single 'Hey Jude'. He also recorded James Taylor's first album, plus three albums with T-Rex.
In 1973 he founded renowned console manufacturer Trident Audio Developments, which became a leading company in the recording industry supplying top recording studios across the world. His consoles are still widely used and are highly regarded for their depth of sound and warmth.
In recent years Malcolm has designed and built a range of replacement energy-efficient power supplies for SSL and Neve consoles under his Mpower systems brand.
https://www.malcolmtoft.com
https://www.instagram.com/malcolm_toft
Presenter: Paul White - Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at the Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.
He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991, where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 highly-regarded recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.
Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s, he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!
About the podcast channel
Listen to experts in the field, company founders, equipment designers, engineers, producers and educators.
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