Decca console

The Decca console was Peter Gabriel's first professional mixing console. He purchased it second-hand from Decca Studios circa. Summer 1982, shortly after completing the Security album (which partially recorded on a hired desk at Ashcombe).

The console was built in the mid-1970s for Decca Studios at Broadhurst Gardens, London. It was installed in studio 3 when the upgrade to 16-track was made. As of then, it was a 30-input and 16-output desk, hosting a green coloured panel and four attached Decca compressors. And it turned out to be the last ever Decca-built mixing desk; the studios closed in 1980 (or 1981) once the Decca Records company (who owned it) was sold to Polygram. However, it is unclear what happened to the console between the closure of Decca Studios and Peter's purchase of it in 1982.

When Peter had the console at Ashcombe house, it noticeably had significant upgrades, including the expansion of the number of outputs to 24 and so on. Those were done before and/or after his purchase. The console was used for some of Peter's 1983-84 projects, including Plays Live album (overdubs/mixing), B-sides, remixes and the Birdy soundtrack. On the Plays Live album especially, producer Pete Walsh recalls they were all manual mixes due to the Decca console as opposed to his later collaborations with Gabriel.

In early 1985, before making the So record, Peter upgraded to a more state-of-the-art SSL desk with automation, but the Decca compressors belonging to the console were retained.