Real World Studios

Real World Studios is a residential recording studio located in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England just near Bath.

It was founded in 1989 by Peter Gabriel for commercial use by other musicians as well as being his main recording space and base of operations. Real World studio also houses his offices for Real World Records, Real World Publishing and WOMAD.

The studio was born out of Peter's vision of a recording studio where everyone - including musicians, engineers and producers - can work together in one studio space. Which completely eliminated the traditional practice of separating musicians from each other and from the engineer, as Peter felt it hindered the creative process in the studio.

In terms of the studios, the largest sized recording space is the appropriately-named 'Big Room', of 2000 square feet, with large windows showing views of the nearby pond and gardens. It was designed as an open, collaborative space with an all-in-one control room and live recording space.

Adjacent to the Big Room is the Wood Room, good for its rich acoustic environment and capacity for a large ensemble of musicians. It comes with a portable recording rig which is in the room and could be moved into an adjacent isolation booth if needed. The Rehearsal Room is a 15m x 5m room with soundproofing, designed for rehearsals and pre-production work.

The Red Room has become a more recent addition to the studio: a designated space for writing, production and mixing work, with added Dolby Atmos.

The Writing Room and the Work Room are both Peter's private studios.

Writing Room
The writing room is Peter Gabriel's personal workspace, which is occasionally rented out to musicians.

Instruments
 * Bosendorfer 7' grand piano
 * Fender Telecaster electric guitar
 * Rickenbacker 330 12-string electric guitar
 * Music Man StingRay 5-string electric bass
 * Yamaha Maple Custom 3-piece drum kit
 * Yamaha Manu Katche Signature snare
 * Zildjian K and A Custom Series cymbals

Equipment history

 * see this page for early equipment

Individual studios
Equipment is covered for the following rooms in Real World Studios:
 * Work Room
 * Writing Room
 * Production Room
 * Big Room