Eddie Veale given APRS Sound Fellowship

Eddie Veale, pioneer of the first professional home recording studio, has been recognised for his contribution to the audio industry with a Sound Fellowship from the APRS.

The principal of Stevenage-based Veale Associates, was presented with the prestigious award – the first to be granted to an acoustician – by legendary producer Sir George Martin this week.

Veale’s career began back in 1960, when he began working on noise control in passenger aircraft for De Havilland. A chance meeting with John Lennon resulted in Veale designing and building the country’s first professional home recording studio at Tittenhurst Park.

His audio career really took off when he subsequently became an engineer on the iconic Imagine album. Today, he is known for being one of the UK’s most influential studio designers, responsible for the private studios of George Harrison, Gus Dudgeon, Eric Clapton, and Mike Oldfield among others.

In his own acceptance speech, fellow recipient Pete Townshend, guitarist for The Who, thanked Veale for his innovative approach to studio design, which led to the creation of Townshend’s floating Dutch barge studio, which was created by Veale in the early ’80s and is still in use today.

Other Veale firsts:

• Created the first high level control room reference loudspeaker monitor system.
• Designed the quadraphonic joystick pan pot
• Pioneered technology for measuring room acoustics
• Introduced the first presenter-driven radio station
• Set up the first rock n roll film dubbing theatre for Advision

Veale also introduced the Moog and ARP synthesisers to Europe.

“I am greatly honoured to receive this award, particularly as it marks a first in the acoustic world," said Veale. "It is more than I could have imagined, when I set out in business all those years ago, to be recognised alongside such prestigious names as those already afforded the honour of the Fellowship. Many thanks.“

Keep up to date with the latest developments from the world of pro audio by registering for our free daily newsletter.