Image: Josephenus P. Riley, CC BY 2.0 — via Wikimedia Commons
EMI TG12345
| Category | Studio (analogue mixing console) |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Classification | mixing console |
| Wikipedia | en.wikipedia.org |
| Wikidata | Q25304446 |
Overview
The EMI TG12345 is a solid-state mixing console designed and built in-house by EMI’s central engineering laboratory in the late 1960s. It replaced the valve-based REDD consoles in EMI’s flagship Studio Two at Abbey Road and was used on landmark recordings including The Beatles’ Abbey Road album and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. Several variants — Mark I through Mark IV — were built across the early 1970s.
Origin & History
EMI’s Central Recording Department developed the TG12345 in response to the increasing track counts and signal-routing demands of late-1960s pop production. The new desk used discrete transistor amplifiers and integrated dynamics processing on every channel, including a compressor on each input — a layout that gave the EMI desk its characteristic “glued” sound. Subsequent revisions added more channels and refined the EQ section.
How It’s Played
The TG12345 is a multi-input recording console with channel strips combining microphone preamplification, equalisation, dynamics processing, and routing to multitrack tape and to the main mix bus. Engineers operated it with the workflow of late-1960s and early-1970s pop production: tracking instruments and voices to multitrack, monitoring through the desk, and mixing back through it for stereo masters.
Cultural Significance
The TG12345 occupies a unique position in recording history because of the catalogue of records made on it. Demand for its sound has driven the modern outboard market — Chandler Limited and other firms now produce TG-style preamps, EQs, and compressors as rack units — and engineers continue to study the desk’s signal flow as a key influence on the sound of late-1960s and early-1970s British pop and rock.
Related Instruments
- Neve 80 Series Consoles – contemporary British console rival
- Yamaha M7CL – modern digital descendant lineage
- Behringer X32 – modern affordable digital console
- Empirical Labs Distressor – modern outboard sibling
- Roland MKS-80 – sibling-era studio rack
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was the TG12345 used?
At EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London, principally in Studio Two.
Which famous albums were recorded on it?
The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, and many other early-1970s EMI productions.
Are TG-style products still made?
Yes — Chandler Limited and others build modern outboard equipment based on the TG channel strip.
Image credit: photograph by Josephenus P. Riley (CC BY 2.0).