Fans around the world mourned the passing of music superstar Prince, but now his fabled studio/rehearsal complex/home, Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN, is open to the public as a museum. The Today Show gave its viewers a sneak peek of what to expect before the park opened, with host Al Roker marveling at recording gear and other treasures inside the $10 million, 55,000-square-foot facility.
Opened in 1987 at the height of Prince’s fame, Paisley Park is roughly 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis, and its studios were designed by Brett Thoeny (Boto Design; Santa Monica, CA) and acoustician Marshall Long (Sherman Oaks, CA). According to Long’s website, his main contribution was to tame sound from the HVAC system, decouple the studios and more, while Theony tackled studio layout and control room design.
The control room to Studio A, which features prominently in the Today Show video, still sports an SSL 8088 G+ with Ultimation console (72 mono and 8 stereo inputs) that was installed in 1993; it and a wealth of outboard gear were kept in tip-top shape, as its owner was likely to walk in and start working at a moment’s notice.
For learn what it was like to mix Prince inside Paisley Park and on the road, check out our classic, extensive interview from April 2016: Remembering Prince: An Interview with Engineer “Cubby” Colby.
