On first inspection, Glenn Brown's East Lansing recording studio looks fairly typical, as recording studios go. The dim room is crammed with plenty of glowing computer monitors, snaking electrical wires, stacks of CDs, giant speakers and, of course, a massive mixing board in the center of it all.
But if a visitor inquires about the mixing board, with all its countless dials and switches, Brown will lean back in his chair and smile as if he's just won a prize.
"'Free Bird' was recorded on this," he'll say, affectionately patting the board. "It's a very high-quality piece of technology, but it's also a piece of history."
Since January, Brown has been the proud owner of the vintage Neve 8068 recording console that once belonged to the infamous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. The studio, which closed just a few months ago after 36 years in business, was a hub for rhythm and blues artists in the '70s.
The roster of musicians who spent time in that studio - and therefore once worked on Brown's console - includes legendary artists such as James Brown, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Buffett, who all recorded albums there, adding to its appeal and mystique.
"When we were disassembling it, we were like, 'Oh, Bob Dylan's guitar pick is probably going to be stuck in here," Brown said.
Brown, producer and engineer at Glenn Brown Productions, is not unfamiliar with working alongside legends. Having been in the music recording business for more than 30 years, he has worked with everyone from Kid Rock to Frank Sinatra.
In fact, Brown is a bit of a legend in his own right: Musicians travel across the country to work in his studio, and local artists refer to him as "The Man." So it wasn't really a surprise when, after learning one year ago that Muscle Shoals studio would be selling its mixing board, Brown jumped at the chance to own it.
"I have worked on consoles like this in other places," he said. "I was always blown away by what they sounded like."
While currently manufactured Neve 8068 boards continue to be popular among many musicians, vintage consoles are still highly regarded for their crisp recording capabilities. Older models can cost anywhere between $100,000 and $200,000 - though some people argue that it's hard to put a price on them.
"These are just the warmest sounding things. People still like them because of the great sound these consoles can give you," said Tommy Couch, president of the Jackson, Miss.-based Malaco Records, which bought the Muscle Shoals studio in the '80s. "It's like a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley. There's just something about it."
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was founded in 1969 by a group of musicians known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. After the studio's popularity exploded, it moved to a larger location in 1978, and the owners installed the console. But 30-some years later, with technology aiding the rise of in-home recording, a decline in projects caused Couch and his colleagues at Malaco to shut the Muscle Shoals studio doors permanently.
"It was kind of a sad feeling because it was such a great historical place in the record business," Couch said. "It's sad to see things like that come to an end. It's like hearing the guy that sang your favorite song has just died."
But as they say, when one door closes another opens - and that door just happened to be Brown's. After Malaco wasn't able to sell the studio and equipment as a package for about $600,000, the building and individual parts went up for sale. Def Jam Recordings label co-founder Rick Rubin bought a secondary console for his California studio, and the main console found a home with Brown in East Lansing.
"It's incredible using such a historical piece of equipment," said local songwriter Joshua Davis, who was behind the board with Brown on Monday to put the finishing touches on his forthcoming solo album. "The board has a life of its own. When it first got in here, (Brown) was talking to it."
Although the board has historical value, those who have worked on it said its appeal goes well beyond the name-dropping.
"You look at it like an instrument," said Davis, who is a guitarist and vocalist with the Lansing-based band Steppin' In It. "It's like having a beautiful vintage guitar - it's such a tactile thing."
Brown agreed, flicking a few of the console's switches to emphasize the point.
"All this stuff is so heavy duty," he said. "You just touch it, and you're like, 'Wow.'
"You see the difference, you feel the difference and you can really hear the difference."
Although Couch said he was sad to see the Muscle Shoals studio close down, he was uplifted knowing that the studio's legend will live on through the console's continued use.
"If it was bought for sentimental reasons, it would go in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and Museum), and it would never be used again," he said. "These are too good for that."
