Peter Cobbin | |
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| Nationality | Australian |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1987–present |
Musical artist | |
Peter Cobbin is an Australianaudio engineer and producer. He served as chief engineer ofAbbey Road Studios from 1995 to the mid-2010s, during which he became the first engineer toremix music bythe Beatles,[1] remixing their 1999 compilation albumYellow Submarine Songtrack. He has recorded and mixed scores for a number of films, includingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2002), several entries in theHarry Potter andWizarding World franchise, and theHobbit trilogy (2012–14).
Prior to his tenure at Abbey Road, Cobbin worked as a mix specialist in Sydney, Australia, training atStudios 301.[1] As Abbey Road's senior recording engineer, he helped rediscover and restore some of the company's vintage equipment for use in contemporary projects.[1] Alongside fellow Abbey Road engineer Kirsty Whalley, Cobbin served as associate music director for the2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[2][3] Cobbin and Whalley eventually left Abbey Road Studios and established their own audio mixing company, Such Sweet Thunder.[4] Cobbin has continued to record and mix film scores with Whalley, with the duo working together on suchMarvel Studios films asAvengers: Endgame andSpider-Man: Far From Home (both 2019).[4]
Artists with whom Cobbin has worked includeAir,Amy Winehouse,Annie Lennox,Bjork,Ed Sheeran,Emeli Sandé,Eurythmics,Florence and the Machine,Freddie Mercury,Janet Jackson,Luciano Pavarotti,Kanye West,Kate Bush,Paul McCartney,Mark Knopfler,Mick Jagger andThe Basics.[1]
Cobbin worked as mix specialist in his native city of Sydney, Australia, receiving training atStudios 301.[1] He also worked as atape op, assisting in recording sessions for such musicians asBob Dylan,Duran Duran,Elton John, andTom Petty.[1]
In 1995, Cobbin moved from Australia to London to work as senior recording engineer at Abbey Road Studios.[5]
Coinciding with a re-release of the 1968 animated filmYellow Submarine, Cobbin was tasked with remixing songs bythe Beatles to be included in a compilation album titledYellow Submarine Songtrack. This involved creating a stereo mix for the film's soundtrack, which was originally in mono, and a5.1 surround sound mix that could be shown in theaters and utilized for home video.[6]
During his tenure at Abbey Road, Cobbin sought to highlight past equipment and technical innovations introduced byEMI, the company which owned the studio from 1931 to 2013, as a means of celebrating the company's heritage and benefiting contemporary projects.[7] In partnership with the EMI archive trust, Cobbin helped rediscover and restore some of the company's older equipment for use in newer projects.[1] This involved the removal of gear from storage, and led to the marketing of hardware and software recreations of vintage equipment used at Abbey Road, includingcompressors andlimiters.[7]
Cobbin recorded and mixed scores for films likeThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), several installments in theHarry Potter andWizarding World franchise, and theHobbit trilogy (2012–14). Alongside fellow Abbey Road engineer Kirsty Whalley, he served as associate music director for the2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[2][3]
Cobbin was involved with the recording and mixing of the score for the 2010 filmThe King's Speech, which utilized old microphones made by EMI, including five made forKing George V, one of which was also used byKing George VI.[7] According to Lester Smith, technical engineer and custodian of Abbey Road Studios' microphone collection, "There were actually five microphones, and Peter asked me to try and get them working. After being silent for 70 years, this was a very special opportunity to have a go."[8]
Cobbin and Whalley eventually left Abbey Road Studios and formed their own company, Such Sweet Thunder, which allows clients to utilize theirDolby Atmos mixing room inNorth London.[4] Regarding the transition from Abbey Road to their own enterprise, Cobbin stated, "It was scary to make the move. Abbey Road was our safety net. The name sells itself and that was a big thing to let go. But it was also about us having a quiet ambition to do something great because for years we'd had very specific ideas about transforming our mix room and changing how we worked with our clients. The only way to pull all that together and do something positive was to step outside our comfort zone."[4]
In 2019 Cobbin and Whalley recorded and mixed scores for such films asSpider-Man: Far From Home,Knives Out,Jojo Rabbit,Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,The Two Popes, andLittle Women.[4]
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