Trident 24: The console that shaped multitrack recording

The Trident 24 arrived in 1967 at a decisive moment in studio recording: British engineers were moving from two-track production to eight-track tape, and more channels were needed for overdubs without sacrificing mixing functions. Trident Audio Developments, under Norman Sheffield and with engineers including Graham Blythe, built a compact solid-state mixing console around 24 inputs, four-band equalisation and flexible group routing. Its scale suited studios wanting professional multitrack control without a cavernous control room.

What made the desk consequential was not simply its channel count. It gave engineers a fast way to balance takes, build rough mixes and move sources between tracks and groups, while its EQ allowed voices and instruments to be shaped inside the console instead of a crowded outboard rack. The result was an instrument-like mixing surface as much as a practical route for the emerging multitrack workflow.

The console also developed a sound shorthand for the British studio of its era. Careful gain staging, assertive solid-state circuitry and a distinctive four-band curve gave drums weight, guitars edge and vocals presence, although no fixed “Trident sound” explains every record. The useful history lies in the control choices that turned those circuits into a working mix.

For Australian engineers, the Trident 24 is rare global studio history with local consequences. Its circuits and operating habits travelled into Australian rooms, while surviving examples now sit within a specialist second-hand market shaped by long freight distances, limited parts and strict electrical-safety expectations. The desk reveals both the transition to professional multitrack recording and the continuing value of hands-on analogue mixing.

Arrival in the eight-track era

Launched in Britain in 1967, the Trident 24 targeted the expanding eight-track market. Its 24-input format offered more overdub opportunities than a straightforward eight-channel desk, allowing microphones and returns to be organised more flexibly. Group buses and direct assignments supported recording and mixdown, making the console useful to studios moving beyond basic tape scoring.

That practical brief explains why the model reached beyond flagship facilities. The console reference archive places it among notable period British and American designs, showing how manufacturers competed through channel count, EQ, monitoring and automation rather than processor branding alone. The Trident compressed many professional functions into a relatively compact surface and made its channel strip central to recording.

Trident desks became fixtures at venues such as Olympic Studios and other busy British rooms. Compared with a large cinema-style console, the 24’s smaller footprint reduced the physical distance between engineer and controls. That mattered in smaller facilities as much as major studios: a producer could sit close, make an adjustment and hear the result immediately. The desk helped establish a modern control-room workflow, where mix decisions become part of performance rather than paperwork completed later.

The four-band channel voice

Each input channel combined a microphone or line amplifier, level control, pan, equaliser and routing in a compact module. Its four-band EQ paired broad low and high shelves with two midrange sections. That arrangement offered useful tonal reach without a separate parametric equaliser on every source, and its interaction with the input stage became central to the Trident reputation.

Engineers learned to use the curve in layers rather than chase a preset sound. A small shelf change could establish the weight of a kick or the air on a cymbal; the mid bands could address a crowded vocal or guitar. Because the controls interact, moving gain alters how the equaliser is heard, making gain staging and frequency selection as important as boost or cut.

The design’s legacy is often reduced to a claim that British consoles sounded better, but circuitry and control layout tell a more useful story. A detailed account of the Trident EQ legacy shows how the band structure became a go-to choice for engineers moving among pop, rock and scoring desks. Its influence lies in a practical, transferable vocabulary rather than one universal setting.

Routing for overdubs and mixes

Multitrack recording changes the job of a console. A performer may need a guide voice, tape return, nearby instrument and mix feed at different levels while new parts are recorded. The Trident 24’s routing matrix and monitor organisation managed those demands, and its many inputs made the desk useful beyond replacing an eight-channel recording mixer.

Group buses were especially important. Rather than sending every playback source to the main stereo output, an engineer could assign tracks to groups for rough balance and then fold those groups into the mix. This saved movements on a busy session and encouraged decisions while performers were still in the room, able to respond to a developing arrangement.

The same discipline can be heard by comparing other period landmarks. The API 1604 history traces a different route through American console design, from preamp and EQ choices to the rock records that carried their sound. Side by side, the API and Trident show a shared principle: channel-strip character matters, but predictable routing, repeatable gain and fast decisions determine how it reaches the recording.

From analogue recall to modern recall

Original Trident operation depended on human memory and written notes. There were no motorised faders or snapshot-based console automation in the modern DAW sense, so engineers photographed positions, labelled switches and tracked routing changes. Specialist publishing helps preserve that culture; Soft Concrete magazine sits alongside technical histories as a window into the people and rooms behind studio technology.

Compression and expansion were commonly handled with outboard units rather than as automatic features of every strip. That arrangement encouraged deliberate gain reduction, exposed the console’s level behaviour and required extra patching. A restored desk may not match a famous session exactly: modules, jumpers, service revisions and missing hardware can all alter its behaviour.

A contemporary DAW workflow can make the Trident useful without pretending it is digital. Multitrack recordings can be played into its channels for summing and tone shaping, while automation handles repeatable rides and recalls. Alternatively, it can serve as an analogue front end. In either case, balanced signal paths and avoiding double amplification preserve clarity and make the band EQ predictable.

Bringing a Trident into an Australian studio

A surviving Trident 24 in Australia is more likely to be found in a private collection, specialist dealer stock or restoration project than in a conventional project room. Sydney’s commercial studios and Melbourne’s owner-operated facilities have provided homes for unusual equipment, while Brisbane and regional centres have active music communities with smaller budgets. The local market rewards tested examples, but a cheap console can hide failed modules.

Transport and installation need equal attention. A full desk is too heavy for ordinary freight handling, so an art mover should inspect access routes, floor loading and lifting points before collection. For time-critical movement of smaller items, providers such as AS Charters can be consulted about aviation options, although a heavy console normally needs specialist road or sea freight.

Electrically, Australia uses 230 V at 50 Hz, while the original desk was built for British mains and may carry a 240 V primary or internally wound supply. Technicians should verify the transformer, fuses, earthing and insulation rather than assume nominal voltages guarantee compatibility. Australian Electrical Safety Rules, workplace Work Health and Safety duties and, where applicable, Regulatory Conformity Mark obligations make inspection and documented testing part of responsible restoration.

Before purchase or installation, check:

For a modern session, make these practices routine:

The Trident in company and in practice

No vintage desk is universally “better” than its successors, and the Trident 24 should be judged in the role it was built to play. It was a multitrack-focused mixing console with a compact footprint, a powerful channel-strip identity and little automation. Later desks offered more inputs, routing, integrated dynamics or motorised control; the Trident’s attraction lies in the clarity and immediacy of its original design.

The comparison below places the 24 among familiar benchmarks without pretending each filled the same role. Versions and service histories differ, so exact routing and EQ details should be checked against the individual console. For a collector, originality matters; for a working engineer, repeatable behaviour, safe power and available parts matter more than a polished nameplate.

Model Format and era Channel treatment Routing and workflow Best-known role
Trident 24 24-input, eight-track-oriented desk, 1967 Four-band EQ and early solid-state stages; dynamics usually external Flexible groups, direct assignments and manual control Compact tracking and mixing
Trident 80B Larger 80-channel desk, 1970s Refined four-band EQ and expanded channel options Greater input and group capacity for busy studios Major tracking and mixdown rooms
API 1604 Modular eight-channel console or strip, 1970s Switchable EQ, pad and discrete transistor signal path Buildable as a larger system or used as a front end Strong association with American rock records
Neve 1073 Eight-channel microphone and line amplifier module, 1970s onward Class-A gain stage with switchable low- and high-band EQ Usually paired with a larger desk or used outboard Benchmark British recording sound

Explore the console catalogue on MixingConsole.org, contribute a Trident session story to the editorial conversation, and share its settings with engineers who still work by ear. The most valuable record is often the one an owner keeps: the routing diagram, switch positions and notes that preserve how a rare console was actually used.