United Western Studios

Coordinates: 34°5′52.19″N 118°19′13.49″W / 34.0978306°N 118.3204139°W / 34.0978306; -118.3204139

United Western Recorders was a two-building recording studio complex in Hollywood, which became one of the most successful independent recording studios in the world in the 1960s. The complex came as a merge between neighboring studios United Recording Corp. on 6050 Sunset Boulevard and Western Studio on 6000 Sunset Boulevard.

In 1984, United Western Recorders was succeeded by and renamed to Ocean Way Recording. Starting in 1999, the complex was divided by two individual establishments: Ocean Way Recording (now United Recording Studios) on 6050 Sunset and Cello Studios (now EastWest Studios) on 6000 Sunset.

The United Western complex produced some of the biggest hit records of the pop era. According to the book Temples of Sound, "No other studio has won more technical excellence awards, and no studio has garnered as many Best Engineered Grammys as this complex of studios on Sunset Boulevard." Its Studio 3 room is considered "iconic" for its use by Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys' albums Pet Sounds (1966) and Smile (unreleased).

The complex's two buildings, United Recording and Western Studio, operated more or less independently despite being located one block apart. United consisted of two large rooms; the larger United 'A' was approximately 45 × 65 × 22 feet, with United 'B' being slightly smaller. Western copied the layout of United, with the very large Western 1 and the somewhat smaller Western 2. Both buildings also had a third, smaller recording room, as well as several dubbing and mastering suites. The small rooms provided a sumptuous sound, Western Studio 3, which measures only 34' × 14', was preferred by Brian Wilson.