Church Studio, Camden, New Jersey

Originally built as the Trinity Baptist Church in Camden, NJ, the building was acquired by the Victor Talking Machine Co. in February 1918. The company removed the bell tower and converted the second floor of the parish building into a recording studio known as Camden Church Studio or Trinity Church Studio. This building was isolated from the noise of the production floors elsewhere on the Victor factory campus. After the installation of Western Electric microphones in 1925, the adjoining church hall with its Estey pipe organ could also be used for recordings. The large church hall became Camden Church Studio Number 1, whereas the smaller recording studio in the upper floor of the parish building was christened Camden Church Studio Number 2. The Estey pipe organ in the church hall had been built in 1921 by the Estey Organ Company from Brattleboro, Vermont. So it was not the original organ of the Trinity church, but had been installed by Victor. This organ was modified and expanded twice, once in 1925, when Estey installed a lighted console organ that remotely controlled the actual pipe organ at the other end (or even in a different room) of the hall, and once again in 1926, when Estey added a third manual with additional features (e.g., 2nd touch) and several ranks of additional pipes, increasing the sound and versatility of the organ. It was this organ on which Thomas "Fats" Waller made his famous organ recordings between November 1926 and January 1935. Other well-known artists who recorded in Victor's Church Studio were Duke Ellington, Paul Whiteman, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton (1929), and McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1930-1931). Recording activities had to be abandoned in 1935 when the noise of a newly installed subway close to the building made further use infeasible. The studio became a gymnasium for the Victor Athletic Association, then a store room. In 1947, the Church Studio building was sold and apparently demolished.