Recording The Beatles...finally!

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by RobR

Millions does not equal the entire population.
I'm surrounded every day by, mostly, 18 year olds.
Most of them don't know Beatles tunes.

yes, but "millions" probably means more mostly-18-year-olds than you're surrounded by...

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by RobR

It's not like NOOOOOOOOOOBODY's digging it.
I'm just sayin', a little less this time.

yeah, probably right, but at the same time, Glen Miller's no less classic for being less popular now than he used to be, eh? It's pretty wild to think that a rock band is considered part of that echelon in the first place. The fact that enough of the young'uns to matter still enjoy the beatles 40 years later means that the group isn't venerated merely because their generation is getting old. (I hope that made sense).

[u b k]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

The result was a recording that took on a life of its own, told us what to do to it and hence wasn't limited by our concepts.

i know this comment is a little old, and i still wanted to chime in and say that some of us still work this way. i always have very clear ideas in my head of how a song will sound. then i get to tracking, lo and behold this particular element is not so hot, but hey, maybe a little harp or something goes there instead?

then i start the mix, and i'm pushing faders and turning knobs trying to squeeze the tones into this box i built weeks ago, and at some point i stop, take a stretch, push all the faders back down, and start over. this time, i'm listening more than speaking, i'm being pushed more than i'm pushing.

somewhere along the way the mix, the song, the whole thing, just reveals itself, BANG. it shows its face, and from there it's a cakewalk to finish up the track. it takes me about a week to mix my own music.

i don't have this problem when i mix other people's music, which i do much more frequently than my own. i bring zero preconceptions to the table when i haven't written or recorded the tracks in front of me, when i have no stake in the statement itself. my job then is just to hear that statement and make sure it translates with the perfect blend of beauty, edge, finesse, and force.

music is truly capable of making itself using my talents, the more i get out of the way the better.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[initialsBB]

Wow, I was looking at the pdfs of the sample pages and those EMI plugin EQs are wild! I love the "pop" and "classic" labels that show through the little windows. Cool stuff.

[Stoneroses6300]

The Beatles are for girls

[orange]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

The Beatles are for girls

are you suggesting that's a good thing or a bad thing ?

[Mattsson]

Originally Posted by Stoneroses6300

The Beatles are for girls

For girls??? Well, yeah I can agree that the very early songs might sound a bit girly for some. But what about songs like Helter Skelter, I am the walrus and Tomorrow Never Knows...

[bcgood]

I love The Beatles but sometimes I think we spend so much time thinking of them and talking about their greatness that we forget about talented new bands that often get overlooked...

bcgood

[Sirocco]

is htis gonna come out for pdf for us poor young souls?

[Guidotoons]

I was mixing a record at a studio here in town three years ago when the 25 year old assistant and I started discussing The Beatles.

They meant nothing to him. To me, they were the beginning of everything.

It was the first time I ever heard anyone say that in a recording studio. I was stunned but realized that he just grew up hearing different stuff.

To him, they were moldy oldies and for the very first time in my career I felt old and out of touch.

Time flies when yer having fun.

Guido

[Kevin Ryan]

Originally Posted by Guidotoons

I was mixing a record at a studio here in town three years ago when the 25 year old assistant and I started discussing The Beatles. They meant nothing to him. To me, they were the beginning of everything....To him, they were moldy oldies and for the very first time in my career I felt old and out of touch. Guido

I've experienced this myself several times with younger people. "What's the big deal about the Beatles? I don't get it. They mean nothing to me..." It's especially jolting when it comes from a musician or engineer. In my own experiences, I've found that in almost every case of someone claiming to "hate" the Beatles, their perception of the group is based on the 1964/moptops/Ed Sullivan period. That early image is the one constantly pushed and celebrated in the media, and it is certainly iconic. But if you based your opinion only on what you've seen on TV and on the cover of magazines and TV Guide, you might assume all the group ever did is "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You".

Now, I happen to enjoy and appreciate that period of their career very much, but I do think it's potentially less relevant to modern music than their later records. So, when I hear people say that the Beatles mean "nothing" to them, I've found a little prodding usually reveals that they've never really listened to Revolver or the "White Album" or Abbey Road. I always encourage them to check out the later stuff, because until they have, they don't really know the Beatles' music enough to decide they hate them. They only know that they hate one portion of the group's massive output.

[xj32]

Sooo...back on track here.

Pre-orders are shipping in August, are we talking 2nd...15th or 31st of August?

Just impatient I guess

[latweek]

Originally Posted by xj32

Sooo...back on track here.

Pre-orders are shipping in August, are we talking 2nd...15th or 31st of August?

Just impatient I guess

[latweek]

Bueller?..... Anyone?

[NeveMaster]

Does anybody know when they are shipping I cant get a hold of the guys on email and Im moving soon?

[BrianK]

If you want to write me at any time, I'm at
Mello-at-aol.com
(Neither Kevin or I hide out - we're all over the web, but I'll reserve posting his email for his own discretion). If anyone has an address change, just let us know and we can fix it easily. Anyone who has to cancel or refund, let us know - that's also easy to do.

We're in contact with the printer, who have had some delays on their end. Nothing we can do about that - but we are getting an "update email" out to everyone within a day - to anyone who ordered. It has put the book delivery date back several weeks. It's been printed and is now being bound, but this is followed by shipping - which literally takes a ship around the world. Followed by trains, trucks and planes to our distribution and to you. As we know more, you will know more.

On the positive side, we are about to put up a few more pages of previews on our website, as that seems to be very popular.

[BrianK]

I can see the perspective - if you liked heavy, dark metal - what WOULD the Beatles have to offer to you?

Or if you liked electronic synchronization - it's far from that. I remember when people thought Gary Numan was cold and lifeless music - but it sounds VERY organic and human now - compared to the grid-snapped beats of punk rock bands now!

Hendrix was also "groundbreaking". But it's hard to hear his music now as "outer space" and futuristic. Instead it sounds quite retro and cool. So - I think anything to do with "time" or being "pioneering" loses it's edge over time. Do you listen to old Les Paul 78s and think - "how does he DO that?" No.

....but it's the timeless aspects that still last for much of the Beatles music.

Very cool to give these updates. I've read all the other books while waiting, so it'll be great to have yours!

[Sizzleboy]

Originally Posted by bcgood

I love The Beatles but sometimes I think we spend so much time thinking of them and talking about their greatness that we forget about talented new bands that often get overlooked...

bcgood

I think the idea of the beatles is more than just the band itself. It was about a time when the canvas of rock had much less oil on it. There will never be another band like the beatles because we cannot turn the clock back to 1962 and start over. The closest thing we have to going back there is...listening to the beatles!

[Kiwiburger]

I can see the perspective - if you liked heavy, dark metal - what WOULD the Beatles have to offer to you?

imo every guitar player who fancies themselves as being heavy or dark should study The Beatles. I think Helter Skelter is about the most aggressive guitar playing ever. And the pioneering techniques of The Beatles & their engineers practically invented the heavy metal genre.

I think there is much to be learned by any musician of any type, fwiw.

[hourglass]

Originally Posted by BrianK

I can see the perspective - if you liked heavy, dark metal - what WOULD the Beatles have to offer to you?

Everything.

On my way to work I listened to some stuff on the new Nevermore record and then I threw in my copy of Rubber Soul.

"I'm Looking Through You" floors me every time I hear it. It's like a 2 and half-minute blast of pop perfection -- and you can't help but grin like a lunatic at how happy it is.

Don't ge me started about "In my Life."

ryan

[BrianK]

Here's the official update page, with some new Previews added too.

http://www.recordingthebeatles.com/shippingupdate.htm

Keep an eye on this link for the most current news about it. Cheers!

[Brian Middleton]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Unlike today, the Beatles and we at Motown could never achieve anything resembling our musical concepts. We did the best we could, kept everything that felt like it had something "right" about it and then came up with clever ways to distract the listener from whatever "mistakes" we were stuck with keeping.

The result was a recording that took on a life of its own, told us what to do to it and hence wasn't limited by our concepts.

It's been said before, but Geoff Emerick makes this point really well in his book: that the technical restrictions helped make records like Sgt. Pepper great, because you had to make decisions early and often and commit to them. This created an atmosphere in which people were giving 100% to their work because they were going to have to live with the results--and as you say, Bob, the necessity of making things work even if they aren't perfect is a great creative stimulant.

The DAW methodology easily leads to a "bet-hedging" mentality where everything is tentative (and too often sounds that way). Reading what Emerick said has helped me to be more aware of this pitfall and take a different approach to sessions. I'm trying to avoid phrases like "we can always..." or "we don't necessarily have to...."