Sgt. Pepper in Quad--Was Only Half the Album Mixed in Quad?

Notations on the box from the master reels only list "Quad remix" on the side 1 (ar 8568/17079a) of Sgt. Pepper on "25/9/73" or Sept. 25, 1973. There is NO corresponding listing on the box for the master reel of side 2 (ar8569/17079b.) :yikes Other "dates/operations/initials" on the logs are listed on both reels. Being unreleased, does anyone have an inkling if this was an oversight, or if, in fact, only the tracks on side 1 were mixed for quad?

The master tape box photos were included on the sleeve of my copy of Sgt. Pepper (disc 8) in my "the Beatles-the Collection" Mobile Fi LP box.

Linda
Surround Sound Sleuth

It's still a mystery (as far as I know) why they would have pulled the 2-track stereo master from the vaults for a quad mix. I suspect it was pulled by mistake, marked that way on the log, and then put back when the mistake was caught. As far as a quad mix of "Sgt. Pepper" even existing, my hypothesis is that once they realized how many bounced tracks there were on the 4-track master, they gave up on the idea of doing a quad mix.

J. D.

Pulling a stereo master to A/B the Quad mix to the stereo mix makes perfect sense, especially for a classic album like Sgt. Pepper. God forbid something was buried or left out of the Quad mix. With side 2's master not being pulled, it lends creedence to this title's Quad mix never being completed. Yet, it also supports the rumours that at least some of Pepper was mixed in Quad.

J.D., you are correct that Pepper was recorded by combining tracks and then "bouncing" them to another channel to allow for additional tracks to be recorded. Oh, what a 24-track could yield!

Linda
Surround Sound Senorita

jdmack said:

It's still a mystery (as far as I know) why they would have pulled the 2-track stereo master from the vaults for a quad mix. I suspect it was pulled by mistake, marked that way on the log, and then put back when the mistake was caught. As far as a quad mix of "Sgt. Pepper" even existing, my hypothesis is that once they realized how many bounced tracks there were on the 4-track master, they gave up on the idea of doing a quad mix.

J. D.

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Since then I believe for the "Love" DVD-A project and "Rock Band" video game they've gone back to all their previous takes before bounce and remixed songs into Multi-Channel or isolated tracks. With new technology they've been able to sync tracks for more to work with, at least that's my understanding of it. There are many isolated tracks from "Sgt. Pepper" out there now. There was also rumor that someone had a Quad SQ test pressing (if I recall correctly) and that the mix wasn't that spectacular due to what they could do in 1973 with what tracks they had back then to work with. Still, if it was mixed into Quad back then, would love to hear it regardless of what the mix is or is not. Do a "Sgt. Pepper" search here and you'll find more info about the subject.

EDIT: Also check the QQ Beatles page: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/QQ-beatles.htm

I've seen the Pepper postings here. They caused me to take another look at the listings on the master tape boxes. Although I got the Mofi box when it was released, I never noticed that the masters for side 2 weren't pulled in '73 for the quad mix. BTW: I got that box for free from Mofi in a sales contest. There are two current E-Bay listings at $999.99/ea.

Linda
Sgt. Pepper's Surround Surrogate

Old Quad Guy said:

Since then I believe for the "Love" DVD-A project and "Rock Band" video game they've gone back to all their previous takes before bounce and remixed songs into Multi-Channel or isolated tracks. With new technology they've been able to sync tracks for more to work with, at least that's my understanding of it. There are many isolated tracks from "Sgt. Pepper" out there now. There was also rumor that someone had a Quad SQ test pressing (if I recall correctly) and that the mix wasn't that spectacular due to what they could do in 1973 with what tracks they had back then. Still if it was mixed into Quad back then, would love to hear it regardless of what the mix is or is not. Do a "Sgt. Pepper" search here and you'll find more info about the subject.

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I have copies of the 4-track masters to Lonely Hearts Club Band (intro), With a little help from my friends, A day in the life and She's leaving home. I made my own Quad mixes and had to get pretty creative to come up with anything that worked. I had fun doing a call-and-response vocal part on With a little Help with Ringo front center and the boys LB & RB. Oddly enough on this one, the background vocals are on their own track and sharing the quiet parts of the lead vocal track! So I got Ringo FC, and a very nice response in Stereo in the rears. I kept the band 99% to the front with a studio style echo in the back. The occasional instrument and whirly-gig pan. She's leaving home was the smoothest sounding mix. It's two vocal tracks, two orchestra tracks. Flat orchestra FL/FR, 'verbed orchestra BL/BR. Lead vocals FC, backing vocals BC.

There would've been absolutely NO way to do mixes like I did and as aggresive as I did back in the 70's. Some tracks have multiple pieces on them and have to be cut apart to create their own tracks. Not to mention the amount of flubs, false starts and general tape-editing tom-foolery that exists on the multis. One would've had to note every time something occured and try to mute it out of the mix. They are not what I would describe as a "clean" multi.

Quad Linda said:

Pulling a stereo master to A/B the Quad mix to the stereo mix makes perfect sense, especially for a classic album like Sgt. Pepper.

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Yes and no, in my opinion. If they just wanted to compare the mixes, why not pull a safety copy, or buy the album, rather than put the 1st generation master at risk?

J. D.

It's fairly certain that at some point a quad mix of Pepper was considered, and perhaps some tracks mixed to 4-channel to see if it would past muster (as it were). This is nothing new to quadaholics, since we know many albums were considered but never released, for whatever reasons. It's also logical that the 2-track stereo mixdown master (or, more likely, a copy of the original) would be used as reference in making any new mix, whether it be stereo or quad.

IMO, as a '70s quad release, SGT. PEPPER wouldn't have made much sense, and, as noted above, would have been fairly hopeless to remix at the time, since it was a 4-track recording. On the other hand, had EMI been able to issue quad Beatles, ABBEY ROAD should have been more than workable--should have turned out very nicely, one would think.

And as Decca UK found out when they remixed the Moody Blues 1968-72 Lp catalog for quad, while only a few missing parts didn't spell disaster for the overall result (DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED), too much missing (IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD) would have been untenable. As it turned out, they made fairly strong mixes of six, while the seventh, by necessity (and lack of overdubs) was left unreleased (though we can guess at least some tracks were mixed decently, though never released).

ED

Watch my Pepper! Here's my Quad mix of Sgt. Pepper and With a Little Help from my Friends. Watch it on my scope. Listen in glorious mono. I pan around to each channel for a few seconds so you can listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWeRAdwb_iM

Q-Eight said:

Watch my Pepper! Here's my Quad mix of Sgt. Pepper and With a Little Help from my Friends. Watch it on my scope. Listen in glorious mono. I pan around to each channel for a few seconds so you can listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWeRAdwb_iM

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Very, very nice! Way cool.

Just read an article in the latest Electronic Musician about Dave Stewart recording in Nashville. He mentioned being in a room listening to Sgt. Pepper's in surround! No other details on that in the article, but I'm wondering (and hoping).

Well it IS Nashville.. if anyones gonna come up with a remix it'll come outta music row.. hell of a lot of talent there.. not just in front of the mic either

Taking the stereo master for a quad "remix" isn't going to result in a quad mix, as we all know. Maybe they took it out as a reference for the mixing. There are some conflicting items on this:
(1) A stereo tape being reused for a quad mix.
(2) Mark Lewisohn, a Beatles historian given access to EMI tapes and files, makes no mention of finding either a quad master tape or documents referencing such a project.
(3) Steve Hoffman has talked about getting to listen to a (presumably) SQ test pressing on a quad system in the basement of Capitol Records.
(4) The bootlegged Sgt Pepper 4-track recordings are not proper quad mixes, they are straight 4-track transfers.
Who knows?

Thanks for posting that photo, Quadtrade. The album jackets on all albums in the box are pictures of the master tape boxes. The album covers are collected in an LP size booklet. The vinyl is virgin vinyl and was originally formulated for CD-4. Like other MoFi LP's, they are 1/2 speed mastered. A GeoDisc is also included for phono cartridge alignment. This is the best way to listen to the Beatles, except side 2 of MMT, which is in faux stereo, just like the Capitol LP. Phooey! On LP, the German pressing is the only MMT in real stereo. Baby, You're a Rich Man has awesome bass in real stereo and is really poor in faux stereo. Still, this box is one of the jewels in my collection.

Linda

The box scan is also on the Beatles page of this forum

Quad Linda said:

Thanks for posting that photo, Quadtrade. The album jackets on all albums in the box are pictures of the master tape boxes. The album covers are collected in an LP size booklet. The vinyl is virgin vinyl and was originally formulated for CD-4. Like other MoFi LP's, they are 1/2 speed mastered. A GeoDisc is also included for phono cartridge alignment. This is the best way to listen to the Beatles, except side 2 of MMT, which is in faux stereo, just like the Capitol LP. Phooey! On LP, the German pressing is the only MMT in real stereo. Baby, You're a Rich Man has awesome bass in real stereo and is really poor in faux stereo. Still, this box is one of the jewels in my collection.

Linda

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The MFSL Cassette is in true stereo the whole way through

I'm aware the MoFi cassette is real stereo, which is why I said "On LP..." Evidently, the master from England came too late for the box, but not the cassette. The Three Stooges are alive, well and working at Capitol. "Is this in competent hands?" Curly: "Soitenly, we're all incompetent."

Linda
Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk

ChristopherLees said:

The MFSL Cassette is in true stereo the whole way through

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"I was trying to think and nothing was happening"

Imagine investing $1000-$1500 for this box on E-Bay and finding those tracks in electronic stereo. Fortunately, I got mine for free in a sales contest from MoFi. The MoFi LP box is the best way to hear the Beatles for all but side 2 of MMT. Of course, I own them at least 7 times over and usually listen to the stereo, mono or Capitol versions on CD in the car.

One of the jewels of my collection.

Linda