The Beatles, Apple, Abbey Road, and surround.

[daved64]

This was posted in another thread relating to Alan Parsons.

He sure gets hearsay credit for involvement with the recording. I have always understood he had considerable input in the mxing, but no official credit. I don't even recognize the other names you mention, and had assumed it was George Martin and Alan that were involved. I understand he has no input in the decison to offer Abbey Road in surround, just that is likely capable of mixing it if was going to happen.

As I replied in the other thread, Alan was a teenage tape op for just a few of the many Abbey Road album sessions. He had next to zero involvement in the mixing of it, other than turning tape machines on and off. Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald were the primary engineers of the Abbey Road album.

Relating to the potential of him doing a surround mix of Abbey Road, the chances are ZERO. Here's why....

The Beatles keep things VERY "in-house". Everything goes thru Apple. Everything is done at Abbey Road. Neil Aspinall runs Apple and pretty much has the final say of all business related happenings. Peter Mew and Steve Rooke are pretty much the Apple remaster guys along with a few others (unfortunately! These guys love no-noising the crap out of stuff!). The 5.1 go to guy seems to be Peter Cobbins, and he does a pretty good job of it, if you go by the mixes on the Anthology DVD's and the Lennon:Legend DVD. So if.....IF... and I MEAN IF we ever see a major overhaul of the Beatles catalog in 5.1, this is the team to do it.

Really, if Alan Parsons DIDN'T do the SACD 5.1 mix of Dark Side Of The Moon, how on earth can you expect him to do Abbey Road?

 

[k8_fan]

I'm not sure how it would be possible to do a multi-channel mix of Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper's. Both were recorded on a 4 track machine, and tracks were bounced down. There was an interview with Geoff Emerick in the most recent issue of Mix magazine, and a inset photo of one of the 1" 4-track tapes, and it seemed to cover everything. I can't recall what three songs were on that tape, but the bass and drums were on one track, the vocals on another, the orchestra on a third, etc. It just seems like it would take an technology beyond what we currently have to seperate out the various insturments and make something that could be mixed into 5.1.

From the interview:

Did you think in terms of placing different instruments on different tracks, in terms of, “What is it I'm going to want in stereo later when I'm mixing?”
No, we didn't think in stereo. We were still monitoring mono — just one loudspeaker. It wasn't until Abbey Road that we actually decided to listen in stereo.

...and...

Of course, the only real way to experience the sound of “Paperback Writer” or “Rain” is to play the 7-inch mono vinyl single. That's how it's supposed to sound, with the bass punching out — it really shoots out the speaker unlike the stereo, which doesn't have that kind of impact.

 

[daved64]

I'm not sure how it would be possible to do a multi-channel mix of Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper's. Both were recorded on a 4 track machine, and tracks were bounced down...

Abbey Road was done on 8 track. As were parts of The White Album and other tracks from 1968-1969.

As far as bouncing down, IIRC, all the tapes are saved in the vaults, meaning whatever tapes were bounced down onto another machine, those tapes are still there. They can be thrown onto a DWS and mixed into 5.1, or thrown onto multitrack tape and synched up . Pete Townsend had the chance to work from the multitracks but chose to use the final 8 track mix to do Tommy (watch the interview, he mentions it).


Have you heard the 5.1 mixes on the Anthology DVD's? Some are beyond amazing!

 

[daved64]

Of course, the only real way to experience the sound of “Paperback Writer” or “Rain” is to play the 7-inch mono vinyl single. That's how it's supposed to sound, with the bass punching out — it really shoots out the speaker unlike the stereo, which doesn't have that kind of impact.

Same with Revolution. The mono mix is the best. Stereo was new, and The Beatles rarely cared about the stereo mix (they were never there to hear them mixed until much later, they'd be there for the mono mixes). The mixes of some of the stuff in stereo are primitive and weak. It was really a new way of listening back then.

 

[ChristopherLees]

I'm not sure how it would be possible to do a multi-channel mix of Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper's. Both were recorded on a 4 track machine, and tracks were bounced down. There was an
...and...

If you look at Mark Lewissohns book , you'll find that sgt pepper was recorded on two 4 track machines locked in sync = 8 tracks total.(from memory without looking at the book again I think they were Studer J37 machines).It also goes into discussion about how that was done and how it was sometimes a pain to re-cue the tapes....part of the reason why it's only a northern song was mono for a long time....
Eventually they went to 8 track halfway through the white album at abbey rd studios. revoluton and hey jude were also recorded earlier at another studio in 8 track...and of course abbey rd was 8 track..
also check the anthology dvd and yellow submarine dvd... the multitrack sound is fantastic.

 

[daved64]

If you look at Mark Lewissohns book , you'll find that sgt pepper was recorded on two 4 track machines locked in sync = 8 tracks total.

Right, but only for A Day In The Life. Everything else was straight 4 track. They ran a 50 cycle tone from one machine and raised the voltage to drive the capstan motor of the other machine, which synched them up

 

[neil wilkes]

The very thought of Peter Mew(tilation) being involved with anything at all in remasterterms after the dreadful mess he made of the latest round of Bowie reissues - the 30th anniversary releases.
Appalling.

 

[daved64]

The very thought of Peter Mew(tilation) being involved with anything at all in remasterterms after the dreadful mess he made of the latest round of Bowie reissues - the 30th anniversary releases.
Appalling.

Agree. There is a rumour on "another forum" that there is a remastering of the Beatles catalog underway, and one individual keeps insisting that Alan Rouse is doing the remastering.....only problem is Alan Rouse isn't a remastering engineer and isn't even listed on Abbey Road's site as one.

http://www.abbeyroad.co.uk/mastering/engineers.php

http://www.abbeyroad.co.uk/remastering/engineers.php