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Thursday, January 31, 2008
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10:00 AM - That Beatles Sound: Recording@Abbey Road
Category: Music
That Beatles Sound: Recording@Abbey Road
From now until the end of July 2008, the Museum of Making Music is proud to host "That Beatles Sound: Recording @ Abbey Road," a special exhibition whose namesake is derived from the comprehensive book "Recording the Beatles" by authors Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew.
 The exhibit samples behind-the-scenes artifacts from daily life at Abbey Road; the surrounding environment when the Beatles were recording there. Everything from tape recorders, microphones, speakers and session documents from the 1960s. Seeing these in person points out some huge differences in design and construction compared to today’s recording methods: An original oily, tank-like mechanical beast (the EMI tape machine) and military-looking vocal compressor are now replaced by a modern laptop computer. Yet other items - like classic European microphones and vintage guitar amplifiers - are still in heavy use in today’s studios.
Brian Kehew, co-curator for this exhibition, states:
"It’s a wonderful experience to hear music coming from the very speakers the Beatles used at Abbey Road, or to see the chairs they sat in while playing and singing during those 8 magic years. Especially in America - actual artifacts from the Beatles’ studio are rarely seen. Most of these items came from private collectors or working studios, and have never been available to the public. Several pieces are the only remaining original of those used on Beatles records - quite literally ’museum pieces’ of rarity and historical significance."
Pieces include:
* BTR3 Tape Recorder
* Neumann U47 Microphone
* Vox UL 730 Amplifier & Cabinent
* S.G. Brown Type "Super K" Headphones
* EMI/Leak RS141 Monitor Amplifier
* Abbey Road Studio Chair
* EMI RS114 Limiter
* One of the first Studer J37 4-Track Tape Recorder Control Plates purchased for Abbey Road
* Levell TG150 Oscillator
* Altec 605A Monitor Speaker
* EMI Engineer’s "Setup Sheets"
Other interesting pieces include memos and brochures that provide interesting views into the workings of the studio, including one specific memo on loan from Ken Townsend, MBE, regarding an 8-Track Recorder. A description for the memo explains its meaning:
"The Beatles were often frustrated in the studio– mainly because they were quick to change–they wanted to stay ahead of other groups with new sounds and new techniques. The Beatles had been using 4-track recording for many years, and American musicians (and some English groups like the Rolling Stones) had already begun using new 8-track recorders. The Beatles were left waiting for one.
Many months later, Abbey Road finally received a new 8-track recorder, specially shipped from America. This was a 3M model M23 recorder, capable of 8 separate parts on the tape. While the Beatles were extremely anxious to use it - this memo states that the new recorder has been "rejected" for the new 1968 Beatles sessions (for The White Album) by their own producer - George Martin. This was a crushing defeat for the Beatles at the time - they had an 8-track machine in the building but were not allowed to use it!
However, George Martin and the technical staff had determined that the new 8-track machine could not do the "tricks" possible on the older 4-track machines, like phasing and ADT. So, it was taken away for nearly half a year to be modified as the Beatles sessions needed. Eventually, the Beatles were annoyed by the long delay and commanded their staff to sneak in the middle of the night and "steal" the 8-track machine! It was then used on their session for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." After nearly being fired for this, the staff were then allowed to continue limited use of the 8-track on the sessions; simply because the Beatles were powerful and important to EMI Records."
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