The studio techniques of the Beatles: how four lads from Liverpool and a radio producer from the BBC changed sound recording forever.
The Beatle’s music has been recognized as influential and innovative in many ways, none more so than their innovations and experiments in the studio and with sound recording with help of George Martin. This essay will discuss the studio techniques of the Beatles and how they changed the course of sound recording forever.
The Beatles started to experiment in their recording techniques as early as 1964, having achieved incredible commercial, financial and critical success by this stage they were then essentially given free range in the recording studio, this gave them the unique opportunity for experimentation. With the help of George Martin that’s exactly what they did. Prior to the nineteen sixties and the Beatle’s experiments in the studio, sound recording was not a fully refined art that is there were none of the widely used seemingly natural conventions we are familiar with today. A good example of this is the 1966 song Taxman where drums are all panned to left; this might seem like nothing out of the ordinary now but in that time were defining the nature of sound recording.
Much of the Beatle’s enthusiasm and desire to create new sound-scapes stemmed from their recreational drug use in particular trying to re-create sonically and lyrically their experiences of the drug LSD. This of course had to do with changing social order, the emergence of hippy culture and the band’s recent adventures in India. This excitement combined with George Martin’s enthusiasm for experimenting with new recording technology and his willingness to create and try new things resulted in recordings that would change history. George Martin ( a former BBC radio producer) and the engineers at abbey road had the technical ability to see the Beatle’s often crazy and strange ideas of how they wanted things to sound into fruition with the use of recording techniques and a fair amount of artistic communication between the two. The most influential and well known technique used by Martin and the Beatles was of course their use of double tracking. This technique involves the recording of a song twice which are then both played together by the sound engineer creating a far richer sound than a single take. Martin saw the power and possibilities of this technique better than anyone and this technique was used extensively in many Beatles recordings. During the recording of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ this technique was refined further by the working sound engineer Ken Townsend who invented ‘automatic double tracking’ as a result of John Lennon not wanting to record songs more than once.
This revolutionary technique which is still used today allowed two sound images to be recorded at once; this could then be tampered with by change the speed and frequencies to manipulate other interesting effects that would find their way on to Revolver. The use of double tracking on “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” on the later album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was extremely pertinent to achieving the dream-like psychedelic sound present in the track, especially the distorted vocals of john Lennon. Perhaps an even greater example of this was the end result of Strawberry Fields Forever a strange combination of two recordings, which blend together to create none other than a musical masterpiece. This track provided the greatest challenge for Martin and the abbey engineers who rose to the challenge in a creative an innovative way indicative of their entire relationship.
Another influential technique The Beatles mastered with the help of Martin was use of ‘tape effects’ in particular sampling and use of ‘backwards tapes’ and tape loops. These were used to create atmospheric sounds and include richer narrative to the song. Tape effects include the reversing cutting, re-organizing or reversing, splicing and dicing of bits of tape involve as well as inclusion of real world sounds to create interesting effects. While music concrete the was first example of this, The Beatles used the technique to fantastic ends in their later recordings. The first example of their use of this technique is found on Rain (the first rock song to include backward vocals) and Yellow Submarine. The latter being a good example of sampling (recordings of a famous composer’s brass solo were put on tape, cut up, re-organized and added to the track) that would find it’s maturity on Sgt. Pepper’s For the Benefit of Mr. Kite where the splicing and re-organizing (at random) of circus themed organs which were added to song giving it it’s unique atmospheric quality. A later and even more recognizable use of this technique was on the song I am the Walrus from The Magical Mystery Tour album. The Beatles became well known for their use of backwards tapes, many of their popular songs including Strawberry Fields Forever, use this technique seamlessly.
Another Beatles - Martin innovation in the recording studio was the manipulation of recorded voices. As mentioned earlier the dream-like quality of John Lennon’s Voice in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds achieved through various effects these innovations occurred perhaps due to the fact John Lennon was for some reason always wanting to change the sound of his own voice. With use of automatic double tracking and delay as well as effects such as reverberation, echo and in the most creative case a Leslie speaker (a rotating speaker form an organ) was used in Tomorrow Never Knows, giving it its strange ‘metallic’ sound with an ‘other worldly quality’. It might also be noted (although the Beatles did not exactly pioneer this technique) that varispeed was often used to create either lethargic or sped up versions of recordings most notable on I’m Only Sleeping (slower) and In my life (faster).
As might be expected, as The Beatles grew more adventurous and adept in their recording so did they experiment and grow more in their musicianship, in particular their use of the electric guitar and varying effects on their sound. One of the most influential of these developments which began earlier in their career was their use of feedback, the 1964 song I Feel Fine begins with a note of feedback, the effect is a captivating and intense buzzing sound. Manipulation of the sounds of their guitars was also achieved with the ‘flanger’ audio effect’s which classic use was pioneered by none other than Ken Townsend. The effect first found its way into The Beatle’s music with Revolver which has flanging on almost every track creating a ‘sweeping’ harmonic effect. Guitars became more of a central focus of their music rather than just lyrics, an approach which would come to define most of later rock music. As well as experimentation with Guitar , with the help of Martin and engineers the Beatles pioneered experimentation with microphone placement in order to create different effects the extremely close micing of acoustic instruments particularly seen in Eleanor Rigby creating a more enriched sound. This technique though extremely radical at the time is now also common place.
In addition to these experiments as mentioned earlier, the band made an important spiritual and musical discovery on their journey to India. The influence of Indian music can be found in many subsequent Beatles’ songs including Indian harmonic scales, eastern instruments and of eastern influences on their lyrical content. George Harrison and john Lennon were particularly affected by this journey which shows through on their subsequent music. John’s song Tomorrow never knows includes many unconventional instruments for a rock band, it lyrics deal with the singers experiments with psychedelic drugs which no doubt were a huge factor in all the Beatles musical experiments as well. George’s song Within Without You is another clearly eastern influenced piece which marked another dramatic departure from the conventions of the rock band and also interesting results in the studio with use of all the effects listed above.
Their spiritual and drug related journey’s explosion in the studio in the form of revolver Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was not only a symbol of the emerging hippy and drug culture, but it also had it place in changing the way sound was recorded forever. For it is well known many subsequent musicians of the same period and later have tried to re-create these magical happenings by experimenting with drugs while recording as well. One of the most obvious influences these recordings produced was on the music of Pink Floyd and subsequent ‘progressive’ or psychedelic rock bands. Many of whom cite Sgt. Pepper as their primary source of inspiration. Pink Floyd used many of the same techniques such as backward tapes and loops, unconventional instruments, guitar effects and vocal effects. Without these recordings we might not have seen such innovation in recording at least not for several years with technological advances of the twenty first century.
As well as these influential and innovative techniques, there was another contribution, which more than any of the others enabled by George Martin, this of course being the use of classical instruments and arrangements in popular rock music. This experimentation began with Yesterday which included a string quartet. Martin’s role was pivotal in this regard as he did all the arrangements, wrote out the scores and conducted and oversaw the performances. This is the perfect example of the melding of two geniuses that characterize the Beatles records.
As the Beatles music matured more and more classical music found its way into their songs, while this was not new to pop music it was new ground for the Beatles whose inclusion of these instruments (performed by classical musicians) was undoubtedly highly influential to their successors. The best examples of this are found on Eleanor Rigby featuring a string accompaniment and Penny Lane featuring a piccolo trumpet at John’s request and of course A Day in the Life which included a forty piece orchestra. The recording of this piece brought together pop and classical musicians on a scale not previously attempted and resulted in some interesting dynamics. The evolution of the Beatles’ sound with the inclusion of classical instruments marked as much as any other technique a willingness of the band to experiment ad play around with new ideas, the spirit of which has continued in today’s modern pop and rock music.
In essence all of these innovations, experiments and ground-breaking techniques changed the history of sound recording in a number of ways. It is important first to note that the amount of freedom the Beatle’s had in the studio was almost unheard of at time, but it is now more or less expected by all serious rock bands to be allowed to do their own thing in the studio. As stated previously as well the conventions of studio recording were in their infancy in the Beatles’ time, their experimental attitude toward recording along that of George Martin’s and the engineers produced some of the best know conventions in the industry today. The popularization of using classical instruments in pop music has also had similar repercussions on modern music. Perhaps as well the relationship between engineers, producers and recording artists has grown more complex as result of the time and effort spent on these albums with artists seeking to find their ‘own George Martin’ someone equally as interested in trying new things in the recording studio and also someone who is genuinely interested the bands’ music and members.
While the Beatles certainly were pioneers in the studio, we must not forget the influences that helped make this innovation happen, music concrete played a huge role in the creative use of magnetic tape manipulation which much of the Beatle’s music’s effects depend on, also the influence of the social context in which the Beatle’s operated was responsible largely for their success and then later experiments with drugs and music from other cultures. Lastly, with all of the above credited, it is safe to say four lads from Liverpool and a BCC radio producer changed sound recording not only forever but for the better of all musicians, producers, engineers and of course listeners alike.