Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 2, 2008 Members Share Posted December 2, 2008 Yeah, post here more often. There's all sorts of stuff to discuss here, ain't there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted December 3, 2008 Moderators Share Posted December 3, 2008 How do you know all that Lee??? When my 11 year old daughter latched onto my Beatles #1Hits CD I knew I had her. So I just recently went and picked up the one I remember as being my favorite... and I find it still is. It's been in my car the past week so it's all fresh in my mind, amped up by years of memories. I am a freak but not that much of one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted December 3, 2008 Members Share Posted December 3, 2008 I find it difficult to choose a favourite Beatles album since I find it difficult to separate what/where I was at the time from child to now. George Martin is one of the 5 main Beatles. I imagine there was LOTS of what he did to edit etc. their tunes to make such art and craft...Songwriting and magic fer crine o' loude! But I am biased since I grew up when they were on the radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted December 3, 2008 Members Share Posted December 3, 2008 Was the Beatles age the Golden Age of Recording? 4 or 8 tracks with creamy sounding audio plus the time of civilization. Most rock bands are 4 or 5 piece so an 8 track should still work fine, all things being equal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 I'm not giving away my favorite yet, but I'm listening to side two of Abbey Road at the moment, and I must say - I consider that to be one of the ultimate artistic achievements of Western Civilization. The "mini suite" (which, IMHO, starts with You Never Give Me Your Money...) may have mainly been songwriting odds and sods that were pieced together, but man - it just works. And speaking of being a freak, Sun King is on at the moment... and I still remember all the lyrics to that - even the pseudo-Romance language nonsense stuff. Keetee, there's definitely some edit points on side two of Abbey Road (and other stuff - the classic being Strawberry Fields IMO - that took some work and luck to pull off with the technology of the day...) but I hesitate to point the exact location of stuff like that out - once you know they're there, it can sometimes change the way you hear the song... and some people would rather not know. As far as that being the golden age of recording, I don't know. It certainly was a highlight period, an important era, but there have been others in recorded music history - both before and since. From a technical standpoint, I wouldn't say so - I don't think they would have preferred to use a 4 or 8 track if they had a choice in the matter, but as they've said, it wouldn't have been the same set of records had they been done on 24 track analog machines. Some might argue the merits of the gear they used (and most of those models - Fairchilds, Studer J37's, old Neumanns, etc. are highly prized and very expensive pieces today), but IMO, it all starts with the songs. They had great songs. That isn't to take anything away from the great production, arrangements and engineering, nor the performances. And let's not overlook the importance of the acoustics of Abbey Road studios... I appreciate good gear, regardless of when it was first designed or used. Fortunately today, we still have access to most of the good stuff from bygone eras. True, it's prohibitively expensive for most of us, but if you have the means, you can get just about any piece of gear from back then if you're willing to pay the price. Plus all of the stuff that's been built since then, including any of the modern tools you might want. The tools are all still available. All you need is the room, and great musicians to put into it, and some great songs... One thing that is probably never going to be replicated is the era, the time and place. In the sense that multitrack recording was fairly new, and many techniques that are common today either didn't exist, or were just being discovered and developed... And by all accounts, the Beatles were always pressing for new sounds, and George Martin and the engineers at Abbey Road delivered. Another big difference back then was that you had to go in with a better idea of what the end result you were shooting for was, and you had to commit to things as you went along. Even with 8 tracks, a certain amount of pre-mixing and bouncing was required - and once you bounced down a few tracks, then erased the source tracks (leaving only the submix) there was no going back. Of course, you can work that way today if you so desire, but the trend (and temptation) is to do the opposite, and use "stock" sounds (and presets), and put off as many decisions as you can until later... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 3, 2008 Members Share Posted December 3, 2008 I have no idea whether the Beatles were the Golden Age of recording or if there's even such a thing. No doubt, what they did was a towering achievement that has had a larger cultural and musical impact than any other band. In so many ways, they changed how groups write songs and record them. The sheer impact of these achievements will likely never be achieved again. I happen to like other releases more than the Beatles, but that doesn't negate the above in any way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rogueweez Posted December 3, 2008 Members Share Posted December 3, 2008 I voted for the White Album. Very difficult choice, but that's the one my parents listened to when I was young, and there are so many good songs to choose from, the stinkers don't even matter. Dear PrudenceWhile My Guitar Gently WeepsJuliaCry Baby CryRocky RaccoonYer BluesMe & My MonkeyHapiness is a Warm GunBirthdayI Will just off the top of my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 Phil, you've really got a good thing going on your forum. Sorry I haven't visited much???? There's not much I haven't figured out already about recording, so I usually stay over at Craig's, so I can find out everyday stuff, (from musician's, my favorite people on earth) like what kind of stain to use on my deck and things about tires and stuff !!!!! Maybe I need to change that??? Russ Nashville Nothing says you can't post on both forums Russ. And we definitely appreciate having you join us whenever you feel like it. Your knowledge and experience would be an asset to ANY forum IMO. And thanks for the kind words about the forum. Yes, we do have a good thing going here - at least IMHO. And while it may be "my" forum, with my name on the marquee, it's the people who participate here who make it that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kerouac Posted December 5, 2008 Members Share Posted December 5, 2008 Sgt. Pepper = "A Day In The Life." I think that pretty much covers it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nice keetee Posted December 5, 2008 Members Share Posted December 5, 2008 "I read the news today oh boy..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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