It's Official! The Beatles Remasters Thread (Pt. 01) *

Pawnmower · Apr 7, 2009

I love the Parlaphone logo on the "Beatles for Sale" disc! This project is CLASS!!!

Vinylsoul 1965 · Apr 7, 2009

AND I have to say, I am disappointed that they will be "eco-friendly" packaging, which means digipak, which means it will look old in two weeks...

I wonder how the box set will look? Will it take on the appearance of the old black "rolling desktop" version, or if they will be in boxes like the HMV sets (which I adored when they first came out)?

Larry · Apr 7, 2009

Wasn't April Fools Day last week???
Just checking to make sure.

Paul H · Apr 7, 2009

Nobby said: ↑

http://www.thebeatles.com has all the details!
Click to expand...

Oh my. Now it really DOES start...

brainwashed · Apr 7, 2009

Robert Haagsma said: ↑

Just git this press release in. I did not check the entire thread yet, so my apologies for any double posting:

Re-mastering the Beatles catalogue

The re-mastering process commenced with an extensive period conducting tests before finally copying the analogue master tapes into the digital medium. When this was completed, the transfer was achieved using a Pro Tools workstation operating at 24 bit 192 kHz resolution via a Prism A-D converter. Transferring was a lengthy procedure done a track at a time. Although EMI tape does not suffer the oxide loss associated with some later analogue tapes, there was nevertheless a slight build up of dust, which was removed from the tape machine heads between each title.

From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed. It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn’t impact on the original integrity of the songs.

In addition, de-noising technology, which is often associated with re-mastering, was to be used, but subtly and sparingly. Eventually, less than five of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to this process. Finally, as is common with today’s music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles’ music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

When all of the albums had been transferred, each song was then listened to several times to locate any of the agreed imperfections. These were then addressed by Guy Massey, working with Audio Restoration engineer Simon Gibson.

master tapes during the equalization process. When an album had been complMastering could now take place, once the earliest vinyl pressings, along with the existing CDs, were loaded into Pro Tools, thus allowing comparisons to be made with the original eted, it was auditioned the next day in studio three – a room familiar to the engineers, as all of the recent Beatles mixing projects had taken place in there – and any further alteration of EQ could be addressed back in the mastering room. Following the initial satisfaction of Guy and Steve, Allan Rouse and Mike Heatley then checked each new re-master in yet another location and offered any further suggestions. This continued until all 13 albums were completed to the team’s satisfaction.

New Notes/Documentaries Team

Kevin Howlett (Historical and Recording Notes)
Kevin Howlett’s career as an award-winning radio producer spans three decades. His music programmes for the BBC have included many documentaries about The Beatles, including 'The Beeb's Lost Beatles Tapes.' He received a Grammy nomination for his involvement with The Beatles’ album 'Live At The BBC' and, in 2003, produced the 'Fly On The Wall' bonus disc for 'Let It Be… Naked.'

Mike Heatley (Historical Notes)
Mike entered the music business via HMV Record Stores in 1970, transferring to EMI Records' International Division three years later. He eventually headed up that division in the early Eighties before joining the company's newly created Strategic Marketing Division in 1984. In 1988, he returned to International, where he undertook a number of catalogue marketing roles until he retired in December 2008.

During his career he worked with many of EMI's major artists, including Pink Floyd, Queen, Kate Bush and Iron Maiden. However, during the last 30 years he has formed a particularly strong relationship with Apple, and has been closely involved in the origination and promotion of the Beatles catalogue, besides solo releases from John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Bob Smeaton (Director, Mini-Documentaries)
Bob Smeaton was series director and writer on the Grammy award winning 'Beatles Anthology' TV series which aired in the UK and the USA in 1995. In 1998 he received his second Grammy for his ‘Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys’ documentary. In 2004 he gained his first feature film credit, as director on the feature documentary ‘Festival Express.' He subsequently went on to direct documentaries on many of the world's biggest music acts including The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Elton John, Nirvana and the Spice Girls.

Julian Caiden (Editor, Mini-Documentaries)
Julian has worked with Bob Smeaton on numerous music documentaries including 'Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsys' and the 'Classic Albums' series, featuring The Who, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Elton John and Nirvana among others. He has worked on documentary profiles from Richard Pryor to Dr. John to Sir Ian McKellen, Herbie Hancock and Damien Hirst and on live music shows including the New York Dolls and Club Tropicana.

The Abbey Road Team

Allan Rouse (Project Coordinator)
Allan joined EMI straight from school in 1971 at their Manchester Square head office, working as an assistant engineer in the demo studio. During this time he frequently worked with Norman (Hurricane) Smith, The Beatles’ first recording engineer.

In 1991, he had his first involvement with The Beatles, copying all of their master tapes (mono, stereo, 4-track and 8-track) to digital tape as a safety backup. This was followed by four years working with Sir George Martin as assistant and project coordinator on the TV documentary 'The Making of Sgt. Pepper's' and the CDs 'Live at the BBC' and 'The Anthology.'

In 1997, MGM/UA were preparing to reissue the film 'Yellow Submarine' and, with the permission of Apple, asked that all of The Beatles’ music be mixed for the film in 5.1 surround and stereo. Allan requested the services of Abbey Road’s senior engineer Peter Cobbin and assistant Guy Massey and, along with them, produced the new mixes.

Two years later, he proposed an experimental stereo and surround mix of John Lennon's song 'Imagine' engineered by Peter Cobbin. Following lengthy consultations with Yoko Ono, the album 'Imagine' was re-mixed in stereo and the Grammy award-winning film 'Gimme Some Truth' in surround and new stereo. This led to a further five of John’s albums being re-mastered with new stereo mixes and the DVD release of 'Lennon Legend' being re-mixed in 5.1 surround and new stereo.

Further projects followed, including The Beatles ‘Anthology', 'The First US Visit' and ‘Help’ DVD and the albums ‘Let It Be…Naked’ and ‘Love’ along with George Harrison’s 'Concert for Bangladesh' DVD and album.

For a number of years now, Allan has worked exclusively on Beatles and related projects.

Guy Massey (Recording Engineer)
Guy joined Abbey Road in 1994, and five years later assisted on the surround remix for The Beatles film 'Yellow Submarine.' This led to The Beatles’ 'Anthology' DVD and later, along with Paul Hicks and Allan Rouse, they mixed and produced 'Let It Be… Naked.' In 2004 he left the studios to become freelance and has engineered The Divine Comedy: 'Victory for the Comic Muse,' Air Traffic: 'Fractured Life,' James Dean Bradfield: 'The Great Western' and Stephen Fretwell’s 'Magpie,' co-producing the last two. Since leaving, Guy is still a vital member of the team, and has been the senior engineer for the re-mastering project and was responsible for surround and new stereo mixes for the DVD release of 'Help!'

Steve Rooke (Mastering Engineer)
Steve joined Abbey Road in 1983 and is now the studio’s senior mastering engineer. He has been involved on all The Beatles’ projects since 1999. He has also been responsible for mastering releases by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Paul Hicks (Recording Engineer)
Paul started at Abbey Road in 1994, and his first involvement with The Beatles was assisting engineer Geoff Emerick on the Anthology albums. This was followed by 'Yellow Submarine Songtrack,' 'Anthology' DVD and 'Let It Be… Naked.' Like Guy Massey, he has also become a freelance engineer and since leaving the studios he has been responsible for the surround mixing of Paul McCartney’s DVD 'The McCartney Years' and The Beatles' 'Love.' Paul has been in charge of the mono re-masters.

Sean Magee (Mastering Engineer)
Sean began working at Abbey Road in 1995 with a diploma in sound engineering. With a wealth of knowledge in analog and digital mastering, he has worked alongside Paul Hicks on the mono re-masters.
Sam Okell (Recording Engineer)
Sam’s first job as a member of the team was in 2006, assisting Paul Hicks on Paul McCartney’s DVD 'The McCartney Years,' and during that same year he was responsible for the re-mastering of George Harrison’s 'Living In The Material World' CD along with Steve Rooke. This led to him restoring the soundtrack to the Beatles film 'Help!' in surround and stereo, in addition to assisting Guy Massey with the song remixes. Sam has re-mastered 'With The Beatles' and 'Let It Be.'

Simon Gibson (Audio Restoration Engineer)
Simon joined Abbey Road in 1990. He has progressed from mastering mostly classical recordings to include a much wider range of music, including pop and rock, with his specialized role as an audio restoration engineer. Apart from the re-mastering project, his other work includes George Harrison’s 'Living In The Material World,' John Lennon’s 'Lennon Legend,' The Beatles’ 'Love' and the 'Help!' DVD soundtrack.
Click to expand...

I feel vindicated. Except for Sean Magee, these are the very engineers I had listed almost 2 years ago (from EMI work sheet data) as working on this project. The only difference is that Paul Hicks was listed as remix superviser, but apparently was in charge of the mono masters (note: Paul and Giles Martin are the remix engineers for the Rock Band project). I can't tell you all just how important it is that Simon Gibson, Paul Hicks and Sam O'kell are doing the grunt work here. These guys know what they're doing and I think the sound will be first-rate. They even mention DYNAMIC RANGE and little use of noise reduction (Martha My Dear anyone?) Also, as reported by me and others, Peter Mew was never part of this project and Rouse and Massey are sort of the archival coordinators. Great seeing Mike Heatley involved too. Maybe some sweet justice for him (many here will know why I say this). I love how they mention listening to the original vinyl sources and the 1987 CDs in conjunction with the new mastering. I bet they were appalled by the '87 CDs. I'm almost speechless Ron

KennyG · Apr 7, 2009

That's christmas sorted out for me...

reb · Apr 7, 2009

You can compare these clips to the Love clips at Beatles.com to hear the difference.

Claudio Dirani · Apr 7, 2009

There's plenty of time for bitching about now

johmbolaya · Apr 7, 2009

maidenpriest said: ↑

Ok, are any of you concerned about the mini documentaries being included on the same Cd as the albums, ie making it difficult to upload them to Mp3 etc,
Click to expand...

Why would you be uploading them, or do you mean to convert to MP3? Plus with a board like this, if it is discovered that the songs can't be ripped, someone will find a way to do it. "Hold shift-alt" or something.

johnny33 · Apr 7, 2009

The Beatles in Mono’ (boxed set only)
The mono albums have been remastered by Paul Hicks, Sean Magee with Guy Massey and Steve Rooke
Presented together in box with an essay written by Kevin Howlett
+ = mono mix CD debut
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help! (CD also includes original 1965 stereo mix)+
Rubber Soul (CD also include original 1965 stereo mix)+
Revolver+
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band+
Magical Mystery Tour+
The Beatles+
Mono Masters

Ive read this four times now.... incredible.

Pawnmower · Apr 7, 2009

I'm taking Sept 9 off work!

I'm as speechless as Ron. I almost cried seeing thebeatles.com!

brainwashed · Apr 7, 2009

GeoffC said: ↑

Was George Martin involved in these as at least a consultant?
Click to expand...

No.

NGeorge · Apr 7, 2009

den0iZer said: ↑

These albums will be available in September, 2009. Fiction or reality?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Days-Night-Beatles/dp/B0025KVLS8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239090211&sr=1-6
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-Sale/dp/B0025KVLSI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239081387&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles/dp/B0025KVLRY/ref=sr_1_151?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239091428&sr=1-151
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sgt-Peppers-Lonely-Hearts-Club/dp/B0025KVLTM/ref=sr_1_156?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239091428&sr=1-156
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Help-Beatles/dp/B0025KVLSS/ref=sr_1_150?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239091428&sr=1-150
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Please-Me-Beatles/dp/B0025KVLRO/ref=sr_1_157?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239091506&sr=1-157
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles/dp/B0025KVLU6/ref=sr_1_158?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239091506&sr=1-158

The real answer is on you.
Click to expand...

It's fiction - sorry.

If you go to Amazon.com UK and type in Beatles, you get the old line-up.

Claudio Dirani · Apr 7, 2009

http://www.musicnewsnet.com/2009/04/beatles-catalog-remastered-for-90909-release.html

Claudio Dirani · Apr 7, 2009

Not sure if it's been posted...but I'm sure you won't complain about...

MilesSmiles · Apr 7, 2009

MatrixMan said: ↑

It's just sinking in.....this is real! It's really happening!

Evan
Click to expand...

Yup, and it just keeps getting better.

Evan L · Apr 7, 2009

WILL anyone be keeping their '87 CDs after these come out?

Evan

lukejosephchung · Apr 7, 2009

brainwashed said: ↑

I feel vindicated. Except for Sean Magee, these are the very engineers I had listed almost 2 years ago (from EMI work sheet data) as working on this project. The only difference is that Paul Hicks was listed as remix superviser, but apparently was in charge of the mono masters (note: Paul and Giles Martin are the remixing engineers for the Rock Band project). I can't tell you all just how important it is that Simon Gibson, Paul Hicks and Sam O'kell are doing the grunt work here. These guys know what they're doing and I think the sound will be first-rate. They even mention DYNAMIC RANGE and little use of noise reduction (Martha My Dear anyone?) Also, as reported by me and others, Peter Mew was never part of this project and Rouse and Massey are sort of the archival coordinators. Great seeing Mike Heatley involved too. Maybe some sweet justice for him (many here will know why I say this). I love how they mention listening to the original vinyl sources and the 1987 CDs in conjunction with the new mastering. I bet they were appalled by the '87 CDs. I'm almost speechless Ron
Click to expand...

Nice post, Ron! Loved your work on the US "Rarities" project, by the way. Now I can REALLY believe this is actually happening, thanks!

Claudio Dirani · Apr 7, 2009

NGeorge said: ↑

It's fiction - sorry.

If you go to Amazon.com UK and type in Beatles, you get the old line-up.
Click to expand...

Not fiction.

Chris M · Apr 7, 2009

Pawnmower said: ↑

But I guess that think ANTHOLOGY took care of all possible bonus tracks.
Click to expand...

Not even close. Anthology did a rather poor job of compiling the most interested unreleased material from a catalog that admittedly didn't have all that much unreleased material to begin with.

aoxomoxoa · Apr 7, 2009

Thank God no Peter Mew!!

kentb47 · Apr 7, 2009

Be sure to go to the Beatles.com and watch the little launch promo thingie.

You can see in the animation that they're all multi-fold digipaks with booklets, posters, etc. And hear samples.

Colocally · Apr 7, 2009

NGeorge said: ↑

It's fiction - sorry.

If you go to Amazon.com UK and type in Beatles, you get the old line-up.
Click to expand...

Oh no it isn't

alexpop · Apr 7, 2009

Vinylsoul 1965 said: ↑

There are 147 people looking at this thread RIGHT now! lol!

The mono boxed set is getting me very excited! I am wondering how the Rubber Soul and Help! CDs will compare to the Disque Americ/Cinram Canadian versions? I for one will not be parting with mine yet!
Click to expand...

166 who's counting

lukejosephchung · Apr 7, 2009

NGeorge said: ↑

It's fiction - sorry.

If you go to Amazon.com UK and type in Beatles, you get the old line-up.
Click to expand...

It's now on TheBeatles.com!

P.S.: I just realized I landed Post #500 of this landmark thread! WOW!

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It's Official! The Beatles Remasters Thread (Pt. 01) *

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It's Official! The Beatles Remasters Thread (Pt. 01) *

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reb Money Beats Soul

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Claudio Dirani A Fly On Apple's Wall

Chris M Senior Member In Memoriam

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