Question. Why do the last two Beatle albums as a fold down get a pass? Abbey Road was meant to be heard in stereo and so was Let It Be. They were never mixed in mono so I think we should leave them out. We are talking about mono mixes here not fold downs. Seems like even when an album is only mixed for stereo you prefer the inferior fold down. So I gather you are a big mono fan? Or did I misunderstand your post? Each to his own but putting the last two Beatles onto the list is silly. So you prefer the mono fold down drums on "The End" to the stereo miked drums on Ringo? Really?
And that is Ringo screaming in pain after drumming way too loud. Real pain on the tape. How much more real can you get with that?
Angelo73 does have the two last albums on the stereo preference list, doesn't he? He just adds that the two albums were released in stereo only except for the fold downs... So I think you just misunderstood his post.
Ahhh, then everyone just disregard that post of mine. Shame. I was hoping I ran into a genuine Monomite. I was hoping to have a dialog about why the member hates stereo. Oh well.
You may have partially misunderstood my comment. I listed Abbey Road and Let it Be here to indicate that I prefer their intended mixes as they are presented in stereo. Since the Brazilian fold-downs exist as the only alternative to the stereo lps from the time of those titles' initial release, I mentioned them for comparison as such. *The OP stated nothing about mixes. Only mono & stereo are mentioned in the opening post, which is why I pointed out that I was comparing only mixes, with the exception of Abbey & LIB, for which only the Brazil pressings serve as any alternative.
Are you sure Michelle is the only song that got a reduction? I thought that Run For Your Life did as well since the bass guitar was overdubbed after the vocals and guitar overdub were already finished.
I thought that Run For Your Life had reduction mix too but it's most probably not like that. This is how the instruments and vocals are spread over the 4track tape: Track 1: drums, acoustic and electric guitar, tambourine Track 2: Bass Guitar Track 3: Lead and Backing Vocals Track 4: El. guitars, Lead and Backing Vocals double tracking for the chorus What confused me initially is that the vocals and guitars on track 4 come from a different stereo placement. So I assumed they must be on their own track. But they were most probably just panned left/right for the stereo mix. The vocals and guitars are not overlapping on the track, so seamless panning was possible.
Let me just add that the track 4 of tape 2 also has the guitar solo. Amazing how effective the production was with just the four tracks.
Ahh, you should see what I can do with an 8 track! On the Chritsmas song I did for a friend's movie I shoved 22 parts onto 8 tracks. God what a mess. But....I only bounced down the vocal parts. Go figure that out. They are a total of 13 instruments over just 6 tracks. The remaining two tracks were 5 and 4 part harmony sung real bad as only I can do it. Back to the Fab Four....Best group like ever!!
Yea, it was the 60's and even the rules of physics were different. Yep, MICHELLE is the only song off of Rubber Soul that got bounced down. Although it doesn't sound that way. Leakage might be the issue. They are several fans on here that know this stuff in their sleep. One of the nice members here might know....
Hi, Track 1 Rev TAXMAN (REVOLVER) CD MONO BOXSET * I have a Beatles in Mono set so can only give you a response track by track. For example not all of Sgt Pepper was recorded at Abbey Road. Different techniques were used for different songs. Please Please me was recorded in full in 13 hours etc etc. In terms of Taxman I am very disappointed with it in the Mono CD set. I have an original and I can hear distortion at the end of each Lennon vocal line in the two striking chords which follow. This does NOT appear on any of my other recordings. I am much more satisfied with the stereo version issued around 2009 for this track. It's a shame because Geoff Emerick who masterminded the Beatles recording sonics and new ways of recording (and not George Martin) would say the Mono version should be best as that's what the recording was supposed to end up with. Further getting stereo from sounds recorded on a 2 track doesn't leave much room for improvement or inventiveness. The second track was often used for harmony vocals or Ringo's bongo's or some obscure sounds Geoff had come up with(they often recorded these sounds, cut up the tape, threw them into the air and spliced back together in random order; slowed tape down for vocals then speeded up for the master, (did that lots to make voice sound brighter); putting Lennon's voice through Leslie organ speakers (e.g. Tomorow Never Knows); reversing loudspeaker/mic inducers to get a fuller brighter bass sound for Paul (Paperback Writer), etc etc etc all Geoff's ideas and why it's so compelling to assess different versions in how that sound came out. There may/will be benefits in re mastering through a much advanced desk and maybe tweaking the mix from the original tapes but I think this Mono v. Stereo thing they've got everyone believing (just to sell more units in my view) is baloney. It's the mastering technology and mix tweaks which make the difference along with the cutting technology at whatever plant the sound was transferred, I believe for better or worse. I would be very interested if anyone else has picked up this distortion in Taxman? Track 1 SP SERGEANT PEPPER CD MONO BOXSET (SGT PEPPER) ***** Mono set version sounds great with levels of attack and gain not causing distortion. Great attack lead guitar played by McCartney. Track 1 SP SERGEANT PEPPER CD 50th anniversary STEREO Giles Martin (SGT PEPPER) ***** No complaints. Great re-master. Happy to continue advising you of this appraisal as I build up a list of all Beatles tracks if it helps?
I don't know if I am hearing the same sound you are hearing, but there is a slight fizzing sound (easily audible on headphones) during those two chords, but I hear it both on the mono and the stereo 2009 masterings. Tim
Thanks for your perspective. I think you mixed up some things that happened though. All of the albums after With The Beatles and up to Magical Mystery Tour were recorded on 4-track, not 2-track. The tape that was cut up, thrown into the air and the pieces put back together in random order was for Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite from Pepper and it was George Martin who did that as the Beatles wanted a carnival sound or something.
You are both wrong. Everyone knows all The Beatles stuff after 1966 was recorded on a Scully 1 inch 8 track (284-8). And that all the drum parts on Magical Mystery Tour were from the first Ampex drum machine. Please insert Poe's Law for entire post....
Frankly, I prepared my own version of Pepper, which is mono most of the way and then crossfades to stereo during the intro to "A Day in the Life." It seems to me that you absolutely need the orchestral intervals of that to be in stereo to be truly overwhelming. Plus, and I'm not saying this was the intention of the creators, it sets up for me an interesting narrative, where everything from the first rendition of the title tune to its reprise is a fantastical dream ("...and somebody spoke and I went into a dream...") featuring a concert by the Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the final track is the dreamer awakening and looking over the real/unreal world of London in 1966-67. The switch to stereo, for me, brings that "reality" much closer to the listener.
You are being charged with violating Beatle Law 2345-7 which states, ...."No fan shall make an album mixing stereo and mono together..." LOL To me that would just sound wierd but each to his own.....
Funny. Mexico and Brazil were still into mono until 1974 where Canada went stereo 1967 and Germany in 1963.
I've occasionally wondered, though never inquired, as to why Brazilian pressings of otherwise stereo-only releases were folded down to one channel while other South American countries received distribution of two-channel stereo mix pressings. I had guessed that perhaps, for whatever reasons, the majority of Brazilians may have only had access to mono phonograph systems on which stereo records simply did not sound as good. (?) I can't think of any other reason why countries like Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela would get stereo editions while Brazil alone would get only the fold-downs.
I think most of South / Central America, and Mexico were stuck with mono until the mid 70's. I know: America, Canada, Europe and Japan stopped making dedicated mono mixes of long playing records back in 1969. But considering the millions (100 million or more in Latin America) of people in Latin America who could only play mono records you would think the record companies might have offered a special Latin America only mono mix available to just the specific region. Think of it. Real mono mixes of: NO ANSWER ELO II ON THE THRID DAY ELDORADO LED ZEPPELIN LED ZEPPELIN II LED ZEPPELIN III LED ZEPPELIN IV HOUSES OF THE HOLY GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD DARK SIDE OF THE MOON MEDDLE And more.......
