Beatles In The Studio - Quantum Leap

The recording of the Beatles Tomorrow Never Knows (Mark 1 was its working title) beginning April 6th and 7th 1966, would move the Beatles (and all of music’s) recording process a few levels ahead. Two new techniques would be employed (it gets a little technical here but I’ll do my best to keep it understandable by all).

The first was called ADT or Automatic Double Tracking. Up until this point all double tracking required the singer to sing the song or passage a second time, on top of the first. Now with a new machine invented by EMI engineer Ken Townsend, this process could be mechanized saving time and aggravation. According to Ken “The Beatles often liked to double-track their vocals but it’s quite a laborious process and they soon got fed up with it.So I came up with the idea for doing it automatically.”

ADT is a process where a recording signal is taken from the playback head of the tape machine, is recorded onto a separate machine which has a variable oscillator (enabling the speed to be altered) and then fed back into the first machine to be combined with the original signal. In photography the placement of a negative directly over another does not alter the image. But move one slightly and the image widens. ADT does this with tape.

The other groundbreaking invention to come out of the Tomorrow Never Knows sessions was the sound of John’s voice, prompted by John telling George Martin “I want my voice to sound like I’m the Dalai Lama singing from the highest mountain top. And yet I still want to hear the words that I am singing”

This was created by Geoff Emerick feeding John’s voice through a revolving Leslie speaker inside a Hammond organ…I know…What the heck is that…right? I said the same thing when I first heard it but here is somewhat simplified explanation:

Organ notes played through the Leslie speaker (a large wooden box that contained an amp and two sets of revolving speakers, one that carried low bass frequencies and the other that carried high treble frequencies; it was the effect of those spinning speakers that was responsible for the Hammond Organ’s unique sound) are given the Hammond swirling effect; voices put through it emerge in much the same way. “It meant actually breaking into the circuitry.” Said Geoff Emerick, “I remember the surprise on our faces when the voice came out of the speaker. It was one of sheer amazement.” When Paul heard it he said “It’s the Dalai Lennon” (remember that name - it comes up on the Sgt. Pepper Exposed page) “After that they wanted everything shoved through the Leslie: pianos, guitars, drums, vocals, you name it”

NOTE: the Leslie’d Lennon vocal on Tomorrow Never Knows begins 87 seconds into the song. Prior to that it was just treated with ADT

Paul’s “Got To Get You Into My Life” was recorded on numerous different sessions in April, May and June of 1966. It has the boys on their regular instruments plus George Martin on Organ- Eddie Thornton (from Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames) Ian Hammer, Les Condon on trumpets: Alan Branscombe and Peter Coe (from Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames) on Tenor Saxes

Geoff Emerick: It was during the Revolver session that I realized that I simply rely on textbook recording techniques in terms in terms of microphone positioning and placement. The Beatles were demanding more, so much more, of both me and of the technology. We didn’t know at the time, but we were making tremendous advancements in the recording process.

No one had ever heard brass the way I recorded it on “Got To Get you Into My Life”. I close miked the instruments- actually put the mics right down into the bells instead of the standard technique of placing them four feet away- and then applied severe limiting to the sound. There were only five players on the session, and when it came to mix the song, Paul kept saying, “I wish we could make the brass sound bigger.”

George Martin replied, “Well, there’s no way we’re bringing them back in for another session- we’ve got the album wrapped up and there’s no more budget for outside players anyway.

That’s when I came up with the idea of dubbing the horn track onto a fresh piece of two-track tape, then playing it back alongside the multi-track, but just slightly out of synch, which had the effect of doubling the horns. I loved Paul’s singing on that song too- he really let loose. At one point while Paul was recording the lead vocal, John actually burst out of the control room to shout encouragement-evidence of the camaraderie and teamwork that was so pervasive during the Revolver sessions.

Paul: Got To Get You Into My Life was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot. I'd been rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting. It didn't seem to have too many side-effects like alcohol or some other stuff like pills, which I pretty much kept off of. I kind of liked marijuana. I didn't have a hard time with it and to me it was mind-expending, literally mind expanding.

So "Got To Get You Into My Life' is really a song about that, it's not to a person, it's actually about pot. It's saying, "I'm going to do this. This is not a bad idea." So it's actually an ode to pot, like someone else might write and ode to chocolate or a good clarinet. It wouldn't be the first time in history someone's done it, but in my case it was the first flush of pot. I haven't really changed my opinion too much except, if anyone asks me for real advice, it would be to stay straight. That is actually the best way. But in a stressful world I would still say that pot was one of the best of the tranquillizing drugs; I have drunk and smoked pot and of the two I think pot is less harmful. People tend to fall asleep on it rather than go and commit murder, so it's always seemed to me a rather benign one.

Beatles In The Studio:

• Early Beatles Recordings
• The Beatles (and their music) Start to Grow Up
• In the Studio - Quantum Leap
• Sgt. Pepper Exposed
• ...And In The End...Abbey Road