The Beatles' "Revolver" Sessions
Today we are going to briefly mention just a few notable things that make the "Revolver" sessions stand out. This is not intended to be an in depth review of the entire LP itself, just a quick discussion on some of the more interesting recording aspects of this dazzling album.
![Revolver [UK]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510D51P8YKL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Klaus Voorman's Grammy Winning album graphics on "REVOLVER."
We draw again today from "Recording the Beatles," by Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan, Curvebender Press, 2008.
According to the authors, no other year in the Beatles entire recording career comes even close to matching 1966 in terms of new effects and studio trickery. Yes, that includes the fantasmagoric creativity of Sgt. Pepper and all that went on in 1967.
The innovation and experimentation showcased in 1966 was extraordinary and ushered in a whole new era and new vocabulary of recording. Your humble correspondent has had discussions on this with people both in and out of BeatleTracks; the question that usually arises is, 'There were many other artists recording at Abbey Road; how come they all didn't have a fab sound like the Beatles?' The answer lies with the Beatles themselves: the four Beatles DEMANDED more from the studio and the studio staff. The Beatles DEMANDED new sounds and technology that was literally invented on the spot to accomodate them. The Beatles were a driving force with a unified group front that was determined to not stand still either musically or technologically. There was NEVER a reliance on formula with this incredible band. Yet another reason the Beatles remained ahead of the curve.
Said Paul in 1966, "With everything now, my aim seems to be to distort it. The aim is to change it from what it is, and to see what it could be. To see the potential in it. To take a note and wreck the note and see what else there is in it, what a simple act of distorting it has caused . . . . . and superimpose on top, so you can't tell what it is anymore. It's all trying to create magic."
No pop group or act had ever approached the art of making records this way before. Says George Martin, "With the new sounds on Revolver, it was basically an attempt to get more color into our records. I mean, the Beatles were always looking for new sounds and they were always looking to a new horizon."
One of the first premier new effects to emerge from the Revolver sessions was the broad use of the Leslie speaker. As most people know, the Leslie was created specifically for use with the Hammond B3 organ and all its variants. It created a unique swirling effect by rotating a baffle and horn around the bass and treble drivers inside the speaker cab.
The first new track to feature the sound of a Leslie speaker on a NON-Organ source was "Tomorrow Never Knows." Contrary to popular urban legend, the first thing sent through the Leslie was NOT John Lennon's voice -that would come later. Rather, it was a guitar. For Take 1 of this song, the group first created a tape loop that featured the sound of an electric guitar played through the Leslie speaker. Later, when John Lennon wanted his voice to sound like "the Dali Lama chanting from the highest mountain top," someone suggested running him through the Leslie. Intriguing idea; easier said than done. Let's see why:
The historical record on this bit of datum is murky. Lack of paperwork and fading memories 40 years later have conspired to cast a bit of a shadow over the situation. John's voice really was run through a Leslie, but how exactly has to be logically reconstructed in lieu of factual, dispostive data. The main issue is this: The Leslie 122 speaker was specifically designed to interface ONLY with the Hammond organ variants. There were no standard input jacks on he speaker itself. As well, it required power that was normally provided by the Hammond. Thus, the speaker could not be used on its own.
Picture of two Hammond organs with one big Leslie 122 series speaker on the left of this shot.
Studio 3 at Abbey Road had NO Hammond organ. The only Hammond organ at Abbey Road studios was located in Studio 2. If the Hammond was needed in Studo 1, it could be wheeled across the hall. Studio 3 was located one level upstairs from Studios 1 and 2. The studio staff has no recollection of ever relocating the 500 lbs.+ Hammond and Leslie upstairs. To boot, there was no elevator at the time.
Interestingly, pictures taken of Studio 3 one week AFTER the "Tomorrow Never Knows" sessions shows a Lowrey Heritage DSO-1 organ located there. *See our previous blog on this organ. It was the one used prominently on "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." The Lowrey actually has a small Leslie built into it. Make a long story short, the Beatles most likely used the Leslie housed inside the Lowrey. The way Lennon was probably recorded was this: he sang into a standard Neuman U-47 mic that was run back into the REDD-51 desk. A signal was then sent from the recording desk via the desk's Echo Send export channel into the modified Leslie. There was then a second microphone positioned next to the Leslie which fed directly back into the REDD51 desk for committment to tape.
Says UberEngineer Geoff Emerick, "Revolver very rapidly became the album where the Beatles would say, 'OK, that sounds great, now let's play it backward or speeded up or slowed down.'"
Another effect first used in 1966 was "frequency control," now commonly called "varispeed." The basis of this effect is the simple fact that sound changes when it is played back at a different speed than that at the speed it was originally recorded. A person's voice played back at a high rate of speed can sound high pitched and squeaky for example, but a more subtle use of FC can make things just sound a bit different. In the case of the John Lennon, he was recorded a bit more slowly then played back at normal speed. He sounded "different." This blog chatted about this during the recording of RAIN. The same rule applied to everything. In fact, the Beatles would often record tracks at a faster recording speed, then run the final mix at normal speed. The band zealously embraced this new gimmick throughout 1966 and it added a new and strange dimension to all their music that year.
We recall that ADT was invented in 1966. This blog series talked exstensively about this very thing not long ago. This technique was revolutionary in its application and quickly adopted not only by every other Abbey Road artist, but the entire industry tried aping the technique. Few other studios were able to capture the sheer quality of Abbey Road's product.
Add to this; backward audio. The Beatles made extensive use of backwards tapes. Tape loops became extremely popular in 1966, again pioneered by the Beatles. What we would now call "sampling," tape looping was used extensively on "Tomorrow Never Knows." Add to this, repeat echo and regular double tracking. We've already discussed Geoff Emerick's close micing techniques, including each and every drum on Ringo's kit. Emerick further refined this by taking the front drum head off of the kick drum and sticking pillows inside along with a mic. There was also the technique of using a bass speaker re-wired as a microphone and then placed in front of McCartney's bass cabinet to upgrade the bass presence on recordings.
Indeed, 1966 was the year of years when it came to experimental concepts in the studio. "Revolver" as well as the single "RAIN/Paperback Writer" were the direct fruits of all this effort. The Beatles would further refine their studio trickery in 1967, but the bulk of the new ideas occurred and were put into direct use, in 1966.
By John Haberstroh (Bassist for BeatleTracks) Find us at www.beatletracksband.com
Klaus Voorman's Grammy Winning album graphics on "REVOLVER." We draw again today from "Recording the Beatles," by Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan, Curvebender Press, 2008.
According to the authors, no other year in the Beatles entire recording career comes even close to matching 1966 in terms of new effects and studio trickery. Yes, that includes the fantasmagoric creativity of Sgt. Pepper and all that went on in 1967.
The innovation and experimentation showcased in 1966 was extraordinary and ushered in a whole new era and new vocabulary of recording. Your humble correspondent has had discussions on this with people both in and out of BeatleTracks; the question that usually arises is, 'There were many other artists recording at Abbey Road; how come they all didn't have a fab sound like the Beatles?' The answer lies with the Beatles themselves: the four Beatles DEMANDED more from the studio and the studio staff. The Beatles DEMANDED new sounds and technology that was literally invented on the spot to accomodate them. The Beatles were a driving force with a unified group front that was determined to not stand still either musically or technologically. There was NEVER a reliance on formula with this incredible band. Yet another reason the Beatles remained ahead of the curve.
Said Paul in 1966, "With everything now, my aim seems to be to distort it. The aim is to change it from what it is, and to see what it could be. To see the potential in it. To take a note and wreck the note and see what else there is in it, what a simple act of distorting it has caused . . . . . and superimpose on top, so you can't tell what it is anymore. It's all trying to create magic."
No pop group or act had ever approached the art of making records this way before. Says George Martin, "With the new sounds on Revolver, it was basically an attempt to get more color into our records. I mean, the Beatles were always looking for new sounds and they were always looking to a new horizon."
One of the first premier new effects to emerge from the Revolver sessions was the broad use of the Leslie speaker. As most people know, the Leslie was created specifically for use with the Hammond B3 organ and all its variants. It created a unique swirling effect by rotating a baffle and horn around the bass and treble drivers inside the speaker cab.
The first new track to feature the sound of a Leslie speaker on a NON-Organ source was "Tomorrow Never Knows." Contrary to popular urban legend, the first thing sent through the Leslie was NOT John Lennon's voice -that would come later. Rather, it was a guitar. For Take 1 of this song, the group first created a tape loop that featured the sound of an electric guitar played through the Leslie speaker. Later, when John Lennon wanted his voice to sound like "the Dali Lama chanting from the highest mountain top," someone suggested running him through the Leslie. Intriguing idea; easier said than done. Let's see why:
The historical record on this bit of datum is murky. Lack of paperwork and fading memories 40 years later have conspired to cast a bit of a shadow over the situation. John's voice really was run through a Leslie, but how exactly has to be logically reconstructed in lieu of factual, dispostive data. The main issue is this: The Leslie 122 speaker was specifically designed to interface ONLY with the Hammond organ variants. There were no standard input jacks on he speaker itself. As well, it required power that was normally provided by the Hammond. Thus, the speaker could not be used on its own.
Picture of two Hammond organs with one big Leslie 122 series speaker on the left of this shot.
Studio 3 at Abbey Road had NO Hammond organ. The only Hammond organ at Abbey Road studios was located in Studio 2. If the Hammond was needed in Studo 1, it could be wheeled across the hall. Studio 3 was located one level upstairs from Studios 1 and 2. The studio staff has no recollection of ever relocating the 500 lbs.+ Hammond and Leslie upstairs. To boot, there was no elevator at the time.
Interestingly, pictures taken of Studio 3 one week AFTER the "Tomorrow Never Knows" sessions shows a Lowrey Heritage DSO-1 organ located there. *See our previous blog on this organ. It was the one used prominently on "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." The Lowrey actually has a small Leslie built into it. Make a long story short, the Beatles most likely used the Leslie housed inside the Lowrey. The way Lennon was probably recorded was this: he sang into a standard Neuman U-47 mic that was run back into the REDD-51 desk. A signal was then sent from the recording desk via the desk's Echo Send export channel into the modified Leslie. There was then a second microphone positioned next to the Leslie which fed directly back into the REDD51 desk for committment to tape.
Says UberEngineer Geoff Emerick, "Revolver very rapidly became the album where the Beatles would say, 'OK, that sounds great, now let's play it backward or speeded up or slowed down.'"
Another effect first used in 1966 was "frequency control," now commonly called "varispeed." The basis of this effect is the simple fact that sound changes when it is played back at a different speed than that at the speed it was originally recorded. A person's voice played back at a high rate of speed can sound high pitched and squeaky for example, but a more subtle use of FC can make things just sound a bit different. In the case of the John Lennon, he was recorded a bit more slowly then played back at normal speed. He sounded "different." This blog chatted about this during the recording of RAIN. The same rule applied to everything. In fact, the Beatles would often record tracks at a faster recording speed, then run the final mix at normal speed. The band zealously embraced this new gimmick throughout 1966 and it added a new and strange dimension to all their music that year.
We recall that ADT was invented in 1966. This blog series talked exstensively about this very thing not long ago. This technique was revolutionary in its application and quickly adopted not only by every other Abbey Road artist, but the entire industry tried aping the technique. Few other studios were able to capture the sheer quality of Abbey Road's product.
Add to this; backward audio. The Beatles made extensive use of backwards tapes. Tape loops became extremely popular in 1966, again pioneered by the Beatles. What we would now call "sampling," tape looping was used extensively on "Tomorrow Never Knows." Add to this, repeat echo and regular double tracking. We've already discussed Geoff Emerick's close micing techniques, including each and every drum on Ringo's kit. Emerick further refined this by taking the front drum head off of the kick drum and sticking pillows inside along with a mic. There was also the technique of using a bass speaker re-wired as a microphone and then placed in front of McCartney's bass cabinet to upgrade the bass presence on recordings.
Indeed, 1966 was the year of years when it came to experimental concepts in the studio. "Revolver" as well as the single "RAIN/Paperback Writer" were the direct fruits of all this effort. The Beatles would further refine their studio trickery in 1967, but the bulk of the new ideas occurred and were put into direct use, in 1966.
By John Haberstroh (Bassist for BeatleTracks) Find us at www.beatletracksband.com
Comments