George was one grade behind Paul and Mike McCartney was one grade behind George.
- Photos by Mike McCartney
Groovy Beatles pictures
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
Views of Liverpool Institute for Boys.
George was one grade behind Paul and Mike McCartney was one grade behind George.
George was one grade behind Paul and Mike McCartney was one grade behind George.
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
So... what's wrong with white socks? 
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
- Peter Brown, Brian Epstein, Tony Bramwell
- Around the time of While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
Last edited by brammy on Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
- now and then
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shamustwin
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Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
Big white box on the left in the "then" photo is playback speaker, I believe.
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beatlefreak
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Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
I believe that's one of the Tannoy speakers that Geoff Emerick has stated they used to 'upgrade' the Beatles' equipment in those early sessions.
Ka is a wheel.
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
Yes, Jerry, it's a White Elephant. This was their playback monitor.
From "Recording the Beatles":
"EMI's RLS10 and RLS11 speakers. A design unique to Abbey Road Studios, there were the primary "playback" speakers used in the Studio Rooms. The
playback speakers allowed conductors and artists on the studio floor to check recorded performances without going into the Control Room. After the
advent of overdubbing (and before headphone use became common), the performer monitored the pre-recorded material over the White Elephant
while adding a new performance to the existing take."
They would set the mic a figure-8 pattern, which "listens" at the front and rear of the mic while suppressing sound from the left and right. The singer
(or two, standing face to face) sang into the mic with one ear aimed toward the speaker. The mic would pick up the singing and just a bit of playback.
On "Yesterday," at about 0:51, you can hear Paul's vocal double-tracked. This was not done AS a double-track overdub. George Martin had him re-sing
the song after the original vocal, guitar and strings were done, in case Paul could better his earlier vocal. For the most part, George felt he had not
done so, except on:
"something wrong, now I long for yesterday." (0:51 - 0:59)
He turned down Paul's earlier vocal, but could do nothing about the "bleed" that was picked up from the White Elephant while Paul sang the later take.
The "scavenged" speaker to upgrade Paul's original bass cab came from one of the echo chambers. I'll see if I can find the right reference to that in RTB.
From "Recording the Beatles":
"EMI's RLS10 and RLS11 speakers. A design unique to Abbey Road Studios, there were the primary "playback" speakers used in the Studio Rooms. The
playback speakers allowed conductors and artists on the studio floor to check recorded performances without going into the Control Room. After the
advent of overdubbing (and before headphone use became common), the performer monitored the pre-recorded material over the White Elephant
while adding a new performance to the existing take."
They would set the mic a figure-8 pattern, which "listens" at the front and rear of the mic while suppressing sound from the left and right. The singer
(or two, standing face to face) sang into the mic with one ear aimed toward the speaker. The mic would pick up the singing and just a bit of playback.
On "Yesterday," at about 0:51, you can hear Paul's vocal double-tracked. This was not done AS a double-track overdub. George Martin had him re-sing
the song after the original vocal, guitar and strings were done, in case Paul could better his earlier vocal. For the most part, George felt he had not
done so, except on:
"something wrong, now I long for yesterday." (0:51 - 0:59)
He turned down Paul's earlier vocal, but could do nothing about the "bleed" that was picked up from the White Elephant while Paul sang the later take.
The "scavenged" speaker to upgrade Paul's original bass cab came from one of the echo chambers. I'll see if I can find the right reference to that in RTB.
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shamustwin
- Senior Member
- Posts: 5287
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2003 5:00 am
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
Very cool.
One of my favorite things about being a musician is recording.
I love hearing everything I can about Beatle sessions.
One of my favorite things about being a musician is recording.
I love hearing everything I can about Beatle sessions.
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
Jerry, if you don't have it, I HIGHLY recommend Recording The Beatles. It is Huge and starts off very heavy on the studio equipment
before getting to The Beatles recordings, but is well worth it.
Kris, you are right about the upgrade being a Tannoy speaker. With a quick search I found two references:
- Norm "Hurricane" Smith talks about The "Test" session, when he "had problems with their equipment." After having mic'd up the amps,
he found that they "didn't create a very good sound at source." He goes on to say, "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There were so
many extraneous noises coming from their instruments, I thought there was something wrong with the mixer!" Paul's road-weary bass
rig was the primary culprit. It "rumbled and rattled far too much for the EMI staff.
- ...the need arose for a large speaker to use as PMc's bass cabinet. Echo Chamber One (for Studio Three) was located on the same
level as the floor of Studio Two. Ken Townsend and Smith dragged Chamber One's sizable Tannoy loudspeaker onto the floor of Studio
Two, where it was put into service as Paul's bass speaker. This same speaker was used repeatedly as Paul's bass cabinet through the
summer of 1963!
before getting to The Beatles recordings, but is well worth it.
Kris, you are right about the upgrade being a Tannoy speaker. With a quick search I found two references:
- Norm "Hurricane" Smith talks about The "Test" session, when he "had problems with their equipment." After having mic'd up the amps,
he found that they "didn't create a very good sound at source." He goes on to say, "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There were so
many extraneous noises coming from their instruments, I thought there was something wrong with the mixer!" Paul's road-weary bass
rig was the primary culprit. It "rumbled and rattled far too much for the EMI staff.
- ...the need arose for a large speaker to use as PMc's bass cabinet. Echo Chamber One (for Studio Three) was located on the same
level as the floor of Studio Two. Ken Townsend and Smith dragged Chamber One's sizable Tannoy loudspeaker onto the floor of Studio
Two, where it was put into service as Paul's bass speaker. This same speaker was used repeatedly as Paul's bass cabinet through the
summer of 1963!
-
beatlefreak
- Senior Member
- Posts: 6160
- Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 5:45 am
- Contact:
Re: Groovy Beatles pictures
In addition, from The Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn, on the Beatles' June 6, 1962 session:
"They had such duff equipment," says (Norman) Smith, "Ugly unpainted wooden amplifiers, extremely noisy, with earth loops and goodness knows what. There was as much noise coming from the amps as there was from the instruments. Paul's bass amp was particularly bad and it was clear that the session wasn't going to get underway until something was done about it." Ken Townsend, on duty in the technical department, recalls what followed. "There was no demand that night for Echo Chamber One, right down in the basement, so Norman and I fetched a very large, very heavy Tannoy speaker from there and I soldered a jack socket onto the input stage of a Leak TL12 amplifier. We were soon back in business."
"They had such duff equipment," says (Norman) Smith, "Ugly unpainted wooden amplifiers, extremely noisy, with earth loops and goodness knows what. There was as much noise coming from the amps as there was from the instruments. Paul's bass amp was particularly bad and it was clear that the session wasn't going to get underway until something was done about it." Ken Townsend, on duty in the technical department, recalls what followed. "There was no demand that night for Echo Chamber One, right down in the basement, so Norman and I fetched a very large, very heavy Tannoy speaker from there and I soldered a jack socket onto the input stage of a Leak TL12 amplifier. We were soon back in business."
Ka is a wheel.