Tuesday 14 June 2016

Recording the Beatles : The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums by Kevin Ryan & Brian Kehew

This excellent book addresses the technical side of The Beatles' sessions and was written with the assistance of many of the group's former engineers and technicians. The book looks at every piece of recording equipment used at Abbey Road Studios during the Beatles' sessions, including all microphones, outboard gear, mixing consoles, speakers, and tape machines. Each piece is examined in great detail, and the book is illustrated with hundreds of full color photographs, charts, drawings and illustrations. How the equipment was implemented during the group's sessions is also covered. The effects used on the Beatles' records are addressed in great detail, with full explanations of concepts such as ADT and flanging. The Production section of the book looks at the group's recording processes chronologically, starting with their "artist test" in 1962 and progressing through to their final session in 1970. The book contains several rare and unseen photos of the Beatles in the studio. The studio personnel and the studio itself is examined.

The authors spent over a decade researching the subject matter and offer up their findings in exhaustive detail. The 540-page hardcover book has been highly praised not only for its massive scope, but also for its presentation. The "Deluxe" version, released in September 2006, was housed in a replica EMI multi-track tape-box, complete with faux time-worn edges. The book has been critically praised by recognized Beatles authority Mark Lewisohn (who also contributed the book's Foreword), The New York Times, Mojo magazine (which gave it 5 stars), Beatles engineers Norman Smith, Ken Scott, and Alan Parsons, Yoko Ono, and many other individuals directly involved with the Beatles' work. 



No comments:

Post a Comment