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tucum 10-16-2003 10:32 AM

Rubber Soul
 
Hi, do you guys know what kind of reverb/ambience is used on vocals of the Beatles Rubber Soul album? Is there any plugin that will give you a convincing sound like that on PT? See, I'm not experienced enough to figure that out. Thanks.

RadioMoo 10-16-2003 05:22 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
Hi tucum,

Interesting question, considering that Rubber Soul was probably the 'driest' of any Beatles album.

Actually, when Rubber Soul was first released in 1965, the "reverbs" were actual different sized rooms that had been set up with reverberant materials such as sewer pipes! I believe that Abbey Road studios had three of these "echo chambers." The signal was 'sent' to the chamber through speakers, the reverb was picked up by mics in the chamber, then the reverb was 'returned' to the mixing console through a patchbay. They also had a way of delaying the signal going into the chambers by using a spare tape deck.

When Beatles producer George Martin remixed Rubber Soul for CD in 1987, he used digital reverbs to approximate the original reverbs. (The echo chambers had been dismantled and converted into office space. In the early '90's, during the 'Anthology' project, echo chamber 2 was rebuilt, but to my ears doesn't sound the same. (To hear what the original number 2 sounded like, listen to the handclaps in the intro to "Why Don't We Do It In The Road." from the 'White Album')).

Most likely, whatever reverbs you're hearing are the 1987 ones. Just fool around with different room sizes and amounts of delay until you have a sound you like. And if you want to really hear the echo chambers, try to find orignal pressing of the Beatles albums from used records stores, Beatles collector sites, etc. Of course, the ultimate is to find the box set of Beatles albums put out by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in 1982. These are vinyl pressings that were cut at half-speed without any compression or limiting and pressed on virgin vinyl; they blow away any other available versions of Beatles vinyl or CD releases.

Pardon my rambling, but this is one of my pet topics.
________________________________________________

Edit: Look for UK pressings; albums released in other countries, especially the US, were reprocessed, often adding more compression and reverb to what was already there.

WorldOfWiz 10-16-2003 05:29 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
ramble on tell us more.

Wiz

DesertDude 10-16-2003 05:35 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
Quote:

Pardon my rambling, but this is one of my pet topics.

I never get tired listening to someone talk about the Beatles.

ramble on...



cranque 10-16-2003 05:53 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
RadioMoo, as if you needed more encouragement, ramble on! What about Abbey Road? That sound is so warm and compressed (thinking especially of Come Together). The bass sound alone boggles the mind. The whole package is just too much. So, uh, how'd they do that?

RadioMoo 10-16-2003 06:42 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
You mean you like that outdated sound? What's wrong with stuff recorded in Cool Edit at 16/44.1 with stock sound cards?

Well...geez! OK. First, get these books: 'The Beatles Recording Sessions' by Mark Lewisohn and 'All You Need Is Ears' and 'Summer Of Love: The Making Of Sgt. Pepper,' both by George Martin. Then be prepared to lose a lot of sleep.

Then, try to find these interviews with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick: EQ, November 1995, and Mix, October 1992 and October 2002. Someday I promise I'll scan-and-share.

Some stuff: Most equipment at Abbey Road (including the tape!) during the Beatles era was custom built by EMI. (Lots of tubes/valves). Very little non-EMI equipment was allowed to be used (the one notable exception being the Fairchild 660 and 670 limiters which came into heavy use starting with 'Revolver').

Mics included Neumann (Telefunken) U47s, sometimes AKG D20s for kick drum, and what is now known as the Coles 4038 ribbon mic--designed by the BBC--for overheads.

The album 'Abbey Road' was the first-and only-Beatles album recorded and mixed on a solid state console.

Lenny Kravitz now owns one of the tube consoles from that era, and one of the four-track tape machines is still in use; I can't recall the studio name, but the machine has been converted to a 1/2 inch two-track.

About the bass, Geoff Emerick says, "I used to try to pull the bass out of the track to get its own space and hear it more defined. And one way I tried to do it was to put a tiny bit of chamber echo-well, actually I should say reverberation-on it. I started to do that on 'Revolver,' but Paul could always detect even the slightest amount, and he wouldn't accept it...[W]hen we were doing Sgt. Pepper...I started using a C12 on figure of 8 about eight or 10 feet away from his cabinet, which I would bring into the middle of Number 2 Studio. I'd bring it out into the open from the corner area where it was baffled off because I wanted a bit of the room sound." (copyright 2002 primedia business magazines and media)
________________

Should say one inch two-track.

Moo.


cranque 10-16-2003 07:10 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
Cool stuff. I'll look forward to picking up some more reading and listening material. Or I guess I could just wait for the Abbey Road plugin.

golli 10-16-2003 07:42 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
Abbey Road, mmmmmmmmmmmm what a record.

Paul Cavins 10-16-2003 08:25 PM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
Listening to the Beatles puts the technical aspects of recording into perspective for me. Now that I'm into recording, I hear tons of weird edit related drop outs, extreme panning, and the overall sound isn't really lush at all compared with more modern stuff. The great thing is that those "flaws" are completely meaningless and don't at all mar the "perfection" in the recordings.

Too much perspective, indeed.

PC

doorknocker 10-17-2003 06:47 AM

Re: Rubber Soul
 
Quote:

Now that I'm into recording, I hear tons of weird edit related drop outs, extreme panning, and the overall sound isn't really lush at all compared with more modern stuff. The great thing is that those "flaws" are completely meaningless and don't at all mar the "perfection" in the recordings.

Check out this cool site! I've had plenty of fun reading this with iTunes (loaded with Fab Four stuff)open.....

Andi


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