#1683885 - 10/02/05 11:56 AM
I am the Egg Man
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J.J. Blair
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I don't know if I have ever listened to "I Am the Walrus" in my control room or not before, but I did it yesterday and MY GOD. The first half of that track, before the weird bridge and the splice to the other take, is one of the best rock recordings EVER made. I mean, I hate to be Captain Obvious, but sometimes we just take for granted that the Beatles are amazing, and when we reconnect with a song that has been overplayed, and the experience can be mind blowing. The production on that song ... wow. And if what Kehew tells me about the CD having been done from a 2nd generation safety is true, I can only imagine how the original must have sounded.
I know people who always say the Beatles are overrated, which just kills me. But if somebody has a serious face to face encounter with that track and doesn't realize how it revolutionized studio recording, then they just have no appreciation of music. I mean, ideas on that song have been copied so many times, but I can't think of anything that has the impact that this recording has.
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#1683886 - 10/02/05 08:30 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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mixfix
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On a similiar note, I was able to hear the 1/2 speed master of Abbey Road back in the early 80's. It was truly unbelievable, and difficult to describe. Some things you just have to hear.
I wonder what would happen if you added some "reverse head bump" EQ just for grins...?
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#1683887 - 10/03/05 04:59 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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BrianK
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The one that blows me away is Blue Jay Way - nearly every Beatles trick is in that track: phasing/flanging, ADT, echo chamber, regenerative delays, putting sounds through Leslies, backwards tracks, EQ, compression/limiting. Not the best SONG, but the track is a monster.
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#1683888 - 10/03/05 09:00 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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starscream2010
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I agree J.J., I have a version of 'I Am the Walrus' that I believe is off of one of the Anthology discs and it's AMAZING. It sounds like a demo verison, it's Lennon on vocals/gtr and I'm not sure who's on drums and organ, because it's very raw but it kicks some serious ass and hold's up even without the production. It's one of my favorites.
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#1683889 - 10/03/05 09:26 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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Kendrix
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Given all thats goin on in that mix this comment may seem lame.
However, I just love the sound of that snare.
Actually, its the combination of the snare and the hat that just kills me.
Its the first thing that comes to mind when I think of that tune.
I wonder what mic/mics and chains were used on those items?
I havent given this a good listen in many years. Time to do so.
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#1683890 - 10/03/05 10:16 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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starscream2010
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The drums in general are killer, they just groove REALLY well. Maybe Mr. Kehew knows something about the gear they used?
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#1683891 - 10/03/05 10:49 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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J.J. Blair
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Yeah, the snare totally doesn't suck.
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#1683892 - 10/03/05 11:50 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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BrianK
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>>Maybe Mr. Kehew knows something about the gear they used?>>
Understatement... (though I don't know exactly what they had. Each EMI engineer had his own techniques, although for Walrus it is an odd one - a combination of Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott (both recorded part and both mixed part). Walrus was, in fact, Ken Scott's FIRST proper recording session as an engineer - before that day, he'd NEVER engineered anything!
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#1683893 - 10/03/05 11:55 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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J.J. Blair
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Is this another D19 and D20 drum sound?
The two takes definitely sound like two diferent engineers. The first half is very present and the second half is more ambient.
BTW, the fact that "Walrus" is Ken's first session just goes to show how easy engineering is!
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#1683894 - 10/03/05 12:09 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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starscream2010
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"Walrus was, in fact, Ken Scott's FIRST proper recording session as an engineer - before that day, he'd NEVER engineered anything! "
That's crazy! I'd like to know how one walks into that being their first gig.
"BTW, the fact that "Walrus" is Ken's first session just goes to show how easy engineering is!jk"
LOL... I wish.
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#1683895 - 10/03/05 01:54 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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Kendrix
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It was beginners luck. Its priceless.
BTW-Since I havent done any pro sessions
(Im a humble but obsessed hobbiest) my beginners luck as a pro is still up for sale.
Kinda like virginity only different- very different.
Let the bidding begin. 
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#1683896 - 10/03/05 06:51 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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J.J. Blair
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Are you offering 'happy ending'?
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#1683897 - 10/03/05 09:27 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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DC
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Yerp, Walrus is pretty unbelieveable. Liked the video too. Very fitting.
As far as recording techniques go, it can't get much weirder than Strawberry Fields. Two takes in different keys and different tempos that just happened to match up when Lennon said; "Put em together." Very very weird and very very lucky.
I just remember a story about young Julian learning guitar and calling up his dad and asking what a chord was in that song and Lennon freaking and grabbing a 'Beatles chord book' of the time and looking it up real quick like and saying; 'D minor seventh, yeah, that's it..." (or whatever...)
Thing is he didn't have a clue after the weird path that recording took.
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#1683899 - 10/05/05 04:34 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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rankus
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-
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goo goo ga joob JJ., ... goo goo ga joob
I will be throwing this song on when I get to the studio this afternoon..... Thanks for the inspiration!
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#1683900 - 10/06/05 04:10 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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BrianK
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I think the Beatles' whole situation was MUCH different than we imagine it to be from the outside world. There are lots of stories to tell about this...
We are working hard to finish the Beatles Recording book (likely done by end of Oct now) and hope to have it out around Christmas or early next Jan. A very likely scenario...
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#1683901 - 10/07/05 03:10 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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Tedster
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Looking forward to that read, Brian.
Gotta admit to being a Beatles junkie myself. Won't get any arguments from me on "Walrus".
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#1683902 - 10/08/05 07:54 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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BrianK
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I also find in QUITE a lesson that two of their biggest hits were two distinct and INcompatible mixes that were spliced together in the middle! They sound unlike each other, but today, no one would say "that's fine". We are FAR too picky about recordings....
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#1683903 - 10/08/05 01:15 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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mattwine
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I thought "Walrus" was split from two mixes, not two multitrack recordings like "Strawberry Fields".
I was also under the impression that the radio bit at the end was done live along with a mono mix (rough?).
I guess there was no other version with the radio bit on it's own, so they cut in the mono mix on the stereo final with that awful fake stereo (Bass side, Treble side) that they used every now and again.
I believe the mono vesion has the same edit, except with no "fake stereo" on the end bit. This is from memory, so I could be very wrong.
I have some great bootlegs of some basic tracking sessions for MMT and Pepper (before the endless bouncing went down) and the sounds are mind blowing.
I'm pretty dang sure it's all the drum mics compressed through the 670.
It sure sounds that way to me anyway.
Amazing.
I wonder if under snare (D19), overhead (D19), and kick mic (D20 or D12) was the standard technique on this stuff. Whatever it is, it kicks ass.
Also Ringo's kit sound is obviously nice to begin with. Ringo is a GREAT drummer. I'm just confused when people bash Ringo.
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#1683904 - 10/08/05 02:54 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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Tedster
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People bash Ringo because they aren't hip. They THINK they're being hip, by saying "Ringo could never be half the drummer (for instance) Billy Cobham is". That's missing the point. That's like saying McCartney could never be the bassist Jaco was, or something, and missing the point that Ringo played for the song, and there's just as much power in that as there is in virtuosity. In the latest issue of "Modern Drummer"...like 35 of the world's greatest drummers pay homage to Ringo, ask him questions, and acknowledge the influence that Ringo had on them.
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"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine...(WAH WAH WAH WAHHH!)"
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#1683905 - 10/10/05 01:54 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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BrianK
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>>I thought "Walrus" was split from two mixes, not two multitrack recordings like "Strawberry Fields".<<
You are correct, sir! And the radio was done live, once.
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#1683906 - 10/24/05 04:34 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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BrianK
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>>Also Ringo's kit sound is obviously nice to begin with. Ringo is a GREAT drummer. I'm just confused when people bash Ringo. <<
I saw Ringo just "messing about" last year, and he was doing VERY unRingolike drum parts - jazz stuff, almost crazy prog-rock. Playing UNDER the hihat and two sticks in one hand doing polyrhythms on the ride. Greg Bisonette was standing next to him and almost freaked out!
WHERE was my video camera?
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#1683907 - 10/25/05 10:12 AM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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J.J. Blair
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I read an interview with Bisonette years ago where all he did was talk about how Ringo was his favorite drummer.
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#1683908 - 11/03/05 02:11 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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starbaby
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(I moved this to its own topic. - J.J.)
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#1683909 - 11/17/05 06:26 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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Michael Greene
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I know exactly what you mean. I had to make an exact knock off for a Microsoft industrial video. After spending a half hour listening over and over again I realized I was really screwed.
Needless to say I never got close. Client liked it but everyone involved knew it was just a really bad stepchild.
Great track for sure......
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#1683910 - 11/19/05 12:56 PM
Re: I am the Egg Man
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Tedster
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Originally posted by BrianK:
>>Also Ringo's kit sound is obviously nice to begin with. Ringo is a GREAT drummer. I'm just confused when people bash Ringo. <<
I saw Ringo just "messing about" last year, and he was doing VERY unRingolike drum parts - jazz stuff, almost crazy prog-rock. Playing UNDER the hihat and two sticks in one hand doing polyrhythms on the ride. Greg Bisonette was standing next to him and almost freaked out!
WHERE was my video camera?
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