Why is Strawberry Fields Forever in A half-sharp major?
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- Опубликовано: 10 дек 2020
- The recording of Strawberry Fields Forever was a long and experimental process, and it was this process that left the finished track meandering between the keys of A and Bb major. This odd, microtonal key centre is a lasting reminder of the ground-breaking studio engineering that pulled Strawberry Fields Forever out of John Lennon's head and into reality!
📌NOTE: After making this video, I realised that the plural of "cent" is "cents". I thought it was more like "percent" but I'm fairly sure that I'm wrong about that now. I guess, living in the UK, I've never had to say the plural of "cent" before 😅 Sorry for any confusion!
The outro song is my original piece “Clap”, and it’s available right now on Spotify: sptfy.com/davidbennett
SOURCES:
Cunningham, M. “Good Vibrations: A History of Record Production”
Emerick, G. “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles”
Lewisohn, M. “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions”
MacDonald, I. “Revolution In The Head”
Martin, G. “Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper”
Martin, G. “All You Need Is Ears”
Electrical Audio, Editing a Multitrack Tape: • Electrical Audio How-T...
You Can’t Unhear This, The Craziest Edit in Beatles History: • The Craziest Edit in B...
George Martin interviewed by Andy Peebles (1982): • George Martin Fixes St...
Paul McCartney demonstrates the Mellotron: • Paul McCartney demons...
The Story of Strawberry Fields: • The BEATLES The story ...
Pollack, Notes on Strawberry Fields Forever: www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/D...
Aaron Krerowicz, The History of Strawberry Fields: www.aaronkrerowicz.com/beatle...
The Independent, Making of a Masterpiece: www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...
J. Brennan, Putting Together the Pieces of Strawberry Fields: www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beat...
EverySoundThereIs, Tune Down For Strawberry Fields: www.everysoundthereis.com/2017...
An extra special thanks goes to Vidad Flowers, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / davidbennettpiano
📌 REVISION: In this video I probably should have defined what the word “cent” means in this context too! For the uninitiated, there are 100 cent in a standard semi-tone, so we use the term “cent” to describe intervals that are smaller than the semi-tone. Sorry for any confusion 😃😅
It’s okie, I love everything Beatles and one misspelling wont change anything
It's pretty much what you say right at the start of the video when you say 50 cents would be right between A and Bb, from that we can infer that a cent is a measure over a hundred of where you sit compared to standard semi-tones. At least I instantly got it even though it was the first time I heard the term 🙂 And also you forgot to use the plural of cent in your comment 😅
I never heard of 100 "cent(s)" between note before this video. Thank you. Good tutorial.
Curtis James Jackson III says that singular is actually the correct form.
As The Who once intoned: "You are forgiven."
Remembering that 4 years before, in 1963, the first Beatle’s album Please Please me, with 14 songs, was recorded entire in 12 hours, in a single day. Now, for one unique Beatles’s song they needed 55 hours!
Yes and this shows how far they progressed musically in such an incredibly short time.
@@linshanhsiang
Of course Les Paul introduced 4-track recording at that time(or before), And began recording and mixing in stereo which was quite different. So is it true that I heard that album Sergeant peppers was recorded on 4-track with Dolby DBX at the time?
The Rutles recorded their first album in twenty minutes. Their second, took even longer.
Not as simple as you think
@@davegto67 Everything the Beatles did, the Rutles did, only afterwards.
Citing sources? Addressing counter arguments? Brilliant, just brilliant.
Thanks Adam! 😁
This made me a subscriber.
Yes, very unusual! It's part of the scientific method, sadly not employed much outside of academia. I'm impressed by his work!
@Roberto Calvin I get it, you've lost a friend and came here Unless you were asked, .
@@areyouwatchingluke Me too.
The ability of technicians to so accurately splice tape never ceases to leave me in awe! Similar to making photographic prints, an art largely left in history.
I have done it. You put your hands on the reels, and slowly wiggle the tape back and forward, and you can hear the sound to find the exact point to cut. Normally a cut @45 degrees, to lessen the jump.
Geoff Emrick, the engineer who recorded this song, wrote a memoir about this time "Here, there and everywhere" wich might be interesting to you. What they achieved with all the limitations they had is quite amazing.
Largely but not completely left in history...I've recorded at the amazing Toerag Studios in East London. There's not a computer in the building, with everything recorded on Studer tape machines. None of the gear is later than 1970.... Liam Watson the owner, resident producer & chief engineer is indeed an expert splicer.
@@kitemanmusic Just like fading clips when sampling! Some things change, but stay the same.
It was an art, there are so many bad splices in 60's tunes it's unbelievable.
George Martin was definitely the 5th Beatle. The more you listen to The Beatles the more you realize that his fingerprints are all over their music. I have great admiration and gratitude for what he gifted the world with along with the boys in the band. Just some marvellous music that has stood the test of time and I'm sure will for many years to come.
Yes George did have a lot of creative input and influence with the Beatles. But George Martin also worked with a lot of other groups and artists, Lots of others! And it seems the magic, or rather the iconic sounds that we marvel at even today, almost all came from his work with the Beatles.
I stopped trying to analyze the Beatles music and impact on us, years ago and decided just to relax and enjoy it.
he was the main beatle
I dunno, the beginning of the end was when Epstein died
@@charlie-obrien yeah I got into the Beatles a little bit ago and I just started analyzing their music but I'm scared I'm going to get bored of them😂
If you had even the slightest clue as to the job of a "record producer" you would never have made such a moronic comment.
"You'll find me exactly halfway between A and B flat." - 50 Cent, rejected lyrics for "In da Club"
Imagine if all 50 cent songs were recorded 50 cent out of tune!
You mean that’s not how he got his name?
@@DavidBennettPiano"Imagine" -- it isn't hard to do.....
And Nickleback is a metaphor for the band always tunes 5 cents lower ;)
@@DaP84 “Tune ‘em a nickel back, boys!” they would say.
Great video man 👏
Thanks Paul! That means a lot 😃
“Infinity war is the most ambitious cross-over event in history”
This comment: *exists*
@BLINK BLINK That is certainly on the list!
Man is the
Best general nickname for a Man
@@DavidBennettPiano one more reason, why Beatles are so huge, but i don't understand it. As for me, Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are more important for music industry, than Beatles and Stones
Holy shit, this gave me goosebumps. I am not a musician but when I was listening to this as a kid I knew there was something in there when the transition happens, the pitch, the tempo, I cant tell but I definitely knew. It was both!
Yeah, I always thought this was the whole point of the song. He takes you into a whole other reality, it even matches the lyrics perfectly. I’m stunned that John Lennon couldn’t hear it? It doesn’t make sense.
@@GeorgePlaten I'm sure he could hear it, it's more that he didn't think the transition was jarring
@@AwesomeJaneUniverse yeah, I have to agree with you, although that’s not how the story is told in this video (but stories do mutate with time, and maybe we are missing some tone too)
If I'm honest the change is my favourite part of the song
@@GeorgePlaten I mean doesn’t his grin show that he knows it happened.
When I first heard the song I always thought the cut was just a turn to a more dark part, like a kind of spooky ending. And the pitch change was intentional and artistic.
I noticed that there was a change there, but never knew why. Definitely going to trust my ear more! Brilliant video
The pitch change was intentional and artistic. They were experimenting and had John not been pleased by the way that edit turned out (hearing the same cool things we hear) they would have carried on with further edits or takes.
What I find fascinating is that the early take contained something magical in it that couldn't be repeated or improved upon in subsequent takes by the best band and producers in the world, so they had to "fix it in the mix" to get the two best takes together. Music is so strange like that. I was similarly fascinated to hear that Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' was mixed down about 90 times. When it came to decision day, Quincy Jones chose mix number two! I think it's often the case that the best performers nail the performance early on, and can never improve on it in subsequent takes, even though you'd Intuit that practice makes perfect.
spooky... Yes
I remember John saying the song was about "an institution" where he use to go jump the fence and hang around in the woods on the property
He gave the impression it was a mental institution. The song would reflect that perfectly, nothing is real, you know I know when its a dream, I think a NO I mean a YES but its all wrong...
no one I think is in my tree.... and theres nothing to get hung about...
Strawberry Fields was actually an orphanage near where he lived at his aunt Mimi's house. In a sense John was an orphan because his mother had died and his father abandoned him.
Listen to the song again, with insane people living 'forever' in an institution - its a whole different song
like when you realize Norwegian Wood is a song about arson.....
They didn't call Sir George Martin the 5th Beatle for nothing-the perfect cosmic event happened when The Beatles teamed up with Martin.
Plus Geoff Emerick engineering.
McCartney has said that the Beatles could've created the same music without Martin, but it would have just taken them longer. I think that's total BS.
@@tele68 No kidding!!!
The four part string writing on "Eleanor Rigby" and "A Day in the Life" show a degree of compositional knowledge that the boys from Liverpool did not have. I suppose the Beatles could've done it of they paused their careers and went to Julliard to study. Didn't happen. Paul hasn't written anything at that level to date. On anything orchestral that they are involved with, there is another composer/arranger writing with them. Show some class and credit the giant shoulders you stand on.
@@tele68 He didn't say that. He said We could of done it without him but not as well with him. The truth is EVERY band needs a good producer and engineer and a manager or else you never get the product right. What people take a little offence to is this notion that Martin wrote their songs or took average songs and made them truly amazing. The truth is that The Beatles wrote their music and even incredible pieces like Martha My Dear are now released in the sessions where you can hear McCartney developing the song really fast and even talking about the scale the song was built from. For yrs I thought how the hell did he write that when the chordal movement is hard classical composition. Well he was listening to a lot of classical at the time which you hear him playing on the same sessions. A music genius for sure.
Brilliant
David Bennett Piano: " Brilliant, just brilliant."
When people attended the John Lennon 80th birthday celebration in NYC/Strawberry Fields this year - the group was actually discussing what key to play SFF in and mentioned this (what key to play the song in?????). They agreed on A.
ruclips.net/video/eAL3ArjCSCA/видео.html It was a magical time of song and memories that day/evening.
I’m glad someone said it!
I have been a professional recording engineer since 1981. Your explanation of this editing process was fabulous. I cut tape to make edits starting in 1979. When digital editing arrived, I felt it made editing way too easy. Non-destructive editing? Blasphemy! In the long run, if you can hear it in your head, use the tools around you... digital or analog, the end result is what's important.
Lol. More crap. These guys (less George Martin) had zero clue of “music theory”. By the why, that’s why it’s called theory.
@@M3CoupeC50 not sure but your comment seems like hogwash
I love how John's voice sounds slightly alien and strange in the slowed-down Take 26 part of the song, because all of his consonants become weirdly long
John had a great voice. I can't believe he didn't like his voice. Hard not to like a voice like that. Maybe the coolest sounding rock voice of all time. Maybe not the best, but the coolest. Peace to all, Michael Angelo
It was because he liked those two particular recorded takes (number 7 and number 26) the best, but he wanted them to both be in the same pitch. That also explains the false ending, because there is a brief fade out to mark when the song goes slightly off-tempo as a result of the pitch adjustment John wanted in order to match Take 26 with the slightly-sped up Take 7.
@@michaelangelo2739 "...I can't believe he didn't like his voice...". Did John himself say that anytime?
@@josie1776 Yea a lot actually
@@nahnope8581 , could you point any?
Which only goes to prove again, George Martin is the fifth Beatle.
Edit: And Geoff Emerick is the sixth.
Undeniably!😀😀
Apu is gonna get mad
The 5.43th Beatle
What does that make Geoff Emerick?
In terms of his importance to the actual sound of the records, he might have a better claim on being the first Beatle.
If you think about it, Strawberry Fields Forever is the most popular microtonal song ever.
Either that or Friday I’m in love. I like strawberry fields more though
@@jacksondavies1451 I don't think Friday I'm in Love counts, because as long as a song only uses tones and semitones it isn't microtonal, even if all the notes are half sharp or half flat
I don't qualify this as actually being microtonal music, since it's not a composition actually based on microtones. The microtonal differences are more of an artifact rather than a part of the basis of the music.
So too is Linda Ronstadt's version of "You're No Good" after you adjust it down by exactly 50 cents (at dead center between A natural and B-flat, changing the song's length from 3:45 to 3:51 and thus its tempo from 106 to 103 BPM).
@@ClassicTVMan1981X Peter Asher (long-time friend of the Beatles) produced that song, and the instrumental part is deliberately Beatle-esque. So probably not a coincidence!
Listening to those alternate takes, I'm astonished to hear what a great singing voice John had without those echo effects. Just wonderful. We are all fortunate that John committed his life to music.
I remember my mind being blown when I heard about the different takes spliced together for this song
It’s amazing work!
Go listen Miles Davis' Bitches Brew from 1970. The musicians played hours of jams then Miles and the engineer Teo Macero took pieces of this and that to create the tracks of the whole album.
Even though it's an exaggeration, it's like Strawberry Fields Forever is in a key that doesn't exist.
@@DavidBennettPiano I remember hearing it as a lad when it first came out and you could hear it then, something was DIFFERENT. Like the backward vocal in Rain, the backwards guitars in I'm Only Sleeping and the tape looping in Tomorrow Never Knows - there was experimentation always going on. You've already covered Lucy with the time changes and modulations elsewhere. THIS was a wonderful listen and explanation yet again! Thank you!!!!.
When your mind was blown, did Jackie gave a handful of your brain material to the doctor, to try to repair it? Try to find a different way of saying you were surprised at something. I hate it when a person says, “Their mind was blown/blown away.” Inaccurate, and childish.
I have seen a lot of videos about this song and the process of making it, but this is by far the best and most in depth explanation of what exactly they did. Thanks so much!!!!
Thank you! That means a lot
You do kinda notice that there is something strange going on during the splicing but that's perfectly on brand for this song, it just makes it even better.
I’ve always heard a strangeness, in the “beginning” of the song, but I don’t know music theory on this level, so THANK YOU so much, for clearing this up. It’s been driving me nuts for 25 years ... Not kidding, not exaggerating. Thank you. 🙏
=me too! Exactly! For many years! I though it was me, my ears ... And, for this day never i had tried to improvise this great piece of art (not a song only, imho) on clavi...
me too...there were a lot of strangeness; but in this song, i just 'accepted' it, now years later, as a musician who plays guitar nightly for fun/passion by myself and others when i can; i binged all recordings of this song just today, thinking on the mystery, and the algo feed me this... so its a nice reassurance to out ears catching something uniquely odd.
Somehow I always had the impression that the song at that very point of the split was giving a greater sense of urgency and getting somehow more dramatic. Now I know why.
It clearly took a lot of work, research and analysis to produce this. Excellent stuff
Thanks Johnny! It’s never a chore though to read about the Beatles!
The acoustic version John did early is the best version and it’s the least produced
After all these years of feeling like there was something slightly off to Friday I'm in Love... Now I know.
Let me tape you down 'cause I'm joining you
To a different piece
Nothing's in C
And nothing is in B flat
A half-sharp major forever
Listening is easy through spliced tapes,
Seamlessly melding what you hear,
It may be hard to figure out how it all went down,
But the outcome brings you cheer!
Hope to see you in KSP 2 soon
@@gab_14 Me too! Excited for interstellar travel. 2022!
@@jebediahkerman8245 yes hope it won't be postponed again
@@gab_14 I suspect they don’t have the faintest clue how to solve multiplayer. Like how is time warp going to work?
Wow, not only was that splice in the middle of John’s singing, but in the middle of Ringos drum roll...!
Shoutout to the genius of George and Geoff 🙌🏻
And he did it with a KNIFE and TAPE! Absolutely brilliant
If it was a roll instead of a fill, it might have been basically impossible to fit together, but it was definitely good that the two fills blended well together
I suppose that's one reason they use a diagonal cut of the tape, cause the tracks would change at slightly different times. (Would that have been 2 track master being cut? Or a many-track tape?)
@@craighall3820 good observation
@@craighall3820 Also, a blunt-cut tape tends to "pop" at the splice, so you do angled splices to diminish that.
Strawberry Fields is definitely my fave song of theirs! I have never seen the cut from take 7 to take 26 described in such a detailed way. I was surprised that this information existed, because I don't know of any other yt channel that has analyzed the actual units of pitch and tempo differences between the two takes of the song. Amazing vid!
Thank you! 😃😃
I might pick SFF as my desert island song. It is so....unusual. The lyrics are so far out, sublime. The demo John sings on Anthology is haunting in a different way.
No one ever mentions that the flowing, keyboard intro can be heard in a brief hotel scene in the Maysles Brothers documentary film, "First Visit to the U.S." As The Beatles are killing time in their NY hotel room, John is seen playing with a small keyboard. He runs through this particular chord progression a few times and then the scene changes. Ergo, John was "hearing" parts of the song as far back as 1964, even though it wasn't finally recorded until 1966.
Nice obscure catch!
I noticed that!
Yes! I’m not crazy! That’s what I heard, too, when I viewed that documentary.
i agree!!
That just means he took at least 2 years to write it, not particularly noteworthy as it happens often
One thing to mention about the brass part is that John’s vocals sound sped up themselves. It doesn’t sound entirely natural. On Wikipedia (so double checking with another source would be interesting), it says that the brass was recorded in C major, but on playback it was in B major. That could mean John sang to that part in B major and was sped up to C major. That could be what George Martin meant by the two takes being “a semitone apart.” I noticed once when using my record player to listen to the song. It has a pitch adjustment slider and I tried to find where John’s voice sounded “normal” and it was different from the version shown here. It would be interesting to hear what you think (if you see this).
Yes, this. Surprised more don’t realize this.
They (John's vocals) sure do sound sped up in C. His natural voice does not usually sound that high.
@bgjones65 Your story made me think what would make it possible for the voice to sound wrong. And I am not 100% sure but what you might be hearing to be different are the resonances of John's vocal tract called formants. Formants define how vowels sound and are independent of the pitch of the vocal chords. Meaning, they should not change when John sings a different pitch. But they would change when you speed up or slow down a recording. That's where the smurfs effect comes from.
Nobody asked that question, but I found it curious and thought maybe somebody else finds it interesting too :)
This explanation was a lot more complicated than my guess of "The Mellotron's power supply was weakening"
My thought was that when they were messing around with the tone of the mellotron, they played it in the key and were like, "Yup that's it!"
Yeah my guess was that the Mellotron was out of tune and they had to match it.
The Mellotron has so much wow and flutter that it adds a broader pitch perception , and it works perfectly in the song!
@@pentatronic theres nothing to tune in a mellotron. when you press a key you're essentially yo-yoing a spool of tape up and down a play head. its just wow and flutter
@@michealpersicko9531 Correct but the Mellotron was notorious for running slow midway through a tone (they were 7 second loop tapes) due to the sensitivity of the mechanism. They were manageable in the studio by doing several takes but the poor bastards who took them on the road live: ELP, Zeppelin, Yes, always had difficulties with them live and required a specially trained tech to maintain them.
Tons of time to make this great video, amazing job bro. Thank you
Thank you! 😊😊🎄🎄
@@DavidBennettPiano Musicians of the world united.
@@DavidBennettPiano is last Christmas by wham recorded out of key?????
Because when I play the song on piano it doesn't sound right with the original!
I am not a musician, but I still found this talk both accessible and fascinating!! Thank you so much!
Wonderful as ever David. As a producer/engineer/songwriter etc. myself, there’s nothing here that surprises me - it’s just so exciting tho’, to think of all these guys ‘blazing a trail’ like they did, time and time again.
I can really imagine John’s thrill (and gratitude), as Geoff and George pulled this off for him.
So lovely... and a really great presentation from you too!...🙏 🥰👏👏
One of the most complex, weirdest, magical, legendary and greatest songs of all time, beautifully analyzed. Brilliant, just brilliant.
anybody who thinks this is my friend automatically
Lol
Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane are examples of Lennon and McCartney peak of creativity. And both so representative of each style of composing. Two masterpieces. Greetings from Perú 🇵🇪
For sure! And to think, they were both meant to be on Sgt Pepper!
@@DavidBennettPiano Wow, imagine that!
Greetings from a corrupted country like most of South America. Let along with most Spanish counties... Ha!
True, true.
Sgt. pepper is an amazing album, but it could have been even better if pennylane and strawberry fields were added and when I’m 64 removed
It’s crazy to me how the physical act of recording and editing has completely changed in modern times, thus changing the way we approach music, ultimately changing the music we listen to entirely.
And that isn’t even on the musicians side of things, makes you really wonder what goes into a song and what makes good ones so great.
Thank you very much!
Yes, and old analogue vs digital
I can't stand most modern recordings. They are rather meh on a stereo system. I love music recorded on tape. Tape machines add their own sound to the overall music that is very pleasant.
@@joshuamirabal9891 Might also be that a lot of old mixes have everything hard panned left or right, which makes them nice on speakers but insufferable on headphones.
The simple answer: Because John wanted it that way
That exact shift is for me the staple and the most favourite of the whole song. I definitely heard the slight key shift and regarded it a very deliberate process and act of musical brilliance. Learning its origins is... I just can't find words for it
😃😃😃
And it also explains why the song sounds strange, from that start, it's in tune with itself but off ...
Almost didn't click on this because I thought I already knew the story, but it turns out to be far more complex. Thanks so much!
Thank you! Yeah, I really wasn't satisfied by the telling of this story that already existed out there! The beauty is in the detail!
I'm a rock musician and part time enthnomusicologist who's been listening to every type of music since birth and "Strawberry Fields Forever" is still my favorite song of all time.
Quality content like this is rare enough to be praised. Thank you for this !
If John Lennon told me "brilliant" repeatedly, I could die a happy man
😃😃😀
Why woulď you be happy if a hateful wife beater would tell you that?
@@JackPackRec damn always with this comment. In all accounts John was an asshole and violent when he was young. What other musician or celebrity though, can you think of that repeatedly atoned for his mistakes in public through countless interviews, song lyrics (getting better), advocated for women’s rights, civil rights, peace, and just overall complete lifestyle changes of being a stay at home dad for years? There’s no excuse for him but he did have a rough childhood and at least to me seemed to make honest change rather than a phoney apology video. He grew up and repented. He’s a flawed human but ultimately a legit artistic genius who’s helped millions more than he’s hurt.
@@JackPackRec stop, get some help.
@@chrisfuentes4482 Exactly, people don't understand how much of a traumatic early life Lennon had. Many of which he has expressed songs, "Help" for example. It's quite admirable that he was able to overcome that and evolve into a better person overall.
I never knew until recently that there's even a splice in Strawberry Fields, and it still blows my mind every time.
And once you hear it, you can never unhear it!
@@seldonsinq Yet it still adds to the song in an indescribable way especially with John's voice. It makes it that much more trippy. It's also the exact moment the instrumental part really kicks in and it's pretty cool.
The switching point of these 2 takes has always given a very special effect to me, though I had no idea why. Also, the fade-out, fade-in, fade-out sequence is creating an exciting story on its own. Isn't it the lack of technical tools that made the magic of these moments happen? Genius, just genius.
One could argue that it was the existence of these technological tools that made it possible. Prior to the availability of multitracks and varispeed tape decks, if you weren't happy with some parts of your song, you had to re-reccord the whole thing. George Martin had the technology that allowed the Beatles to pick and choose the best bits and to splice them together. Some of the older recordings have some proper "mistakes" (bum notes, drummers missing the beat etc) that have a different kind of magic about them.
Awesome video, please keep bringing us more studio stories like this. Thank you!
What I find striking is that today we dissect and almost audibly •archeologize•. These guys were literally just fucking around with the tone tempo and sound lol. Brilliant! Just brilliant!
Plus drugs... many drugs...
@@milesfann33 ?
Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" is slightly above standard pitch also.
@Jason Schulman I think that was because they retain their entire instruments either a half step lower a half step high I don't remember. I think there were some caveats to this as well. Certain strings were tuned differently.
@@natetolbert3671 If I recall correctly the whole song is in Drop D guitar tuning, so technically the song is slightly sharp of "standard Drop D."
When i play it I set the reference to 432 or 431 Hz and tune to drop d or d standard so yeah
Yeah. Try to play the piano with EUPHORIA MORING from Chris Cornell. I think one or two songs are in 440, it's a pain in the ass. I had an edited version I made so I could play along.
I believe that in many instances, songs have been sped up (usually, I think) or slowed down (less often perhaps) when the artits & producers simply felt that the slightly faster/slower version "felt more right", had a better vibe. This is a factor in popular music production for sure.
@david bennett piano, I've watched this video a number of times and each time appreciate greatly your clear explanations of what is happening along with your wonderfully tactful approach to acknowledging others' differing opinions. You are masterful in both your knowledge and diplomacy. Thank you for this amazingly insightful work!
Yet another brilliant video on this channel. Fast becoming one of the best around. I’m a Beatles nut and I learnt so much from this video. David is obviously someone who really does his homework.
I always wondered why that song sounds so special now I know thanks.
It’s definitely a top five Beatles song for me 😃😃
David, your narration and knowledge are brilliant, just brilliant.
Thanks! 😃😃😃😀
When I watched this video a few months ago, I had never noticed that change there and still had trouble hearing it when the samples were played in the video, but now I can't unhear it when I hear this song, and it is my favorite part of the song. It has honestly become one of my favorite Beatles songs just because of this. I can just feel the added energy that comes with the shift in pitch and tempo, and it's such a non-traditional transition that it is just really neat to listen to. Thanks for pointing it out to me!
Great video David! I learnt a lot from that and appreciate the effort that went into it.
Further proof that George Martin is one of the greatest musical geniuses that not enough people know about.
Definitely!
Absolutely. But would he had been, hadn't he been challenged and pushed continuously by the Beatles?
John Lennon didn't think so.
People that know music know
He’s probably the most well known record producer of all time, he’s not some underground producer struggling to get recognition.
This turned out to be my go-to channel for music composition concepts. Keep up the good work, David! 💯
Thanks! 😄
That is freaking amazing. And it's even more amazing that you could put together a video with such detail. Kudos
A very impressed music educator here. Keep up the GREAT work you are doing. Fantastic!
Thank you so much!!🙂🙂
So in depth, I love it! This story shows how much trust there was between the band and the producers. Martin and Emerick are geniuses in their own right for being able to finding a way to bring John's ideas to life.
For sure!
According to Martin, when he pointed out to Lennon that the versions were in different keys and tempos, John's reply was, "You'll fix it".
"Yeah, you can fix it, you know what you're like." Grand compliment or scathing insult?
I always thought it was obvious the speed changed. That's why John sounds drunk through so much of it.
Not sure how this can be an insult
@@Michael-mm3fm That he (George Martin) over produces things. It's well known Lennon wasn't always keen on Martin's way of doing things.
One of my favorite Beatles tunes has long been Strawberry Fields. And here they were, putting it together, recording and then merrily cutting and splicing audio recording tape with sticky tape! Fascinating!
Imagine a couple Yorkshiremen lamenting: 'Back in the day, the closest we came to having some sticky tape was in our dreams, at best... Plus those dreams were actually nightmares.'
This is a truly amazing video. Thank you for researching so deeply and showing us how brilliant this song is. Absolutely love ur videos! Keep it up!
The interesting bit to me was pointing out exactly where the splice was and how both the pitch and tempo changed just a little there. I always could hear that something strange happened there, but was never sure what it was.
Yes! Since the first time I heard the song I noticed a slight change in the melody, but I never questioned it.
@@EmilioPacheco Same here.
I didn't realize No Surprises wasn't in concert pitch. Cool!
I didn’t either until I tried to learn it and play along with the recording and it sounded so bad I cringed
The guitar sounds slightly out of tune, particularly if you try to play it in normal tuning. You don't get the dreamlike atmosphere
man i only realized it just now :))) so cool
I'm a HUGE beatles and oasis fan, so I really enjoy your beatles videos and even your non beatles videos, I really like your style of explaining music theory and I really appreciate your work. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! 😃😃😃
great video, man. I was always curious why the tone of this song was so weird... but now I understand. Thanks for the nice work.
May I just say, David putting a bibliography in his description is why I support him, he pays attention too little details like that and that’s the difference between good creators and amazing artists.
Thank you! 🙂🙂
Wonderful work David. Your dedication to this subject is stunning.
Wonderful presentation. A formidable piece of work, young Mr Bennett!
Wow my entire life listening to that song I always thought something was happening and i can’t believe i could hear that and notice it right where it happened. Thanks for the vid
I always wondered about this, such a genius track. Thanks, David! Another great video
Thank you! 🙂🙂
We've all heard this story in generality, but this is MUCH more specific. Great stuff!
Thank you 😃
Wow. Again. EVERY your video is just so damn honestly researched and edited with such attention to detail and pure respect for your viewers. Deeply humanistic kind of soul you are, Mr Bennett and let me "phrase a praise" here :) It goes like this: YOU + RUclips = THE BEATLES + GEORGE MARTIN! Thank You!!!!
Very well done, David!
One of the best videos I’ve watched on RUclips 👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you! 😊😊😊😊
this is crazy i was wondering why it sounded slowed down but the answer was so much more than i anticipated. great work!
Fantastic. A lesson in music, recording and the physics of acoustics. Love all your videos. They make me feel like a student again.
Very well explained fella. As a beatles nerd I've heard so many stories about this song,as a musician myself, you have hit the nail on this one, well done. Really enjoyed your video, thanks.
Wow thanks for such a thorough analysis! Had no idea that this song had a “floating pitch” - maybe that’s the reason it always mesmerised me so much..
Yes!!! Using autotune would be sacrilege
You bring not only knowledge especially to Beatles' fans but also you do it in such an elegant way. Brilliant done!
Thank you! 🎄🎄
Wow, amazing analysis of a recording! So interesting!
These videos ALWAYS teach me something more about music theory and production/engineering!!! I love these videos!
Bloody brilliant, David. Well done on the breakdown and the presentation. Your love and appreciation for the music is clear, and add so much to any explanation. Thanks for helping keep the flame.
😃😃😃 thank you!
Your research is so thorough and your presentation is so clean. Brilliant, just brilliant!
Thank you!!
Fascinating stuff. I'd heard the story already, but analyzing the key and tempo like you have is the missing piece of Martin's original story. So glad to find this.
Yeah, I'm not even a massive Beatles fan, but it was well known decades ago that two entirely separate takes were spliced together. I only recently learned that the result was a track that's sort of halfway between two concert pitches though. The story used to get told along with the one about George Martin's struggles in joining up the various parts of 'A Day in the Life'. It's rare for songs to be slowed down after recording, but there are a lot of songs that were sped up intentionally. It was a big thing in the 70s-80s radio era, when album tracks were long, but radio DJs wanted upbeat 3-minute pop songs. As I understand it, the seven inch version of Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' was a whole tone higher than the album version, because the "radio edit" was just varispeeded up. Some radio DJs even set their turntables to play slightly faster, because it makes songs sound more exciting. It causes problems for people trying to jam along on their "correctly" tuned instruments at home though!
Oh my, now everything makes sense! Those kind of key and tempo changes in many songs always got me a headache. Great video!
I always knew there was something strange happening at that point in the song but didn't know what it was. Thanks for informing. Great story!
It's amazing how research you put into your videos. Absolute top marks!
Thank you!
David this is the best video explaining in a way we can understand, the intricacies of this recording. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future you become a musician/producer who’d fit right in the circle of the innovators / creators that include types like George Martin and The Beatles
This is such a beautiful video. Really enjoying your channel.
Awesome deep analysis of Beatles recording editing and producing!!!!!!!! Much more rewarding than I expected, but not really considering the results I've witnessed from other videos by this source. Thank you!
It finally makes cents. There's more money in music than I thought!😜
😂😂
Ha Ha - Very droll!
This is such a great video! Great work!
😃😃😃😃
Fascinating stuff, very well made!
Brilliant, just brilliant video!
great video david bennet piano 👍👍👍👍 i very much enjoyed this
Thanks Kate! 😄😀
Absolutely love this David. Meticulous research, and fantastically well presented. Although I've known for years where the edit point is (and can never hear the song the same way again), I had always suspected that there was more to the story than I'd read in Lewisohn's & Macdonald's books (great though they are!). Will look out for more of your work.
Nice that you put light and praise on the engineers who made all this recorded sound and edits possible.
Fun fact: Xanadu by rush is also somewhere between E and F. If you want to play along you have to tune up slightly or it sounds horrible
Yes, they sped the tape up slightly for the studio recording. That was a common practice in the record industry, to speed up the "hit song" so it sells better. Not sure why they did that on Xanadu, though...since it's not a "hit song"
One of the edits that makes it such an astonishing track.
Excellent video! I can only imagine the amount of research required... Keep up the great work!
Such an engaging analysis. Thank you. There has always been something unique and other worldly about this gem of a song. Strawberry fields and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds are in a special genre of music all to themselves. Love them.