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Here is an article in this month's Atlantic magazine about Abby Road recording studio. The article title says it all "The Technical Constraints That Made Abbey Road So Good
What modern recording artists can learn from the studio's early days".


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Hi Jim,
umm, is there supposed to be a link somewhere..?


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Originally Posted By: Lawrie
Hi Jim,
umm, is there supposed to be a link somewhere..?



Just click on the first word in his post - "Here".

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Originally Posted By: 90 dB

Just click on the first word in his post - "Here".

Argghh, the link doesn't seem to be a different colour on my screen which is why I missed it frown

Thanks.


--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya laugh --=--
You're only paranoid if you're wrong!
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Originally Posted By: 90 dB
Argghh, the link doesn't seem to be a different colour on my screen which is why I missed it frown

You aren't the only one, if that helps.

That's why I try to enclose my links in bold tags. smirk <-- squinting emoticon


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

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From the article:

“If it's not that good, you shouldn't be recording it.”


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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That is so cool! I get the Atlantic but hadn't seen that yet. Oddly enough, I was there today, "there" meaning "outside the gates of Abbey Road studios taking pictures." And watching other tourists dodging cars to try to get their pictures taken in the famous crosswalk just outside the studio (pedestrians have the right of way in a zebra crosswalk, but some drivers get a bit impatient). I was on my own and didn't want to hand my camera or iPhone over to a stranger in that situation.

This was a cool little pilgrimage, not as cool as the Magical Mystery (Bus) Tour I did in Liverpool a few years back (blog post HERE), but fun to be there and think about all the great music that has come out of that building. I bought an Abbey Road Studio t-shirt and a Beatles London book at the Beatles Coffee Shop (at the entrance of the nearby St. John's Wood Tube Station). Always the Beatles fan-boy, no matter my age. In that book, I later learned that Paul's house from that time is just a few blocks away on Cavendish, so I didn't see that. It's the one where one over-zealous fan managed to get into the house through a bathroom window...

I also found this article about a tour of Abbey Road studios while I was trying to find a way in: TOUR OF ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS

Last edited by BruceI; 10/26/14 03:10 PM.

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You might like to watch the film "Produced by George Martin" which provides a little deeper insight into how George approached recording and producing the Beatles but perhaps more importantly how he used Abbey Road before he started with the Beatles. It highlights many lesser known artists which came through that studio and how George learned through recording comedy records and other types of records which informed his approach to the Beatles.

http://www.uncut.co.uk/produced-by-george-martin-review

I picked it up from our local library - hopefully you can find a copy to watch nearby. Very fascinating to a music/recording geek.

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Back then you had to have talent


Now days, all you need is software.


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Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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I've got the software, so watch out. I've been know to hit the note between "C"&"C#", which also take an incredible amount of talent, though unrecognized.

Seriously, I think some of the early portable tapes of Mississippi Blues singer are far most powerful than clean studio sessions.
There's something to be said for music played in a comfortable relaxed atmosphere where everybody helps create the mood.
Maybe Abby Roads has that quality
Wyndham

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Originally Posted By: Wyndham
I've got the software, so watch out. I've been know to hit the note between "C"&"C#", which also take an incredible amount of talent, though unrecognized.

Seriously, I think some of the early portable tapes of Mississippi Blues singer are far most powerful than clean studio sessions.
There's something to be said for music played in a comfortable relaxed atmosphere where everybody helps create the mood.
Maybe Abby Roads has that quality
Wyndham





You got that right. Software never wrote a good song. grin

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Speaking of software, there's been a lot of effort to monetize the Abbey Roads name in terms of software. There's a number of "Abbey Roads" drums, for example, that Native Instruments has. Then there are software emulations of different devices:

Quote:
The Abbey Road Collection includes the acclaimed REDD consoles, RS56 Passive EQ (‘the Curve Bender’) and J37 Tape, as well as the vintage King’s Microphones and the pioneering Reel ADT.


Averaging about $200 per plugin, that's not cheap magic. And apparently licensing agreements on magic is also tricky:

Quote:
As of October 2013, we have discontinued the sale of the TG12413 Limiter, TG Mastering Pack and RS124 Compressor plugins.

The Brilliance Pack has not been discontinued: under a new partnership agreement, the Brilliance Pack is now being sold and supported by Softube, the original plugin developer

Of course, all this runs counter to the basic idea of the article. Any "magic" that was there came from innovative ways to use the tools, not from the tools themselves.


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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