Mixing The Beatles in the Early 1960's 

My god, I would watch these Beatles recording shows only and constantly if I could. Damn, make tons of these. Do songs from each album. I WANT MORE

DUDE you need to do more 1960 tutorials. Take over MAN!

Great Job wow Finally someone teaching how to mix like the 60s

really insane how spot on it sounds. that guy is a fantastic drummer! awesome vocals as well!

In 1996 I used to work at a film editors and sound studio. They had a studio designed for the basement by a man called Keith Slaughter, who was ex-EMI. He is on the credits for a couple of songs on Sgt Pepper as second engineer (two engineers for stereo in those days.) He told me that he personally saw George Martin hit play and record on two 4 track machines as simultaneously as possible. The machines were not synchronised in any way. In order to play them back in sync, you might have had to record a 1KHz 'plop' to tape at they were recording and then line it up with the play head for replaying, but that part is a guess from me. He also repeated the story about the notice at EMI that said that sports-jackets (ie casual clothes) could be worn at times at the weekend. He then made a remark about our big big big boss doing something about the standard of dress at our facility. Even in the early days of 4 track you would have had to allow more spare tracks to double-track the vocal parts, which meant bouncing down all the other parts. Engineers frequently used the technique of the live mix a lot, which is a lost art. A track like 'Downtown' recorded at ATV in London, was a completely live recording. Every session player in the studio band had a mic and these were mixed stereo to 2 tracks. Another track was used for the backing singers and the last for the lead singer.

Pete Ham former Badfinger guitarist was a genius in the studio, George Harrison was blown away with his abilities with sound engineering. Thank a million for showing us this, pretty Friggen interesting.

Very good. A couple of points - On early sessions The Beatles didn't use headphones so a lot of the bleed came from those big mother speakers they used as monitors. Also drum mikes went to the desk via a passive mixer. Amazing to think that much of the Beatle music we listen to was recorded live, overdubs were usually just solos and harmonies.

I dig your work on the Beatles, very authentic; Thank You!

This is awesome thank you!

Great videos. Thank you for taking the time to explain everything so clearly. Cheers, Bob.

This is great stuff. Overdubs for twin-track were done live while doing a straight tape-to-tape copy. During the second album overdubs got so messy that George Martin decided to move them to 4-track for the next album.

Extremely informative and useful technique, Clay. Extremely relevant to all of us Beatles' enthusiasts and students of the classic sixties' genre. Your skill and talent is impressive. Thank you, Clay.

Holy crap, my new favorite channel, I am devouring this stuff.

These videos are incredible!!!!

Truly amazing in the reproduction of the Beatles, loved, thank you!

Fantastic - thanks for doing these vids!

Oh man, This is so awesome. You NAILED the sound. WOWZA. Loving every video. Thank you for the most fun youtube ever.

really appreciate how you also speak on plug ins and digital production.

I love the live sound of the early recordings, especially the bleed-through on the vocal mics. Another thing I really like about the early recording (esp. on Please Please Me) is what I can only describe as an early form of ducking, though not as extreme. For an example of this, listen to "Chains". You can clearly hear the drums almost completely dropping out during the vocals on the right channel, but they immediately pop back in. I'm not convinced this was intentional, so it may have simply been the type of compressors they were using. In any case, it's a glorious sound that was not present in their later albums. Does anyone have more info on this?

Thanks Clay, fantastic. Stay safe.

This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen....Technology is so amazing now but, I really appreciate how they worked with what they had in 1962...

:) Wow. What a great video!!! Really having a great time watching this video. Keep on that with more videos like this one!!!

I rarely comment on videos - but wow this amazing! Please keep making more of these Beatle videos!!!

Would love to see a recording to mixing process for each track (Vocals, Guitars, Bass, drums.) Would be super helpful. Wasn't sure if you had already applied effects before this video.

So professionally done and educational .Thanks so much !

Awesome video! This is exactly what I've been looking for on RU-vid for years :) Can't wait for the next video. Keep up the good work!

These are great. Please do more.

you have a great voice! really did a good job on those vocals :)

Another fantastic video, thanks so much!

You can get close with a modern mix but no plug in will replace the quality of the physical elements used in the recording. It is why the recordings sound so good and can't really be replicated. That texture is unique.

Very interesting. Amazing what electronics you have today to work with. I have studied the Beatles and their mixes since 1964. At one point I was an engineer at a record company in Nashville.

That was epic...

Great great great video!! Keep it up Clay!

Very helpful, informative, and, awesome. Thanks!

Great stuff mate. Thanks. Gear Fab.

Clay - LOVED this tutorial and now I'm a subscriber and can't wait to visit your channel. I'm just a home recordist with a "mild" obsesasion with the Beatles. A buddy and I have spent the last several years recreating Beatles songs from "Love Me Do" to "Real Love" and we've managed to cover over 150 of thier songs. You asked for requests of Beatle songs for you to tackle and I have two: "Strawbeery Fields" and "Penny Lane". "Fields" is rioh with intruiging sounds, and "Pennny Lane" is a cacophony of more normal musical instruments. I've done both and would love your take on these two: how they did it in the 60s and how you'd do it today. Plus "in My Life".

Mind = blown. Your attention to detail is exemplary. Subscribed.

Oh damnnn, the end tease... can't wait for the future ones too. Awesome stuff Clay!

Great video! More Beatles mixing videos please!

Really cool video! Thanks for doing these! I would really love to see one on paperback writer! How they did that vocal effect/steed is clever, and I’m trying to figure it out. Thanks again!

Also insane playing and singing man spot on

Fabulous, you are a wealth of information, Well done!

Just found you guys, this is awesome! Keep up the good work.

Fantastic video. Thanks. Looking forward to the next one. 😊

Take me back man, take me back ♡

Excellent and comprehensive video.

Would you show how in my life was recorded and mixed? And guitar recording sounds good can’t wait

That was really great

You rock friend. Keep it up!

great video man, thx a lot....

You have one hell of a sharp ear guy. Amazing!

Pretty Good Beatles imitation in the intro.

Come back, we all need you! And how about a "how to record guitar like The Beatles" next, please? Or the bass tone on Abbey Road and/or The White Album, if it is any different from the Sgt. Pepper's tone.

Please keep making these videos!

Great vid , definitely learned a thing or two

c'est exellent !!! merci pour le partage et encore Bravo ^^

Right on Clay, awesome video!

Clay! Great video! +1 on Beatles recording guitar technics!

Great work, thank You. It would be interesting if you would look into the Byrds recordings in details. For me the jingle jangle Mc Guinn’s guitar has unbelievable vibe. You can hear it is “American” sound. Would be great to hear how they did it.

Perfect!

Love your content. Keep it up.

My first impression is, that we don't need that much technology to record a band properly anyway. A good rehearsed band, the right placement of microphones and no more than about 24 tracks should be more than enough. To my humble opinion, the trouble with recording studio's and artists nowadays seems to be the rigid ambition to deliver a 'perfect' audio product. Why? If so many artists and music lovers like the old style recordings of the fities/sixties, why don't we use a modern version of the setup used at the time? Not too long ago I recorded a band with three microphones and three tracks. That was it. The guys *loved* it and it sounded pretty well; also to the mastering engineer's ears and standards. That sounded like a compliment to me.

Damn this was rad . We do a ton of Beatles covers but go for a bit of a shift on a lot of them but would get closer if we could at times! Been using the j37 forever but some great great tips here

You were speaking of SGT PEPPER in another video. I was wondering if you heard about THE ANALOUGES playing it live. If not. Give it a listen. They are from the Netherlands and doing it all in a second language. Amazing

Hello B.R., Do you take requests??? I think it would be way cool (and convenient) to have signal path flow chart for each of your demos for easy reference... Especially for those of us who have the Abbey Road plugins... Great work, good ear, and thank you!

Have you thought about doing a video where you show all the plugins you’re using and maybe a starting point/preset for how to get an early beatles type sound? I have the waves abbey road plugins and my band is about to record some songs similar to the early 60s stuff, but we dont really know where to start to get a similar vibe. Thanks, and this was a great video!

Very cool stuff! Question about the chamber plugin though. If you're trying to replicate a 4 track, I noticed you had the chamber on a 5th track in your mix. How did engineers back in the day mix the chamber verb back in when they were mixing on only 4 channels?

very tasty tones there man.

At around 4:20: still sounds great. No, it sounds like a fking nightmare! :))) go back 10 seconds and hear it change again. It's why mono blows the stereo out of the water on early albums and some of the mid period.

Clay, what do you think of the Waves Puigchild plugin? As for a Pepper song... I would like you to do Good Morning. I dig the rhythm guitar work and wonder if Lennon is playing a Casino or a Strat?

16:51 Was it a good meal???? lmao!! joking aside I love your Beatles recording videos!! Thanks dude

Here is an idea for those of us who cannot afford all the Waves and UAD stuff - do a video (or three separate videos) on how to approximate Early, Mid, and Late period Beatles' recordings using Free VSTs.

That was great!

great job

Excelente es unico despues de escuchar a otros desde mexico un beatlemaniaco

Hey man! Firstly, loving your work! Being an absolutely huge Beatles fan myself! Secondly...could you tell me/show how you got the vocal effect on the come together track you did with Warren please? Was absolutely bang on!

Need to hear your recordings.....!!!!

the mixing was done as much in the physical space(mike positioning etc) as on the desk; it was "simpler" and better

Very much enjoy your video series demonstrating some of these Beatles recording techniques, very interesting & well done thanks Clay! Is it possible to list the Chamber presets you like so people not on Pro Tools can set them up on their plugin? I went to the dropbox file & as I'm using Logic couldn't access the files. Thanks Clay keep up the great work!

Could you do a video using the new Waves RS124 compressor plugin, showing and emulating the way the EMI engineers used it on specific Beatles recordings?

Hey Clay…. I was wondering how or even if the guitars were EQ’ed. Thanks!

Great videos man. Can you post your Chamber presets somewhere please. Oh and I’m chasing that Paperback Writer STEED Vocal sound too!

Amazing!

awesome!!

"Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite" You may have to utilize the old methods; like slicing up a lotta tape for the end section. Nobody has attempted it, that I know of.

Did the Beatles use Protools? is that how they got their awesome warm sound?

Please do a lot more Beatles' stuff.

Interesting, but at 2:30 you claim that they didn't learn how to sync two tapes until Sgt Pepper. I assume this refers to bouncing down, which is when several tracks from one tape are copied into a single track on another. This technique is actually first used in April of 1966 when they recorded "Tomorrow Never Knows." I can't recall if it's used elsewhere on Revolver, but I defer to the expert, Scott Foreman, who does excellent research on how these songs were mixed and produced.

I need those presets DUDE!

It’s time you recreate the white album sounds

Nice!

Hello what brand is the big mixing console in your studio? Beautiful Cool

For context I grew up with the premise of one mic per channel. In the 60s was it say 5 mics fed into each channel? Did they achieve volume balance via mic placement. Did each mic have a gain control to assist with trying to achieve the right balance?

Clay love your Beatles theme. I demoed the plugins I have 8gb and 1tb hard drive it starts buffering after 4 red 37-51 on tracks. What is the best buffer settings and how much Ram you recommend and cpu. What is your set up to run it so smoothly?Is there a way to use it you recommend.

I wish there was also a Pink Floyd version of you

Will there be any videos on post Sgt. Pepper guitar sounds?

Great video!!! 16:50 burp

Cmon bro do more

Could you please slow down and explain more about each model you're using in greater detail. You are bouncing all over the place an I have no idea what you are doing to the signal chain, what setting you're using or especially WHY you are using any particular setting. There is so much you could be teaching here to help us understand the absolute fundamentals since they were so limited by the equipment available in those days. Yet it's those precise limitations that can allow us to dig deep into the basic signal chain and how each plug-in works and "why" that plug-in works the way it does and how each aspect impacts the sound at each stage of production. These could be such a powerful teaching videos... perhaps the best look we'll ever get into the past, and into the basic architecture of sound production. However, I think you are trying to keep your video short for some reason, whereas a much longer deep-dive into each plugin and how each plugin is used to create and affect the sounds would provide HUGE insight into the fundamentals of recording Rock and Roll. You have a tremendous grasp of what happened in the past and that knowledge needs to be past on to future generations. Today we get saturated with Izotope AI processing and really have no idea what's happening under the covers or "why" sound is being manipulated. It all began here, and this is where we can begin to understand the underlying mechanics of sound engineering. These videos that you're teaching can become some of the most valuable learning tools on the internet. I'd be happy to pay for this material to be taught online. So, please convert these into full classes and truly teach us what you've learned before we all get stuck using automated mixing and mastering tools we don't comprehend.

What mic did you use to track vocals?