Geoff Emerick with his Grammy for engineering “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Why all the talk these many years about “Sgt. Pepper” in mono? Here’s an A/B comparison. Both of these 90-second excerpts from “She’s Leaving Home” are in mono, but one of them is the original 1967 monaural mix from the new CD set, and the other has been folded into mono from the 1987 stereo CD.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/ShesLeavingHome_SMAS.mp3]
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/ShesLeavingHome_MAS.mp3]
Yes, it wasn’t till I read “Anthology” that I realized why it seemed to take our friend Karen forever to get through the bridge while playing “In My Life” at our wedding! A bit awkward … It’s still strange that in my own mind, the slower version sounds more “mono,” but the second version IS much better, after several listenings.
The Beatles recorded quite a few things playing and/or singing deliberately slowly, with the intention of speeding up the playback just a little to make the sound different. “She’s Leaving Home” is one example. An even better example is the harpsichord played by George Martin in “In My Life.” The correct speed is much slower, perhaps even half speed, compared to the final mix.
Told ya! I wonder why “A” sound like it was being played at the correct speed to me? Also, “B” sounded like it had too much reverb. I’ve read several comments on You Tube (EMI hasn’t ripped the hundreds of remaster song listings of YET!) that, for their money, even the mono remasters have too much reverb.
You are CORRECT, sir! The B “side” is the true monaural mix. The first sample is stereo that’s been combined into mono.
Dammit! I can’t sit here and A/B all day! I’ve gone back and forth, but at this point I’m guessing (and to be sure, it is mostly just that!) that B is the original. The string section sounds cleaner to me. A sounds both deader and more processed, if that’s possible.
For A/B purposes, it stinks that the player fades out when you pause…
This is so good to compare the songs! 🙂
I’m waiting to see if anybody else submits a guess.
OK, I’m probably wrong here, but “B” or the second one, sounds compressed and too fast to me. The first one sounds rich and clean and at the correct speed, like it came right out of the jacket from the original1967 vinyl record (pronounce that “re-KORD” as the Brits do). Watch, I’m probably totally wrong.