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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

"Day Tripper" Backing Track Take 1

Staying with out theme of backing tracks for the week, here's something slightly different. It's take #1 of The Beatle's hit Day Tripper (take 3 was the master). If find it fascinating for a number of reasons.

1) It's definitely an early take in that not only is it incomplete, but you can tell that the band was unsure of the bridge, so the playing is somewhat tentative.

2) Listen to the "stereo" track. When stereo was new there was no such thing as a pan pot on a console for a few years. Consequently, the only choices the mixer had for track placement were hard left, hard right, or both tracks simultaneously. What you hear on this track is an early attempt at stereo, with the drums and bass on the right, and the guitars on the left. This makes it pretty easy to pick out the parts though.

3) Listen to how tightly Paul and Ringo play together. It's especially noticeable on the build at the end of the bridge where they're both together not only timing-wise, but phrasing as well.

4) Listen to the sound between John and George's guitars. Both fill different frequency spectrums perfectly, without the need for extensive EQing (they hardly had any EQ in those days). Also listen to the interplay between the guitars, with John playing a steady rhythm to George's mostly single note lines. This was and still is an excellent example of guitar arranging.

5) For an early take, the energy of the track is great! The Beatles could certainly rock when they wanted to.



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5 comments:

Gugulethu said...

Hi Brother Bob

I have a question.
I can hear the drums are on the left and the guitars on the right just like you said, so is that right and won't the track die when played on mono?

I once read a tutorial online (I can't remember the link but I think the guy's name was Joe) he said "you need to keep your kick and bass in the center for maximum punch"

So after listening to the song I'm a bit confused, please help!


One Love!!!

Bob Buontempo said...

Yikes!! Those guitars are out of tune, especially the rhythm. Ringo seems to be the most solid on the tracks. After the bridge/build up,(I assume it's George playing the lick), and the volume "swells" during that part, he misses the downbeat/1st note of the lick coming back into the verse.

If Bobby will allow me to answer the above comment/questions, no, the tracks won't cancel when panned center. Only out of phase material, with the same information on both tracks will, cancel.

Yes, kick and bass in the center will give you more *punch*, mainly because, since they're coming out of two speakers, they will be increased in level by 3dB, or be twice as loud. It's also good to have them both in the center so they can be heard, no matter where you are located, in relation to either, or both, speakers.

Bobby Owsinski said...

In the days of vinyl, if you put the low frequency information like bass anywhere but the center, the stylus would jump out of the groove if you tried to put a lot of level on the record. By panning it to the center, you could make the record louder.

We don't have those limitations today with CDs and digital files, but we've found over the years that a recording sounds bigger when the kick and bass are panned to the center.

Gugulethu said...

Thank you very much guys for sharing your insight...your effort is much appreciated.

Stay Creative!!!

Bob Buontempo said...

No problem!!

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