The Sound

The Beatles were in a rut after they completed the Revolver album. When they went on tour after creating Revolver, they found they were unable to recreate many of the songs. They had lost motivation and, at this point, were looking for something different. They wanted to approach their next album in a new way. As we have discussed, a key element that attributed to the success of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was their dedication to studio time. However, the musical mechanisms itself were a major influence as well as a result of the Beach Boys’ 1966 album Pet Sounds. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band included a completely new type of sound that was created in unique ways using new instruments and careful technique. Geoff Emerick is a key resource in understanding the mechanics of the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Emerick was the head technician for many of the albums including Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Because of his involvement with The Beatles starting at the ripe age of nineteen (Unterberger, 2006), found on this page are quotes, references, and links to interviews relating to the primary source, Geoff Emerick.

 

What Changed in their Sound?

When you compare how previous albums were created to Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it is clear that the change in technology manipulation created new exciting sounds. When the Beatles entered the studio to start their creation of the Album, there was a new set of instruments and technology set up at their disposal. A major creative outlet for the group was the new Mellotron.

The Mellotron is a keyboard that when each key is played a different sound comes out. When a key is played, a tape loop of whatever sound/instrument that was previously recorded would play. This was a revolutionary piece of equipment at the time, with endless possibilities of sound combinations. Paul McCartney played and experimented with the instrument mixing a variety of divergent sounds to create the psychedelic-like melodies.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5caf6mAACA.

 

The Rich Bass

Paul McCartney’s Bass is a key element to the rich, mellow sound of the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. In Emerick’s book, he describes how he mixed the songs in an unorthodox way, “I got into the habit of bringing the bass track in last. I’d essentially sculpt the bass around the other instruments so that you could hear every single nuance.” (Emerick, 2010. p170). Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band contained a lot of different types of instruments. It is clear to hear that their previous albums and singles contained a lot of conventional rock and pop sounds such as a guitar, drum, bass and vocals band. However, with all the new instruments that were being overdubbed in the many of the tracks on this album, it was key for Emerick to get the sounds balanced in the desired way. George Harrison spent many late nights in the studio working with Emerick to create that creamy full bodied sounding bass that could be heard over all the other instruments.

If it was John’s guitar mixed on the same track with George Harrison’s guitar, and maybe a piano as an overdub that Paul was doing, we’d actually get the finished sounds on those, ’cause they were all going into one track. They would all have the same little echo, with the right EQ (equaliser) and so forth. It was such a hard job to get distinction and placement of all those instruments coming from one sound source.” (Unterberger, 2006)