New Mix of The Beatles' "White Album" in the works

[Yellow Jester]

From NME.com-New Mix of The Beatles' "White Album" in the works.

http://www.nme.com/news/music/beatle...-album-2073497

[JKL2000]

This seems a bit lame:

Martin explained his motivation to re-mix early Beatles material – both giving collectors something to get excited about and modernising the band’s appeal. “My motivation – when I tell my kids or grandkids about this album that changed the face of pop music, you want them to put it on a go, ‘Yeah, I get it!’ rather than, ‘This sounds a bit old…’” he said.

We just thought we'd tweak Moby-Dick to make it more exciting for new readers...

[Frumious B]

My main point of interest would be an official release of the Esher demos. I'm 100% set with the mono and stereo versions of the core catalog. My typical experience with remixes is that I enjoy them for a few months and then I go back to the old mixes. Mono is the best for me with The Beatles.

[ronmac]

That's a silly quote from him.

I want to hear what outtakes they plan, if any. The 27-minute Helter Skelter is the one the hard cores want.

The extended Sexy Sadie is pretty cool and should be included. And, yes, the demos need a proper release. But, I'm not sure they are very accessible to the broader audience.

[DrGoon]

“My motivation – when I tell my kids or grandkids about this album that changed the face of pop music, you want them to put it on a go, ‘Yeah, I get it!’ rather than, ‘This sounds a bit old…’”

Giles, you're a couple of revolutions shy of fifty. To your kids and your grandkids it's going to sound a bit old even after you arse around with it.

[mogrooves]

Apparently, Martin studied under Emperor Joseph II. Who knew?

[rcarlberg]

Father George Martin is spinning in his grave. Son Giles needs to get an honest job. Can't Paul and Ringo do something?

[trondis23]

I am just as exited about this as with Sgt. Peppers, which I am expecting pretty soon now. I hope and expect that he does 5.1 mixes as well, since he has said that if they asked him to do it with The White album he would be all over it. His work with Love shows that he is up do it. This is one of the best 5.1 albums I have heard. Next I hope that they do Magical Mystery Tour. The best track on Love, and the ultimate psychedelic song from the Beatles, is I Am The Walrus.

[JJ88]

I think what Giles Martin is saying is that many of the stereo mixes are dated, not that the music itself is. I wouldn't disagree-the 'drums/vocals in the centre' has been the standard approach for approaching 50 years, and yet these albums still don't sound that way. He's not 'updating' the sound in any way by adding trendy drum/keyboard sounds or 'beats'. And the originals will always be in print too. It's not like all those never-ending S. Wilson remixes, where there was nothing wrong with the original mixes in the first place.

Having said that, I'd have gone back to Rubber Soul and Revolver before the 'white album'. The former has basically never had a proper true stereo mix at all...even the 1987 CD 'remix' basically only narrowed the two-track 'stereo' mix done in 1965. I believe most of The Beatles multi-track masters survive...there are exceptions like 'She Loves You' and of course the earliest recordings were recorded on more basic equipment with few tracks, so you can't do very much.

[calyx]

I am just as exited about this as with Sgt. Peppers, which I am expecting pretty soon now. I hope and expect that he does 5.1 mixes as well, since he has said that if they asked him to do it with The White album he would be all over it. His work with Love shows that he is up do it. This is one of the best 5.1 albums I have heard. Next I hope that they do Magical Mystery Tour. The best track on Love, and the ultimate psychedelic song from the Beatles, is I Am The Walrus.

+1
Don't get all the negativity here, frankly.

[Jubal]

Get rid of the throwaway tracks and make it a good single album would be a good start.

[Frumious B]

[ronmac]

Get rid of the throwaway tracks and make it a good single album would be a good start.

Not necessary. You can do that yourself.

Would you want someone to pick apart your work and decide for themselves what was and wasn't worthy of saving?

[rcarlberg]

I think what Giles Martin is saying is that many of the stereo mixes are dated, not that the music itself is. I wouldn't disagree-the 'drums/vocals in the centre' has been the standard approach for approaching 50 years, and yet these albums still don't sound that way. He's not 'updating' the sound in any way by adding trendy drum/keyboard sounds or 'beats'. And the originals will always be in print too.

Having said that, I'd have gone back to Rubber Soul and Revolver before the 'white album'. The former has basically never had a proper true stereo mix at all...even the 1987 CD 'remix' basically only narrowed the two-track 'stereo' mix done in 1965. I believe most of The Beatles multi-track masters survive.

Bear in mind most of the early Beatles albums (up until the White Album I think?) were recorded on four tracks, meaning the bass & drums are on one track, rhythm guitars on #2, lead guitar & vocals on #3 & 4. There is limited "remixing" you can do with that.

And I think George Martin's CD reductions are definitive.

[Vic2012]

What is really amazing is how this band progressed in less than a decade. The difference between A Hard Days Night to White Album in just 4 years is remarkable.

[rcarlberg]

The difference between A Hard Days Night to White Album in just 4 years is remarkable.

It was all the drugs

[yamishogun]

This seems a bit lame:

We just thought we'd tweak Moby-Dick to make it more exciting for new readers...

There is a good abridged version by Orion, so it's been done! A lit guy then made a book of all the parts that Orion publishing left out.

What is needed is an instrumental version of The White Album packaged with an acapella version and Steven Wilson is just the man to do it.

[JJ88]

Up to and not including the 'white album', the mono mixes are 'definitive' because they had more care taken over them and also they were presumably what most of their fanbase heard. The 'white album' is the first time I find the mono inferior because there are crucial things missing. And that was the last time a true mono mix was done for a Beatles album.

Any remixing, even with limitations, doesn't need to be radical- moving the vocals and bass/drums nearer the centre is often the main requirement, to create a better stereo spread. Look at 'Taxman', from memory the original stereo mix of that song has nothing unique on the right channel until a tambourine comes in! On 'Eleanor Rigby', an engineer panned the vocal in a very hamfisted way.

[Mister Triscuits]

Bear in mind most of the early Beatles albums (up until the White Album I think?) were recorded on four tracks, meaning the bass & drums are on one track, rhythm guitars on #2, lead guitar & vocals on #3 & 4.

It's even worse than that--if you read Lewisohn's accounts of the studio sessions, it's amazing how often they would bounce everything down to one track to free up the other three for overdubs.

[ronmac]

Up to and not including the 'white album', the mono mixes are 'definitive' because they had more care taken over them and also they were presumably what most of their fanbase heard. The 'white album' is the first time I find the mono inferior because there are crucial things missing. And that was the last time a true mono mix was done for a Beatles album.

I like both mixes. I think parts of the mono mix are better than the stereo version and vice-versa.

[rcarlberg]

the mono mixes are 'definitive' because they had more care taken over them and also they were presumably what most of their fanbase heard.

Presumably, most fans in the '60s heard them over crappy AM transistor radios too. Does that mean modern hifis aren't 'definitive'? Of course not.

[JJ88]

^Here we go again. I did not say mono was automatically better than stereo which is what you infer every single time I post something like this. A good mono mix which they took time over (because mono was the standard for pop/rock then) is clearly preferable to a bad stereo one that they didn't. I'm not on an agenda-driven 'mono is better' crusade here. Give the crankiness a rest, if you can.

And ronmac, certainly the rockier tracks on the white album definitely have more impact in mono. But the missing 'I've got blisters on my fingers' is such a big thing for me. (On a similar tip, I have read that the recent DeAgostini 'Beatles vinyl collection' version of Sgt Pepper cut the dog whistle/backwards message from the end!) Possibly irrational on my part!

[Frumious B]

The technology and number of tracks were extremely limited. They were experts at making good mono mixes. They were amateurs at mixing in stereo. They also knew the marketplace and that the mono would, at the time, sell in much greater quantities and be heard by more people so it was just smart business that they put more time and effort getting the mono mixes right. At the time it wasn't anticipated that stereo would become totally dominant to the point that the mono mixes would be almost entirely pushed aside. For The Beatles I own both and listen to both, but the mono mixes, where available, are the ones I keep on my portable devices mainly because they are much easier to listen to in the car.

[JJ88]

The technology and number of tracks were extremely limited. They were experts at making good mono mixes. They were amateurs at mixing in stereo. They also knew the marketplace and that the mono would, at the time, sell in much greater quantities and be heard by more people so it was just smart business that they put more time and effort getting the mono mixes right. At the time it wasn't anticipated that stereo would become totally dominant to the point that the mono mixes would be almost entirely pushed aside.

Exactly.

I think a couple of their songs had band involvement in the stereo mix. 'Tomorrow Never Knows' is one, if you listen to that, it's a properly balanced stereo mix that still sounds great, and sounds nothing like the rest of Revolver does in stereo. 'A Day In The Life' maybe as well, I'm not sure?

[ronmac]

And ronmac, certainly the rockier tracks on the white album definitely have more impact in mono. But the missing 'I've got blisters on my fingers' is such a big thing for me. (On a similar tip, I have read that the recent DeAgostini 'Beatles vinyl collection' version of Sgt Pepper cut the dog whistle/backwards message from the end!) Possibly irrational on my part!

Savoy Truffle is a good example of a better mix in mono.

The technology and number of tracks were extremely limited. They were experts at making good mono mixes. They were amateurs at mixing in stereo.

Well, that's not quite a fair assessment. It was purely a matter of oversight. The Beatles simply were not involved with the stereo mixing, so they left it up to the studio engineers, who were likely qualified, but did their mixes based on their judgment and not the vision of the band.