Now And Then-Final Beatles experiment :)

That was very well done Ben

Ben it still has your unique style all over it!  
 
this is good - video is interesting too.  good work.

Definitely a Ben produced track, nicely done both music and video, thanks for sharing.

Double Post...sorry
 
Ben

Well produced track and video. Lynn has made a good suggestion and would certainly add to the track.

Hi Jimmy, thanks for comments and listening. 
 
I'm alright, could be better...just finished a Masters of Philoshopy, waiting for marking...up to 6 months of being in limbo.
 
Cheers Ben

Thanks Tom, the mellotronish is actually GMedia's virtual mellotron, which Rick Wakeman said to his ears was virtually indistinguishable from the real thing...and he should know he recorded some of the original Mellotron sounds. As for length, the base track was done some years ago, when my skill level wasn't as great. Rather than redesign the whole track, which would have problematic due to the fact I don't have a virtual Mellotron anymore, Windows 10 doesn't like the installer disk and files and for that matter nor does Sonar, and also I don't have my Epiphone Hofner replica, I decided to keep the base structure. But thank you for listening and your comments.
 
Ben

Very nice Ben. Has that Beatles retro stamp all over it, yet it retains the signature Ben sound. I can tell your fingers were at the mixing board. Nice work. You have way more patience than I do. It would be hard for me to return to something I mixed a long time ago and re work it. Might be fun though.

Starise
Very nice Ben. Has that Beatles retro stamp all over it, yet it retains the signature Ben sound. I can tell your fingers were at the mixing board. Nice work. You have way more patience than I do. It would be hard for me to return to something I mixed a long time ago and re work it. Might be fun though.

Hi Tim, as I said to Tom...issues. For me, it's not only about going back and re-mixing and fixing things, its about learning and experimenting. When I got the RS56 Waves Passive EQ, I knew I had discovered a key element in not only The Beatles sound, but in mastering full stop. This meant, all my previous works, the ones I believed were of a certain standard needed to be re-mixed and mastered. I must I've also worked out a particular formula for each channel too, involving two types of EQ, and also emulation like the console and tape and where to put them in the signal chain. Basically I've mastered Alan Parson's black back drop theory, but because I'm completely digital, I've added the flavor in. And this is another key, that I've discovered during my research degree...you have to add the flavor back in with digital, unlike analogue which prints with analogue flavor, and of course this is what makes the digitized medium such a good storage container.
 
Thanks Tim
Ben 

daryl1968
this is great Ben. Really creative

Thanks Daryl. Creative is my thing :), apparently. 
Ben

Jeff Evans
I think Ben is a bit of a master on Beatles stuff. He really knows and understands a lot about them.  And what is particularly hard is trying to recreate the Beatles sound. It is totally unique as far as I am concerned.  Ben manages to get those electric guitars sounding so authentic which is damn hard I reckon. And the rest of the parts too.
 
Since reading the book Lennon by Tim Riley I have a very deep appreciation now not only about John himself but the whole band and its sound too.
 
There are just some sounds that would be nearly impossible to copy. Another one is All Along the Watchtower by Hendrix. That whole sound and groove is just strange to say the least. Imagine trying to get that down to perfection. It would be hard and I mean hard!

Thanks Jeff, it's not too hard now Jeff lol...but that's after 20 years of practice, practice, practice in regards to audio production, and of course research, research, research. The key to Beatle guitars, and I'm not going to give away the complete formula, but but the key is 2nd and 3rd harmonics...that's it. I also use a Vox emulator, but it's not a Beatle Vox emulator it's emulated from a 1980s one, apparently the GR4 one. The other key is knowing where to play the guitar parts on the fret board, this is where 31 years of musicianship comes into play.
 
Those sounds of Hendrix, and The Beatles, because Hendrix's sound is an extension of The Beatles sound due to the links between all the rock-avant-gardes ;) aren't that hard to emulate either...it has a lot to do with varispeed, which Reaper's is excellent for, understanding the analogue emulation paradigm...http://meterplugs.com/blog/2016/12/15/do-plugins-have-a-loudness-sweet-spot.html this is what I've been saying for many years and many on this forum said I was mad :), but this sort of proves there is a difference in analogue engineering and digital engineering, those Waves Kramer Pye plugs are great, add that with Cakewalk's Tape, Tube and Console emulators, and finally the Pultec, and here is your 60's sound. Finally, the RS56 emulator is a key in getting those transients sweet in mastering. I still haven't given the complete formula though lol, also pumping up the verbs and delays with binaural tech, helps give fix the digital conundrum...again, you have to add in to make digital work...otherwise like most analogue engineers will tell you, digital sound flat compared to analogue.
 
Again, this is not the complete formula...there are secrets throughout the signal chain which need to be followed to create the sixties sounds using a complete digital system...and as I have been saying for nigh on 20 years, I can create these sounds for a fraction of the price of a studio, and I've done all this on headphones...1000 dollar headphones lol, but still headphones. Once we can get people to realize the creative possibilities of digital, and how limitless the digital is, even the most basic and crude of digital, music will again be a force to be reckoned with...of course we need to encourage kids to pick up an instrument again.
 
One day, I might give the whole formula in a series of how-to instruction videos to the world...at the moment however, it is still the only thing that gives me the edge...I have given enough information though, for someone to reverse engineer my technique :).
 
Peace and Love Neb