Which instrument in "In My Life"?
Martin Brunner
Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
--
\\//
Martin Brunner (mar...@finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at)
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9622/404ei.htm [Peugeot 404]
John Murren
In article <66hidt$1...@fstgal00.tu-graz.ac.at>, Martin Brunner <mar...@finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at> wrote:
>Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
I think it's a sped up piano played by George Martin. Someone else may be
able to give you a better explanation.
John
>
>
eLeNa VeGa
On 8 Dec 1997, Martin Brunner wrote:
The insturment is a harpsichord. its kinda an old rennisance type piano.
> Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
>
>
> --
> \\//
> Martin Brunner (mar...@finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at)
> http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9622/404ei.htm [Peugeot 404]
>
>
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Klimek
The instrunment used in "In My Life" is a harpsecord. This is
personally my favorite song.
Danny Caccavo
In article <348c84ec...@news.concentric.net>, bc...@concentric.net wrote:
> x-no-archive:yes
> On Mon, 8 Dec 1997 15:26:22 -0600, eLeNa VeGa
> <ev...@students.uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
> >On 8 Dec 1997, Martin Brunner wrote:
> >The insturment is a harpsichord. its kinda an old rennisance type piano.
> >
> >> Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
> >
> >> --
> >> \\//
> >> Martin Brunner (mar...@finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at)
> >> http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9622/404ei.htm [Peugeot 404]
>
>
> Its been well documented in old interviews that George Martin
> played the solo with the tape machine slowed down, giving the
> harpsichord a higher, faster sound when the song was played at
> normal speed.
C'mon folks, it's a piano recorded at 1/2 speed.
DC
--
Danny Caccavo (dan...@interport.net)
This Way Studios
http://www.users.interport.net/~danielj/
"Hey, Bee-atle - we shall have fun, eh?"
(delete the xx from my return address for replies.....)
moondog
Martin Brunner wrote:
>
> Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
>
A normal piano. George Martin played the solo one octave below the sound
you hear - he had the tape recorder running at *half* speed while taping
the solo, so that when he played the tape back at normal speed, it
*sounded* an octave higher and, of course, twice as fast. Doing this
also altered the timbre of the piano - the normal harmonics when sped up
make it sound something like a harpsichord.
Tom Hartman
In article <Pine.SOL.3.96.971208...@ux8.cso.uiuc.edu>,
eLeNa VeGa <ev...@students.uiuc.edu> wrote:
>On 8 Dec 1997, Martin Brunner wrote:
>The insturment is a harpsichord. its kinda an old rennisance type piano.
>> Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
>>
>>
>> --
>> \\//
>> Martin Brunner (mar...@finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at)
>> http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9622/404ei.htm [Peugeot 404]
>>
>>
The instrument, of course, is the Steinway grand in Studio 2, played an
octave lower at half speed, so that it sounds like a harpsichord when
played back at normal speed.
Metronome Studios
Martin Brunner (mar...@finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at) wrote:
: Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
Piano, recorded at half speed. It sounds like a harpsichord on playback. I
believe George Martin played that bit.
Jean Fontaine
>
>The instrument, of course, is the Steinway grand in Studio 2, played an
>octave lower at half speed, so that it sounds like a harpsichord when
>played back at normal speed.
>
Dowlding says : "A gap was left in the original recording for an =
unspecified solo. While the Beatles were out of the studio, George =
Martin decided to experiment with filling it with an Elizabethan-style =
keyboard sound. He wasn't able to play the solo fast enough, but played =
it at half-speed and then speeded up the tape to achieve the same =
result."
A nice solo, by the way. Too bad he didn't get any credit for the song. =
Can you think of "In My Life" without thinking of this solo? Which =
leaves me to a question : how much do you have to contribute to a song =
to get a songwriting credit? Are there some kind of written or unwritten =
rules or is it totally arbitrary?
Bruce Dumes
Jean Fontaine (jfon...@odyssee.net) wrote:
: A nice solo, by the way. Too bad he didn't get any credit for the song. =
: Can you think of "In My Life" without thinking of this solo? Which =
: leaves me to a question : how much do you have to contribute to a song =
: to get a songwriting credit? Are there some kind of written or unwritten =
: rules or is it totally arbitrary?
It's first come, first serve, really. Legally, you don't need to contribute
*anything* to get a credit. Norman Petty, who produced the classic Buddy
Holly sessions in Clovis, New Mexico, explained to Buddy that it's
"customary practice" to put the producer's name on the songwriting credit.
Petty made millions by this, and scads of unscrupulous others did it -- it
was commonplace. In a way, Petty wasn't entirely incorrect -- it *was*
a customary practice, but was never a very nice thing to have done.
Aside from this kind of thing, the suggestion of a name like "McKenzie"
in E. Rigby (which Pete Shotten claims as his) isn't enough to garner a
songwriting credit, but contributing a middle eight, for example, is.
However, Martin's solo isn't part of the composition, but part of the
arrangement, so even if it is, in our minds, a definitive part of the song,
he really isn't deserving of songwriting credit for In My Life.
Case in point is the Lennon/McCartney catalog. There aren't that many
songs which had significant contributions from both, but it was an agreement
(just a handshake one) to always credit Lennon/McCartney, so that's the
way it is.
Bruce
--
Bruce Dumes b...@ici.net or du...@hks.com
WWW Home Page http://www.ici.net/cust_pages/bad/bad.html
"Help, help, I'm being repressed. Did you see him repressing me?"
Bob Stahley
Jean Fontaine <jfon...@odyssee.net> wrote:
: Which leaves me to a question : how much do you have to contribute to a song
Evidently, according to Paul in _Many Years From Now_, being in the same
room while the song is being written is alone enough to claim a
songwriting credit. :)
(Note: The author does not necessarily agree with the opinion expressed
in this cheap shot.)
--
__ __
_) _) bo...@primenet.com Deck us all with Boston Charlie
__)__) tosa, witzend Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!
Jim Kendall
Bruce Dumes astutely pointed out:
> Martin's solo isn't part of the composition, but part of the
> arrangement, so even if it is, in our minds, a definitive part of
> the song, he really isn't deserving of songwriting credit for
> In My Life.
Yeah, but.....
Why did Billy Preston get the credit for his part of an "arrangement"?
Cheers!
"Wig-Wam, frightened of the dark"
(RIP)
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PAUL MACCA
>From: Jim Kendall <ji...@supertex.com>
>Bruce Dumes astutely pointed out:
>> Martin's solo isn't part of the composition, but part of the
>> arrangement, so even if it is, in our minds, a definitive part of
>> the song, he really isn't deserving of songwriting credit for
>> In My Life.
>
>Yeah, but.....
>
>Why did Billy Preston get the credit for his part of an "arrangement"?
>
I believe the earlier discussion centered around whether George Martin's
instrumental break contribution to "In My Life" constituted that he receive a
*songwriting* credit.
Although Billy Preston got a label credit on the Get Back 45 and liner note
acknowledgement on the Let It Be album, he received no songwriting credit on
any Beatle song.
Tom Hartman
> Its been well documented in old interviews that George Martin
>played the solo with the tape machine slowed down, giving the
>harpsichord a higher, faster sound when the song was played at
>normal speed.
Bruce,
He did play it slowed down, but it is NOT a harpsichord.
It is a Steinway grand, recorded at half speed.
Bruce Dumes
PAUL MACCA (paul...@aol.com) wrote:
: >From: Jim Kendall <ji...@supertex.com>
Exactly. I would've responded in the same way to Jim, but his post didn't
show up at my site.
Fernando Luna
Hi:
In reality the instrument employed was, indeed, a piano. This is
documented in the book "The Beatles: Recording Sessions" by Mark Lewisohn
who had access to all EMI studio documentation. The documentation was
quite thorough and detailed. In it, it specifically states that a piano
was used. Sped up, it sounds more to me like a clavichord, rather than a
harpsichord. In any case, both the clavichord and harpsichord have a
bright timbre with a lot of high-end. The solo on "In My Life" was too
tinny, in my opinion, to be anything like those two instruments.
That's just my two cents worth, but the Lewisohn book (and his other book
"The Beatles Chronicle") makes the use of the piano quite plain.
Thanks
On Mon, 8 Dec 1997, Bruce wrote:
> x-no-archive:yes
> On Mon, 8 Dec 1997 15:26:22 -0600, eLeNa VeGa
> <ev...@students.uiuc.edu> wrote:
>
> >On 8 Dec 1997, Martin Brunner wrote:
> >The insturment is a harpsichord. its kinda an old rennisance type piano.
> >
> >> Which (strange) instrument used the Beatles for the solo in 'In My Life'?
> >
> >> --
> >> \\//
> >> Martin Brunner (mar...@finwds01.tu-graz.ac.at)
> >> http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9622/404ei.htm [Peugeot 404]
>
>
> Its been well documented in old interviews that George Martin
> played the solo with the tape machine slowed down, giving the
> harpsichord a higher, faster sound when the song was played at
> normal speed.
>
>
=========================================================
Fernando Luna E-mail: fe...@aa.net
Kent, WA HomePage: http://www.aa.net/~fern/
=========================================================
Beatles369
>In reality the instrument employed was, indeed, a piano.
I'll go with that... I read in "The Complete Guide to the Music of The Beatles"
(John Robertson, pseudonym) a quote by John himself in 1970.
"In the early days, George Martin would translate for us. In "In My Life"
there's an Elizabethan piano solo. He would do things like that."
Lance Osborne
Strawberry Fields..
http://troppoheads.com/beatles
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ _ _
Living is easy with eyes closed... v
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ \__/
Tom Hartman
In article <Pine.LNX.3.94.971217...@big.aa.net>, Fernando
Luna <fe...@aa.net> wrote:
>Hi:
>
>In reality the instrument employed was, indeed, a piano. This is
>documented in the book "The Beatles: Recording Sessions" by Mark Lewisohn
>who had access to all EMI studio documentation. The documentation was
>quite thorough and detailed. In it, it specifically states that a piano
>was used. Sped up, it sounds more to me like a clavichord, rather than a
>harpsichord. In any case, both the clavichord and harpsichord have a
>bright timbre with a lot of high-end. The solo on "In My Life" was too
>tinny, in my opinion, to be anything like those two instruments.
>
>That's just my two cents worth, but the Lewisohn book (and his other book
>"The Beatles Chronicle") makes the use of the piano quite plain.
So does playing it on a piano and speeding it up for yourself, which is
the most convincing proof of all;)
Tom Hartman
In article <67sis4$c...@nntp02.primenet.com>, dha...@primenet.com (David
Haber) wrote:
>In article <oceandig-241...@dfbfl4-18.gate.net>,
ocea...@gate.net (Tom Hartman) wrote:
>>>the Lewisohn book (and his other book
>>>"The Beatles Chronicle") makes the use of the piano quite plain.
>>
>>So does playing it on a piano and speeding it up for yourself, which is
>>the most convincing proof of all;)
>
>Or, dare I say, even more clearly, slowing down the actual Beatles track with
>the fast piano on it, to hear the original for yourself.
>
>For those of you who don't have the software to do this themselves, a snippet
>of this slowed down will be posted shortly to the alt.binaries.sounds.misc
>newsgroup. The file will be called imlslow.mp3.
>
> -Dave
That's a great idea Dave, and will solve the riddle for those who insist
this is something other than what it is....thanks!
saki
In article <oceandig-241...@dfbfl4-18.gate.net>,
Tom Hartman <ocea...@gate.net> wrote:
>In article <Pine.LNX.3.94.971217...@big.aa.net>, Fernando
>Luna <fe...@aa.net> wrote:
>>
>>Sped up, it sounds more to me like a clavichord, rather than a
>>harpsichord. In any case, both the clavichord and harpsichord have a
>>bright timbre with a lot of high-end. The solo on "In My Life" was too
>>tinny, in my opinion, to be anything like those two instruments.
>>
>>"The Beatles Chronicle") makes the use of the piano quite plain.
>
>So does playing it on a piano and speeding it up for yourself, which is
>the most convincing proof of all;)
Could be that folks hear it as a clavichord because that's a hammer
instrument (like a piano), whereas a harpsichord is plucked. Compare the
sound on "In My Life" with the Stones' "Lady Jane" (which *does* have a
harpsichord).
--
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