Beatles mono vinyl aaa box set

No kidding. I would have thought the tapes would be more substantial. Thanks for the video.

Hence the concern I have voiced here about the condition of the original mono masters. Keeping my fingers crossed.

By the way, the Studer J37 4-track tape machine used by the Beatles to record LPs from Help! through The White Album (in part) is equally unassuming in appearance.

Stuck around is more like it ... when the mono mixes were finished, both George Martin and The Beatles split the studio, leaving the "stereo" mixes to an assistant for the newly burgeoning stereo market in the USA.

The crux of the matter is artistic intent ... Martin and The Beatles considered the mono mixes to be definitive. Since they are the artists who created the art in the first place, I'm intensely interested in what they intended me to hear. And that is mono up through the white album, except that it was also the first to be mixed in stereo as well, by Martin and The Beatles and engineer Ken Scott.

Here is what Ken Scott told me in an email from 2009:

With regard to the re-masters I would most certainly suggest the mono versions. The band were not really interested in the stereo mixes until the White album and as we monitored everything in mono whilst recording that is what everyone heard and approved. Actually, on the White album there were some tracks that they purposely made the stereo different from the mono, they'd discovered that fans would buy both to spot differences and so went all out to try and double the sales on that particular release, So that one particular album might be good for both mono and stereo as that was the change over period, if you're really into it. Then Abbey Road and Let It Be were only mixed in stereo.

Again, for me it's all about artistic intent ... I love The Beatles' music, so why wouldn't I want to hear it the way they intended?

Clive, I wish I knew more about the early history of stereo, but I assume you're referring to orchestral recordings on which all parts of the music were performed in real-time (i.e., no overdubs), in which case it would have been recorded directly to stereo, capturing the sense of spaciousness spread across the orchestra.

When The Beatles recorded multiple overdubs, they soon developed a need to bounce all previous tracks down to a single mono track on another tape recorder to free up more tracks for more overdubs. That's why we got those goofy early "stereo" mixes with drums, guitar, etc. on one side, and voices, bass and other guitars, etc. on the other side.

It's always been standard procedure to mix down to 1/4 inch tape. Multi-tracking was done on 1-inch and then 2-inch tape.

Steve, see my post above with the quote from engineer Ken Scott ... first serious stereo mix was the white album. Really amazing when you think of how much bouncing-down had to be done to record all those overdubs on Revolver and Sgt. Pepper and then mix them down to mono ... recalibrating the machines with every overdub so as to minimize the inherent increase in tape hiss that comes with the bouncing process.

Interesting stuff, Fred. Thanks for sharing!

I have to add that from a mass consumer's perspective, I certainly appreciate what I have become accustomed to. In my case, it was the stereo mixes. I enjoy the monos now simply because they are different from what I am used to, and I am a Beatles junkie. Stereo or mono, they're equally artistic to me.

Thanks Fred. I did say 'think' and that wasn't based on knowledge but an impression I had from listening to Revolver over the years and noticing an improvement in the stereo reproduction of this LP compared with the preceding ones. I have both the original stereo and 1st press mono, with the different mix of Tomorrow Never Knows. I enjoy both and although I was a little disappointed with the SQ of the stereo box set I am really looking forward to these analogue reissues.

Thanks again for the info

Steve

The albums are pressed. There's been a few listening sessions in LA and NYC, previewing the final product. All the mono pressings were done at Optimal in Germany. 

Link here http://www.analogplanet.com/co...lectric-lady-studios

Thanks for the info Joe. This looks a much better box set all round compared to the stereo version. I wonder how limited it really is?

I suspect that if it's like most things Beatles, another round after the first limited edition is never out of the question. That was the case with the mono CD set. Of course, earlier pressings would be preferable.

Another interesting question raised by the Mikey Fremer article has to do with the numbers that will be given to the White album issues. Will they start at #1 and increase from there? If that's the case, then a lower numbered White album will make the set more valuable over time, as was the case with the MOFI collection.

Also, if that's the case, it will be interesting to see how the White album numbers get distributed throughout the world.

unlike most of the other reissues which are first digitized and can be reused forever.

there is only a certain amount of presses a stamper can make so

there is a built in limitation to an early first press before having to make new stampers.

and i guess there's a limit of stampers a lacquer can make also.

those numbers are quite high and there will be nowhere near the amount

of sales for Beatle records that there was originally.

so, unless they purposely limit the numbers there should be more than enough.

the original first press albums had stampers in the 100's each pressing

many 1000's of albums. i doubt they'll need nearly that many.

i think they'll start "White Album" numbers where they left the originals +1.

really can't wait for this box.

I'm guessing that these are not "true" mono (single lateral modulation direction of the stylus ), but rather stereo (stylus moves laterally and vertically to produce two-channels) but with the left and right channels identical so that a stereo cartridge can play them.

Finally broke down and pre-ordered my set today. I must admit I am looking forward to it.

Congrats on your purchase, Matt. I'll look forward to your impressions when the set arrives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npvsGRonfcM

We have ordered these and Pam and I are really looking forward to hearing them. I bought the originals when they came out in the sixties, but opted for the stereo versions as I was a teenager making my first steps into hi-fi with my Leak Stereo 30 and Thorens TD125 with SME 12" arm,

I am still resisting but let's see how long....

I guess I missed this in the original announcement, but it's a bit of good news for someone like me that is unsure about taking the plunge into the entire mono set, or just has too much Beatles material to rationalize another complete catalog purchase. There is a separate 3 LP box set "Mono Masters on Mono Vinyl" on presale for $60. It's a nice mix of songs from throughout the Beatles' career, and should give a sense of the sound quality of the new pressings. 

Similar to Past Masters, Mono Masters collects all of the Beatles' mono recordings which were not released on their standard albums (going by the official canonized 1987 catalog). The track list is largely similar to Past Masters, however, The Ballad Of John & Yoko, Old Brown Shoe, and Let It Be were never mixed for mono and are not included. In their place are Only A Northern Song, All Together Now, Hey Bulldog, and It's All Too Much, which were mixed for a mono EP that was never released. Unlike the CD version, which is sourced from the 2009 remasters, the vinyl edition of Mono Masters is sourced from the original 1/4" analog tapes. Also unlike the CD version, which cannot be purchased separately, the vinyl edition is available in a 3 LP set.

Mono Masters track listing

1. Love Me Do (Original Single Version)
2. From Me To You
3. Thank You Girl
4. She Loves You
5. I'll Get You
6. I Want To Hold Your Hand
7. This Boy
8. Kom, Gib Mir Deine Hand
9. Sie Liebt Dich
10. Long Tall Sallly
11. Call Your Name
12. Slow Down
13. Matchbox
14. I Feel Fine
15. She's a Woman
16. Bad Boy
17. Yes It Is
18. I'm Down
19. Day Tripper
20. We Can Work It Out
21. Paperback Writer
22. Rain
23. Lady Madonna
24. The Inner Light
25. Hey Jude
26. Revolution
27. Only a Northern Song
28. All Together Now
29. Hey Bulldog
30. It's All Too Much
31. Get Back (with Billy Preston)
32. Don't Let Me Down (with Billy Preston)
33. Across The Universe
34. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

Thanks for the heads up Joe. Another purchase to contemplate.

I just ordered the Mono Masters 3 LP set. Due to arrive September 15-19. I likely won't get a chance to play it until the end of September, but I'm excited to hear it.

Found this article on the SF forum. Its getting close.

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/in...les-in-mono-lps.html

Graham

That's really informative and bodes well for September.

Thanks for the link Graham. Very promising.