Did the Beatles use compression on bass?

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cordura21

cordura21

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The other day I downloaded a patch for the JStation that mimics the "Come Together" bass sound. It uses compressor.
So I wonder (sp?) if Paul used compressors, or he just got the sustain God knows how.
Does anybody know the story of compressor usage in records?

Cheers, Andrés
 
I dont think he did. I think they just miced his bass cabinet, and he used to play very hard on the strings to get the sounds he wanted. Im no expert by I think tubes compress the sound a bit naturally, as does tape, and since it was all tubes back then it would give some of that feel. I read an interview with their engineer about his setup.
 
Andres, just curious...what is your avatar? Is that Evita or something, given you are from Argentina?
 
In the early days there's no way they used compression on the bass. They just set up and played live basically. By the time of Abbey Road they might have used one but I don't think so. I don't remember seeing compressors outside of the studio until about the early 70's and I've read some interviews with Martin and he liked to go with as natural and unprocessed sound as possible whenever he could. Late 60's I think a limiter would have been more likely, if that.
 
Just listen to "SGT Pepper"the whole album not the song. There are times where you can almost hear the compression taking effect. I personally love the sound that Paul McCartney got with his bass. And to think that he had almost nothing of the effects and plugins we have today. They had to almost invent an effect right there on the spot to match what they had going on in their mind(I'm not just talking about comp).
Can you imagine how The Beatles would have sounded if they had had todays technology at their disposal? And dont even try to answer that question with ("insert" any current band). Cause the Beatles would BLOW THEM AWAY!!
Back in the 60's there were somthing like 3 billion people on the planet. And now ther are something like 6.2 Billion. And its just within the last few years that artist are starting to break their sales records. Pretty amazing huh?
Oh yeah he used compression. And they also invented ADT "automatic double tracking"
Put that in your smoke and pipe it!!
 
octoruss said:
Andres, just curious...what is your avatar? Is that Evita or something, given you are from Argentina?
Click to expand...

It's the cover of the CD of the band I play in, Cordura.
Cheers, Andrés
 
Compressors

Compressors predate the Beatles first recordings by a good bit, and were widely used, particularly in mastering recordings for disks. There's a limit on the dynamic range you can put on a disk (particularly in bass frequencies) before the needle jumps out of the groove. I think (?) compressors were also used in preparing/mastering film soundtracks.
 
From what I've read, they used an Altec 436B on the bass.

macle
 
yeah,but do you really think they would actually compress paul?i mean it was a "playing" thing back then,these days with all the access to every plug in in the world,there is overusage of effects,i mean, i can understand doing mastering compression back then,but,really as many times as i still listen to the abbey road to basically revover,it sounds totally live and uneffected,just like a bass going through a beautiful tube amp.like i said back in the day where the player "made" the recording, as opposed to "fixing it up" in the mix by adding things post production.but i could be wrong.i do know there is an actual book out there describing each beatles session to the date,telling you their equipment and so forth and how they got the desired sounds.i guess this book could prove to be handy.or let's just email paul and ask him,he seems pretty familiar with recording and engineering.
 
If you are talking about from "Please Please Me" to about Revolver" NO They didnt use any comp, there just really isnt very much bass there to be compressed.
BUT from "Sgt Pepper" thru "Abbey Road" then YES.
Go and listen to the Bass on "LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS" Now tell me there isnt any compression on that bass. You can hear the compression choking the bass to a premature decay. Especially in the verses Can you not? Just try it...am I wrong?
 
I just re-read the interview last night. I forgot the specifics, but The engineer said they used a compresser on Srgt Pepper. I forgot what kind, starts with an A. He also said they recorded the bass louder than everything else and mixed it in as the last track, also had it lower freq than the kick drum. They also monitored the album in Mono to make sure everything was separate. Then when they heard it in stereo it was very clear.

This is in the book "Behind The Glass". Lots of good stuff in there.
 
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