Wrote a quick takeaway of part 1 on fb:

..we've all been one if not all of them at various points in bands. Paul: just trying to keep things together and productive. George: can't get his ideas taken seriously. John: wants to be anywhere else a lot of the time. Ringo: wake me up when you fuckers are ready to play.

While it covers some boring songs of their latter years (the long and winding snoooze), that's not really important here. This is one of the nerdiest deep dive into band dynamics I've ever seen. Relatable band dynamics where you still root for everybody, not like those fucking clowns in Metallica.

NC

Johnny Doglands wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:36 am I see [mics] as tools to get a job done and try not to fetishise about them too much.

Oh yeah.. another quick takeaway was.. while they certainly had some cool guitars around, I appreciated that their gear was fairly working man's for being the fucking Beatles. A couple silver face Fender amps, pretty normal looking drum kit, etc. Hell I have friends with more collectable gear, and compare that to like Keith Richards who takes 50 priceless guitars with him everywhere he goes..

NC!

penningtron wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 6:50 am

Johnny Doglands wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:36 am I see [mics] as tools to get a job done and try not to fetishise about them too much.

Oh yeah.. another quick takeaway was.. while they certainly had some cool guitars around, I appreciated that their gear was fairly working man's for being the fucking Beatles. A couple silver face Fender amps, pretty normal looking drum kit, etc. Hell I have friends with more collectable gear, and compare that to like Keith Richards who takes 50 priceless guitars with him everywhere he goes..

NC!

Thought exactly this as SOLID STATE kept popping up on one of the amps behind a talking head. Just some amazing human talent playing and writing. And a hammer and an anvil. NC

Not to get too far down the Beatles Gear! rabbit hole, but what the hell is up with Ringo’s double rack Tom setup? Seems like the stand is in front of the kick and the 12” drum angles in to a somewhat normal place, but the 13” would be uncomfortably far away. But Ringo and Paul seem fine with it so what do I know.

Vocal mics:

They started at Twickenham with AKG D19s. Apparently a bright dynamic.

In the Apple basement and on the roof it's mostly AKG c28s with the c29a broadcast gooseneck deal. A small diaphragm tube mic. They're said to be nice. I've never tried one.

One of my friends (who is a huge Beatles fan) said this- “they were ahead of their time because they were the merger of new recording technology and a bunch of labcoats. Meanwhile, they were writing songs.”

Man, fuck the Beatles. I never felt their soul, no matter how much my dad liked their latter half output. It sounds super refined to me. My dad loved Hendrix and Queen. The Latter day Beatles sounde like labcoat rock to me. Millions of dollars turned into song.

Dave N. wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:38 pm One of my friends (who is a huge Beatles fan) said this- “they were ahead of their time because they were the merger of new recording technology and a bunch of labcoats. Meanwhile, they were writing songs.”

Man, fuck the Beatles. I never felt their soul, no matter how much my dad liked their latter half output. It sounds super refined to me. My dad loved Hendrix and Queen. The Latter day Beatles sounde like labcoat rock to me. Millions of dollars turned into song.

Weird take, I think. In terms of “lab coats”, they used the same studio and producer for every record since their first, and already mentioned above, but they were not gear collecting nerds. I can think of a good number of reasons to dislike them, but not because they sounded like budget overruns.

zorg wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 12:29 am I can think of a good number of reasons to dislike them, but not because they sounded like budget overruns.

Kinda curious now, what these are. I don't love every facet of the Beatles or every song, but they are/were way more interesting than a lot of bands, frequently enough. Also gotta hand it to them/Harrisson for penning what is perhaps the most honest line from a popstar of all time: "Think for yourself / 'Cause I won't be there with you."

Haven't seen the doc yet.

Watching McCartney come up with the foundation of “Get Back” out of thin air in under 3 minutes was pretty amazing.

DaveA wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:09 am

zorg wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 12:29 am I can think of a good number of reasons to dislike them, but not because they sounded like budget overruns.

Kinda curious now, what these are. I don't love every facet of the Beatles or every song, but they are/were way more interesting than a lot of bands, frequently enough. Also gotta hand it to them/Harrisson for penning what is perhaps the most honest line from a popstar of all time: "Think for yourself / 'Cause I won't be there with you."

Haven't seen the doc yet.

I have no sacred cows. They were not gods, just people. Flawed just like the rest of us.

The fact that they became the biggest band in the world was maybe 45 percent talent, 45 percent hard work and probably 10 percent being in the right place at the right time.

They treated it like it was a job, one they were rather good at. If you know how much leg work they put in in the early days, it's not surprising they made it.

losthighway wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:18 pm Vocal mics:

They started at Twickenham with AKG D19s. Apparently a bright dynamic.

In the Apple basement and on the roof it's mostly AKG c28s with the c29a broadcast gooseneck deal. A small diaphragm tube mic. They're said to be nice. I've never tried one.

Thanks for answering my question (and reading that long-ass post) FM losthighway