Mixing "The Fool On The Hill", recording "Hello, Goodbye"

About

On this day, from 7 pm and 3 am, the mono mix for “The Fool On The Hill” was created, and the recording of “Hello, Goodbye” was completed. The session took place between 7 pm and 3 am.

“The Fool On The Hill” was recorded over two days in September 1967, specifically on September 25 and 26. Backing vocals were added on September 27, while flutes were incorporated on October 20.

The flute overdubs were recorded separately onto a distinct tape, which meant that the mixing process required two four-track machines to run in sync. The machines played Take 6 and Take 7 with the flutes.

On “A Day in the Life” back on Sgt. Pepper’s, Ken Townsend of the maintenance department had come up with a way to link two 4-track tape machines together, which was a revelation for the time. […] The trouble with the setup was that you couldn’t get both machines to start exactly at the same time, so there was a lot of guessing involved.

Even though these sync problems were experienced on “A Day in the Life,” it was suggested, by whom I know not, that we try it again for “Fool on the Hill,” as by then everyone seemed to have forgotten the anguish the setup had previously caused. We recorded three tracks on to the first machine, then mixed it down to one track on the second 4-track, then overdubbed the rest of tracks from there. It wasn’t until we came to the mix that we realised the machines weren’t all that easy to sync together. The problem was that the music on the second 4-track didn’t actually begin until about a quarter of the way into the song, so you could never tell whether it was in time or not until you were a quarter of the way through when you heard the music from the second 4-track. We’d start the mix, get a quarter of the way through, and then, “Oh, shit! It didn’t start in time,” and we’d have to go back and start again.

As a result, the final mix was more luck than judgement. We’d put a mark with a chinagraph marker on the tape and just try starting it from different places until we got lucky and they ran in sync. It was a real pain in the arse, but it worked out in the end, which is all that anyone ends up remembering.

Ken Scott – From “Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust“, 2012

Three attempts to create the mono mix using this technique, numbered RM10 to RM12, were done. Eventually, remix 12 was deemed the best. The team then edited the song’s initial length of 4 minutes and 25 seconds down to 3 minutes, resulting in the final version.

The song was still 4:25 in length at this point and they desired to reduce it to around three minutes. Instead of just fading it down, it was deemed necessary to make an edit at some point in the recording. Although no source stipulates just where the edit is, it seems logical to assume that it occurs right around the 2:40 point of the song where a “flock of seagulls” sound effect appears to camouflage the edit. The sound effect was undoubtedly taken from the same EMI vaults that most other Beatles sound effects came from, these probably added to the mono mix on this day. The length of the song now rested at three minutes exactly.

From beatlesebooks.com

“The Fool On The Hill” was mixed in stereo on November 1, 1967.

“Hello, Goodbye” was initially recorded on October 2 and October 19, with the addition of some violas on October 20.

On this day, a tape reduction of Take 16 was necessary to free up a track for the last overdubs. Four attempts, numbered Takes 18 to 21, were made to create a satisfactory mix. Paul McCartney then added his bass part onto Take 21.

However, he was unhappy with the result and decided to re-record his bass part on November 2, after new reduction mixes of Take 16 were done on November 1.

Last updated on April 21, 2023

Songs recorded

Staff

Musicians on "Hello, Goodbye"

Paul McCartney:

Bass

Production staff

George Martin:

Producer

Ken Scott:

Engineer

Graham Kirkby:

Second engineer