Playing with tape

The Beatles toyed with tape speed in various ways throughout their career. From the early days, one practical application was to record tricky parts at half speed (and an octave lower) before bringing them up to the right tempo and pitch. This was a George Martin speciality, adopted as early as his piano part on Misery, and the deceptively slick solo on

A Hard Day’s Night where he and Harrison had to be in perfect sync. Later, on Pepper, this was the secret to the dazzling Wurlitzer and Hammond organ runs on Mr Kite.

A landmark here is In My Life, where the producer’s piano sounds like a harpsichord when returned to normal speed. It encouraged the Beatles to experiment with more subtle degrees of tape speed to alter the timbre and envelope of instruments for artistic effect. Even a slight speed increase at the mixing stage could bring a brighter instrumental attack, as on Within You

Without You and Across The Universe. More ingeniously, recording a backing track at a faster frequency, and then slowing it when mixing, could also complement a lyric, as on

I’m Only Sleeping where a subtle drop in speed and pitch play out Lennon’s lethargy.