The Beatles live in 1963
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Oops, he did it again. Giles Martin took the big Beatles hits and remixed them. A special digital process is used this time. In the tech scene, “spatial audio” has been a topic of discussion for some time. The term describes a sound concept that Apple Music has further developed for its AirPods Pro earbuds. A kind of surround sound experience like in a cinema equipped with a THX system.
The aim of the exercise was “1”, which was known to be by far the most successful of the Beatles’ long line of compilation albums. First released in November 2000 long after the end of the band, the biggest hits of the Fab Four later experienced various sound technical upgrades. There were remaster versions in 2011 and 2015. Giles Martin, son of the legendary Beatles sound engineer George Martin, was already involved in the latter.
His big dream, the 1967 sound concept album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” has been shelved for the time being.
“My father was a futurist and loved technology. When I was a child, he built studios. He built some of the best studios in the world; including the AIR Montserrat,” said Giles Martin in an interview with BBC presenter and DJ Zane Lowe. “It was one of the most successful recording locations of the 1980s. Elton John, Police, Dire Straits, Earth, Wind & Fire to Paul McCartney. They all went to this studio. He was always looking for ways to have great sounds.”
He follows this direction. Modern audio technology is just his “thing”. As a fan of the immersive 360-degree sound technology and the Dolby Atmos format, he would be quite good at it anyway. Like his father, he would always look for new paths. Even then, the question would have been how “one can create worlds that don’t exist.”
“Sgt Pepper’s are not live recordings. These are worlds that one can only imagine. This is the evolution of the sound. It’s not just about technology, it’s also about imagination, that’s the key.”