Producer Giles Martin has continued the legacy of his father George with regards to the Beatles' recorded legacy. And he's embracing contemporary technology too. He's remixed their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and now Abbey Road albums for Apple's new Dolby Atmos-driven Spatial Audio feature to offer a 'three-dimensional sound' experience. And the process is clearly a complicated challenge, as he admitted to Rolling Stone, he still wants to do more work on Sgt.Peppers and remix it again, but the Fab Four's older albums present a different kind of obstacle.
On Taxman, the guitar, the bass, and drums are all on one track!
"The software is getting a lot better," Martin notes. "I’m constantly looking at how we would approach it if I ever get to [remix] Revolver or Rubber Soul, early albums, which a lot of people want me to do. That’s a good example of, 'How do we do that?' How do I make sure that John or Paul’s vocal isn’t just in the right-hand speaker, but also make sure that his guitar doesn’t follow him if I put it in the centre? On Taxman, the guitar, the bass, and drums are all on one track! That’s why the record is basically on the left-hand side, and then there’s a shaker on the right-hand side of the centre.
So no matter how many people ask, Martin has to wait for Abbey Road Studios' source-separation software to reach a stage where he can get the job done to the right standard.
"Despite the constant requests I get on Twitter or whatever to do these albums, I want to make sure that we can do a good job, and do a beneficial job," he explained. "You’ve got to make sure that you’re doing things at the right time for the technology.
