In what ways did new studio techniques lead to new musical outcomes in your selected

case study?
Case Study 3: The Beatles (George Martin, producer), Tomorrow Never Knows (1966)

Section 1:

Bibliography:

1. MOOREFIELD, Virgil (2010). The Producer as Composer: Shaping he Sounds of Popular Music.

Cambridge, MA: MIT.

2. RECK, David R. (1985). ‘Beatles Orientalis: Influences from Asia in a Popular Song Tradition’,
in Asian Music, Vol. XVI. University of Texas Press, pp.83–149.

3. SCHOUTEN, Steven. ‘Tape loops and studio abuse: how The Beatles recorded “Tomorrow
Never Knows”’. Happy Mag. <https://happymag.tv/how-the-beatles-recorded-tomorrow-
never-knows/>. 30 October 2021.

4. VANCHELLA, Emily C. (2021). Honey Pie, Colors of Dreams, and Inner Light: Stylistic Expertise
and Musical Topicality in The Beatles' Mid and Late 1960s Songs. Santa Barbara: University
of California.

5. WOMACK, Kenneth (2018). Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The
Later Years, 1966-2016. Chicago Review Press, ch.3.

Section 2:

Source 1 is a secondary academic source. The source is reliable, as it was published in 2010, allowing
Moorefield’s argument to have been shaped by a greater range of materials granting him a well-
researched retrospective on The Beatles’ studio techniques used for ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ (TNK).
His argument is precisely crafted, giving a wide range of historical context surrounding traditional
recording techniques in the 60’s, along with a critical analysis of the innovation that The Beatles’
brought to them during TNK’s production. Although, Moorefield’s argument doesn’t exemplify much
weakness, his focus isn’t primarily on TNK, but rather on music production as a whole, hence little
information is provided about TNK and how it led to new musical outcomes. The source allows us to
identify some of the ways in which the new studio techniques such as reversing or accelerating
sounds used by The Beatles during TNK’s production led to a new style of music.

Source 2 is a secondary academic source. The source has been peer-reviewed, thus increasing its
credibility, even though occasional spelling mistakes suggest that the source could have been
reviewed more accurately. On the other hand, TNK is a song that has Indian influences and with Reck
being a musicologist specialised in Indian music, further credibility can be attributed to his work.
Through Reck’s balanced and analytical writing, we can understand to greater depth how some of
the techniques incorporated in TNK helped the song come to life. However, whilst his argument is
supported by evidence, it is true that he primarily focuses on the elements of music of the song
(such as melody and tonality), rather than recording techniques themselves. This could make his
argument less reliable in terms of how the source responds to the key question.

Source 3 is a secondary non-academic source. Whilst the source is very recent, the fact that it is not
academic could mean that it is not entirely credible. Having said this, the author seems to be well
informed (having written other music articles as well) as he explores a wide range of studio
techniques used by The Beatles in the 60’s during the production of TNK. This suggests that the facts
presented are reliable because they are supported by evidence. The text is clear, coherent, and
persuasive, with the main purpose being the one to inform the reader of the several production
techniques featured in the piece. For instance, Schouten mentions how new techniques such as
‘slowing down, speeding up, reversing, and saturating’ enabled The Beatles to create 30 tape loops,
16 of which were used in the song to create a new style of music. This source is therefore very
specific and responds to the question to great extent as it analyses aspects that are crucial in the
production of TNK.

Source 4 is a secondary academic source. Even though the work is published by Santa Barbara,
University of California, the author of the source is a student meaning that she may lack some
knowledge or experience regarding the subject of popular music. Aside from this, her work must
have been reviewed by her professors which adds some more credibility to her work. The text is free
of spelling errors, although it lacks evidence at times. In fact, Vanchella doesn’t always go into
enough depth when making a point regarding a musical feature. On the other hand, Vanchella
makes references to other sources meaning that her material can be verified and backed up through
other means of information. Her dissertation is not flawed per se but lacks detail in certain areas
suggesting that she doesn’t fully explain how new studio techniques led to new musical outcomes.

Source 5 is a secondary academic source. It was published in 2018, giving Womack the opportunity
to be trustworthy and balanced in his argument due to the recent date of publication. In fact, his
argument is detailed and very well presented with little to no bias emphasised through the use of
quotations which make the source more reliable as it is supported by evidence. The whole chapter
of this book focuses on TNK and addresses the question to a great extent explaining how new studio
techniques led to new musical outcomes. For example, Womack states how ‘Geoff and Phil tested
the newfangled piece of equipment by placing two microphones adjacent to the Leslie speakers’,
which provides a detailed description of how microphones were positioned during the production of
TNK as well as answering the key question to great detail. The source has not been peer-reviewed
which could take away some credibility, however, a good in-depth analysis is given to inform the
reader of how the recording techniques used in TNK enabled The Beatles to create more innovative
music in the late 1960’s.

Section 3:

Introduction:
 This essay is about new studio techniques that The Beatles developed during the second half
of the 1960’s with a particular focus on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ (1966).
 The aim of the essay is to analyse the techniques developed and used by The Beatles to be
able to get a well-rounded and retrospective view on how they shaped new musical
outcomes.
 To help support this argument, I will be exploring different perspectives provided by a
variety of both academic and non-academic sources, whilst also criticising their reliability,
credibility, and ability to support the key question.

Research Context:
 The 1960’s was an exciting period for music. There were many different influences affecting
the industry. Particularly, the effect of hippie culture in addition to psychedelic drug culture,
which had adopted a prominent role in artists’ lives.
 Similarly, The Beatles experienced a period of great change, perhaps due to these influences,
as well as them stopping touring in 1966, which steered them into a stretch of time, where
 they experimented with new studio techniques, making the latest albums more innovative
and unconventional.
 Source number 2, can be used to provide historical context surrounding culture and its
impact on the music scene in the late 1960’s.

 (This discussion will be laid out over 1-2 paragraphs with in-text citations to support my
argument).

Discussion and Analysis:

 Tape manipulation: Reversing, Accelerating, Slowing Down and Saturation . Tape
manipulation was a new technique used by The Beatles to manipulate loops that were later
on used to compose ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’.
 These techniques assisted The Beatles in creating original loops, some of which were used to
produce ‘Tomorrow never knows’, which is considered to have helped create new musical
outcomes in the late 1960’s.
 This argument can be supported by source 1 and 3, which describe how these techniques
and methods were achieved, in addition to how they were implemented in the final
production of ‘Tomorrow never knows’.
 These sources are a mixture academic and non-academic sources, with various levels of
credibility and reliability, however, all show an extent of support for the relevant question.

 Innovative microphone positioning : Innovative microphone positioning; ‘placing the

microphones adjacent to the Leslie speakers’; was used by Geoff and Phil to make Lennon’s
voice ‘distant yet compelling’ (Womack, 2018: 4-5) in the production of ‘Tomorrow Never
Knows’.
 This technique resulted in a new musical outcome because it made Lennon’s voice sound
unusual. This satisfied Lennon’s request to alter the timbre of his vocals.
 This argument can be supported by source 5, which illustrates how this technique played in
important role in the production of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’.

 (This discussion will be laid out over 3-4 paragraphs with in-text citations to support my
argument, as well as critical evaluation of the extent to which these techniques created new
musical outcomes).

Conclusion:
 In conclusion, it can be agreed to a great extent that the new studio techniques used by The
Beatles in the late 1960’s contributed to and led to new musical outcomes. This is as, the
combination of microphone positioning and tape manipulation paired with the influences of
hippie and psychedelic drug culture on The Beatles, allowed for innovative and atypical
sounds to be created during the production of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’.
 This is empirically backed by multiple sources as aforementioned, which strengthens the
argument presented in the essay above.

 (This conclusion will be laid out over 1 paragraph, linking all the separate discussions and
analysis to conclude whether new studio techniques used by The Beatles contributed to new
musical outcomes).