Sgt. Pepper 1997 Tube Remaster

A while back I was flicking through a few old copies of 'Good Day Sunshine' (a Beatles fanzine) and I came across this article about the unreleased 1997 remaster of Pepper, in the May 1998 issue (#82).

The album was, in fact, remastered by its original recording engineer, Geoff Emerick, with Greg Calbi at New York's Masterdisk, last spring on 5/5-6/97. Emerick, who had never been satisfied with EMI's original 1986 CD mastering, tells GDS, simply, "We made it the way it should have been in the first place." "It's not too bad," Calbi concedes of the original, "but when you hear what the master tape sounded like, you hear the original wasn't done very well. This new version will really be the first time you're going to have a CD that sounds like the original tape."

If Greg Calbi's name sounds familiar, he also mastered Paul McCartney's Flaming Pie with Emerick, just two months prior to working on Pepper. Calbi originally worked in the 70's at Master Cutting at New York's Record Plant Studios, a favorite of John Lennon's, mastering such records of Lennon's as Walls and Bridges, Rock and Roll, and Shaved Fish. But he hadn't done any engineering work for Geoff Emerick since the early 80's. "Quite frankly, I was surprised Geoff thought of me after all these years," he tells GS.

To get the kind of remastering Emerick was looking for, Calbi and his staff tracked down an original Studer C37 2-track tape machine, the same kind of machine the album was originally mixed on. "It has a tube-powered amp, rather than solid state, which produces a more full, natural sound" says Greg. Calbi spent six weeks looking all over the country for the machine, finally finding one in Los Angeles. "It has a sound I could never duplicate with any gear I have now."

Emerick and Calbi then compared the original EMI CD with other masterings done around the world over time, including CD's and audiophile pressings, such as the one released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs in 1982, to better get an idea of what kinds of products had already been on the market.

Calbi described the unforgettable experience of seeing and handling the original stereo master tapes for the album, which were hand delivered by a representative from Abbey Road in London. "They came with a fellow named Peter, who had brought them with him on the plane. His job was to watch the tape - even while we were working on it!" He adds, "It was a very intense thing to have that tape in your hands. It's incredible to have something in your hands that is invaluable." The tape was in mint condition, with no shredding, no oxide wear, no evidence that it was the age it was. "That tape hadn't been out of the box or signed out of the tape library since it was last remastered in 1986." He even noted seeing the original tape splices, indicating where individual mixes were put together by Emerick and George Martin in 1967 to make the finished album. Quite a sight.

But even more impressive was the sound. "It was interesting to hear the tape the way it sounded when it was made," observing that it was quite noticeably different from either the CD or any of the original LP pressings, which, he says, several observers have noted always had a a sort of "processed" sound to begin with. "The main thing lost in the 1986 CD transfer was this organic, earthy sense." "Within You Without You" suffered the most, he says, the drums particularly having lost their original timbre. "You can hear the skin on the drums."

Calbi notes that the difference in quality between the EMI CD and the original tape (and new digital master) are mostly a sign of the times. "The digital equipment used in 1986 was not very sophisticated. It had a harshness to it which produced a real loss of fidelity - smoothness, roundness and imaging - all the things that have since been incorporated into modern equipment. With the right hardware, it's just going to sound better, just because it's 1997." Calbi used, as mentioned, the Studer tube-driven tape machine, a DCS A-to-D Converter,and a Pultec tube equalizer. "It really didn't take a lot of manipulating on my part," he says. Normally, today's mastering involves adjusting level, compressing the sound as needed, making adjustments in equalization and de-hissing when required, often the case for older recordings. "There was no dynamics processing on my part. No compression at all - just the mixes as they are on the tapes."

Unfortunately, for the moment, we won't be hearing the fruits of Calbi's and Emerick's efforts, though it's likely we will one day. "I just really hope it gets out there," says Greg.

 

"That tape hadn't been out of the box or signed out of the tape library since it was last remastered in 1986."


That's strange? According to Steve (from George Martin's lips), the 1986 CD was mastered from a safety. It's also strange that Greg Calbi did this mono mastered CD (which was never officially released) and this stereo one. I sometimes wonder if this is all nothing but BS...

Todd

 

Great to hear that the tapes are in such good shape and that they sound so good and that Geg Calbi and Geoff Emerick care enough and I hope it's true?!.

 

I stand corrected...

 

Steve,
This may be old news, but have you worked with Geoff Emerick?

 

This is the kind of thing that just makes me sick. When you know it exists and its just held up in the red tape, and by all intrests involved!

 

I definitely agree, Ronflugelguy. At least someone else is willing to use tubes with The Beatles' tapes, though

 

Isn't there a boot floating around that was made from a CD (or CD-R) of Calbi's work?
I think I may be wrong, though, because I thought Calbi mastered only the mono version of the album, and the boot is supposedly based on this.

 

Guess 'The Mewtilator' had to be involved somewhere. Thank heavens he didn't do the actual remastering

 

According to The Absolute Sound, a HDCD Sgt. Pepper exists, but was never released. When one of the reviewers mentioned his HDCD Sgt Pepper and raved about it, it caused a number of letters which TAS had to address.

I'll root through my TAS issues and find out the exact details.

 

Please do. Why the very thought makes me drool yellow matter custard.

 

The appearences of the MONO Sgt Pepper boot that circulated around 1999 seem to be Calbi's.

 

The "Peter" could have been Peter Asher. Nah, he's a biggie now but I think in the early 60's he wouldn't have minded if Paul asked him to...

Todd

 

Really? Wait, who has this mono boot?

-D

 

Oh, man. The thought of this is just too tantalizing!

Gotta get that boot! Somebody please spill the beans - who's got it?

 

My fellow Beatles' collectors:

The mono boot that is floating around has been subjected to all of the digital processing that we hate; compression, noise reduction, DRASTIC top end boost. It sounds nothing like the monaural analog tape. I think it would be better to get an old mono album.

 

The boot in question isn't the mono mix that is on the Pepperland cd, is it?

 

Steve,
Is your copy of this remaster in mono or stereo? I wonder if there were actually two remasters made, mono and stereo, or if the writer of the article I transcribed made a mistake and should have been writing about the mono mix. Can you confirm that this mono boot is actually the Calbi remaster?

As for what you said in your post, i couldn't agree more

 

I really hope they put this thing out then, if anything at least it's better than the version mastered from the copy tape that is out there now, or any future EMI versions, which are likely to be noise-reduced, spiked treble etc.

 

Maybe I'll try the Doc Ebbetts mono one and see how it is

 

I guess I better start saving for that Parlophone first press, then....

 

Yes, I and a few attendees (Hi-Fi Show in New York) were lucky enough to have heard "Good Morning, Good Morning" when it was demo'd a few years ago. If I remember right, it was a such a treat that when the song ended we looked around nodding our heads in excitement, in unison.

The outfit that invented HDCD was the sponsor. Pacific ...

George