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Send tape echo echo delay (more commonly known as STEED, alternatively known as single tape echo and echo delay) is a technique used in magnetic tape sound recording to apply a
The technique was developed at EMI/Abbey Road Studios in the late 1950s, by EMI engineer Gwynne Stock.Kehew & Ryan, Recording The Beatles,p. 286 It involved delaying the recorded (dry) signal, sending it into the studio's echo chamber using a tape machine. The dry signal (without delay) was also sent to the chamber via the tape machine's replay head. The resulting sound was picked up by two condenser microphones. These microphones then fed the wet signal back to the recording console. The amount of
delay effect
Delay is an audio signal processing technique that records an input signal to a storage medium and then plays it back after a period of time. When the delayed playback is mixed with the live audio, it creates an echo-like effect, whereby the or ...
using tape loops and echo chambers.
In 2006, while publicising his memoir (''Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles''), recording engineer Geoff Emerick stated that "God only knows" how the effect worked.
Technique
The technique was developed at EMI/Abbey Road Studios in the late 1950s, by EMI engineer Gwynne Stock.Kehew & Ryan, Recording The Beatles,p. 286 It involved delaying the recorded (dry) signal, sending it into the studio's echo chamber using a tape machine. The dry signal (without delay) was also sent to the chamber via the tape machine's replay head. The resulting sound was picked up by two condenser microphones. These microphones then fed the wet signal back to the recording console. The amount of feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
could be controlled allowing multiple delays to be sent to the reverb chamber, which could lengthen the effect's decay time.
An identical technique was used for the production of '' Anthology 1'' in 1995, where speakers were used to play the sound within the echo chamber.
Use
One notable example of the use of STEED is onGeorge Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
's lead vocal on " Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" (1964). Mark Lewisohn describes the effect as a "vast amount", and likened Harrison's vocal to singing inside a tin can. He notes that some of the musical backing tracks were also affected by the technique due to microphone spill from Harrison's headphones. Other examples of the use of STEED on Beatles recordings include the vocal fermata in " Paperback Writer" (1966), and Paul McCartney's piano on " Birthday" (1968).
The effect was also used on " Revolution 9" (1968), and was used in the mixing of tracks for '' Anthology 1'' in 1995.
See also
* Artificial double tracking, a technique developed by EMI/Abbey Road's Ken TownsendFootnotes
Sources
* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Send Tape Echo Echo Delay Audio effects The Beatles music