Then one day, a producer wanted to be present when the record was cut, and they told Richard they wanted to make adjustments. So for five years I was cutting at CBS, with all kinds of fantastic music – ELP, Eagles, the Doobies, product from Europe, from Polydor, Bob Dylan, and all the Columbia classics. Yes, it sounds better; but it’s far less involving and loses much of what the Beatles hoped to express. DB – When I started mastering in 1971, I was told to leave the recordings alone – no EQ or other changes allowed! As well as the six discs, this box set will include a 144-page book full of rare images, handwritten lyrics and recording notes, two posters and a replica of the original cardboard cut-out insert.

It featured acolorfulcollage of life-sized cardboard models of famous people on the front of the album cover and the lyrics printed in full on the back cover. Not just the engineers, but also the technicians that would come in every day and maintain the equipment, making sure it was absolutely top notch, and that everything was working correctly. At the time, they had Ampex tape machines, Neumann lathes and Westrex cutters – one was a valve room, and the other was a transistor room. I had albums before that – but this one came along, and it was a combination of everything I had been listening to.As a result,, he eventually came to master what many consider the “holy grail” of audiophile Beatles records: the “Audio-5 Sgt.

It’s all beautifully done, as you might expect: few organisations part fans from their cash with such good taste and elegance as Apple Corps.

When you’re working in a factory, as I was before, there are production commitments, they needed 8 sides cut a day.

To avoid exposing themselves too unnecessary criticism, they avoided to include some historical figures such as Jesus and Hitler, both requested by John Lennon.AnalogPlanet reader Bill Wright interviews Australian mastering engineer Don Bartley, who cut lacquers back in 1983 for what many consider to be the best sounding and certainly the rarest pressing of Sgt. And, using the much vaunted mastering board, they followed what were then considered to be state-of-the-art production methods, including the half-speed cutting process and heavier virgin vinyl. Pepper – generally the Beatle aficionado’s preferred version – is on the fourth CD with six bonus tracks including what Apple are describing as “the lost version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”and the Capitol Records Mono Mix of Penny Lane.