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 An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...

to apply a delay effect using

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among cont ...

s and

echo chamber Echo chamber of the Dresden University of Technology Hamilton Mausoleum has a long-lasting unplanned echo An echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce reverberation, usually for recording purposes. For example, the producers of ...

s. In 2006, while publicising his memoir (''Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles''), recording engineer

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road'' ...

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 Gwynne is an Anglified spelling of the Welsh name Gwyn which means 'white' or/and 'blessed'. Given name * G. Blakemore Evans (1912–2005), male American scholar * Gwynne Dyer (b. 1943), male Canadian journalist * Gwynne Evans (1880–1965), male ...

.Kehew & Ryan, Recording The Beatles,p. 286 It involved delaying the recorded (dry) signal, sending it into the studio's

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 microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

s. These microphones then fed the wet signal back to the recording console. The amount of feedback 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 ''Anthology 1'' is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 20 November 1995 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the period 1958–64, including song ...

'' in 1995, where speakers were used to play the sound within the echo chamber.

Use

One notable example of the use of STEED is on George Harrison's lead vocal on "

Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" is a rockabilly song often credited to Carl Perkins. Based on a 1936 song written by singer/songwriter Rex Griffin, it achieved widespread popularity when it was released in 1957 by Perkins and covered by the ...

" (1964).

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

describes the effect as a "vast amount", and likened Harrison's vocal to singing inside a

tin can A steel can, tin can, tin (especially in British English, Australian English, Canadian English and South African English), steel packaging, or can is a container for the distribution or storage of goods, made of thin metal. Many cans ...

. 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 A fermata (; "from ''fermare'', to stay, or stop"; also known as a hold, pause, colloquially a birdseye or cyclops eye, or as a grand pause when placed on a note or a rest) is a symbol of musical notation indicating that the note should be ...

in "

Paperback Writer "Paperback Writer" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single in May 1966. It topped sin ...

" (1966), and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's piano on "

Birthday A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage. Many re ...

" (1968). The effect was also used on "

Revolution 9 "Revolution 9" is a sound collage from the Beatles' 1968 self-titled double album (also known as the "White Album"). The composition, credited to Lennon–McCartney, was created primarily by John Lennon with assistance from Yoko Ono and George ...

" (1968), and was used in the mixing of tracks for ''

'' in 1995.

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Send Tape Echo Echo Delay Audio effects The Beatles music

Technique

Use

See also

Footnotes

Sources