Oasis, The Killers and Kaiser Chiefs are to record their own versions of tracks from The Beatles\' \"Sgt Pepper\'s Lonely Hearts Club Band\" to mark the legendary album\'s 40th anniversary. The rock bands, alongside The Fratellis, Travis, Razorlight and James Morrison, are making cover versions for a special two-hour BBC radio program. The anniversary broadcast airs on June 2, 2007.
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New studio techniques \"Sgt Pepper\" was The Beatles\' eighth album and was released on June 1, 1967 in the UK and one day later in the US. It took producer George martin and the group a 129-day period to record the album. \"Sgt Pepper\'s Lonely Hearts Club Band\" features several then-new production effects.
Dolby noise reduction All of the \"Sgt. Pepper\" tracks were recorded at Abbey Road using mono, stereo and 4-track recorders. The recording made extensive use of the technique known as bouncing down, in which a number of tracks were recorded across the four tracks of one recorder, which were then mixed and dubbed down onto one track of the master 4-track machine. This enabled the engineers to give the Beatles a virtual multi-track studio, since Abbey Road did not have 8 or more tracks recorders at this time.
The build-up of noise during repeated dubbing was a major problem for engineers. The Abbey Road album was one of the first to use the Dolby noise reduction system.
Automatic Double Tracking A second important technique was automatic double tracking (ADT), a system that used tape recorders to create an instant and simultaneous doubling of a sound. Doubled vocals offered a greatly enhanced sound, but it had always been necessary to record such vocal tracks twice, a task which was both tedious and exacting. EMI engineer Ken Townshend invented ADT specially for John Lennon, who hated tracking sessions and expressed a desire for a technical solution to the problem. ADT quickly became a near-universal recording practice in popular music.
Endless outro In another innovation, non-US pressings of the album (in its original vinyl format) end in an unusual way. The outro starts with a 15-kilohertz high-frequency tone put on the album at Lennon\'s suggestion and said to be \"especially intended to annoy your dog\". It is followed by an endless loop of laughter and gibberish made by the runout groove looping back into itself, creating and endless outro.
Ringo Starr vs Billy Shears Also remarkable: drummer Ringo Starr (real name: Richard Starkey) is introduced on \"Sgt. Pepper\" as Billy Shears. Shears is only mentioned in the title song.
Billy Shears was later mentioned in Starr\'s 1973 hit I\'m the Greatest, written by John Lennon: \"Yes, my name is Billy Shears / You know it has been for so many years.\"