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2.10pm
31 March 2008
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I was listening to Hey Jude in mono earlier today, and I spotted something I’d never heard before. And now I can’t unhear it.
It’s after the first lot of nanananas in the coda, just as McCartney sings “Hey Jude “, at about 3.18. There’s this amazing deep buzzing groaning glissando that doesn’t seem to appear anywhere else in the song. What is it?
One of the reasons why I love The Beatles so much is I can listen to them every day for over 20 years and still hear new things.
This will hopefully link directly to the bit of the song I’m talking about.
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2.14pm
6 August 2013
Offline Joe said
I was listening to Hey Jude in mono earlier today, and I spotted something I’d never heard before. And now I can’t unhear it.It’s after the first lot of nanananas in the coda, just as McCartney sings “Hey Jude “, at about 3.18. There’s this amazing deep buzzing groaning glissando that doesn’t seem to appear anywhere else in the song. What is it?
One of the reasons why I love The Beatles so much is I can listen to them every day for over 20 years and still hear new things.
This will hopefully link directly to the bit of the song I’m talking about.
Yeah I caught it. Fascinating.
"There's no such thing as bad student... only bad teacher."
2.24pm
31 March 2008
Offline I assume it’s a double bass. I tend to think there’s just brass on Hey Jude , but they had a whole mini-orchestra: 10 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 1 bassoon, 1 contrabassoon, 4 trumpets, 2 horns, 4 trombones, 1 percussion
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5.33pm
Reviewers
16 December 2013
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Joe said
I assume it’s a double bass. I tend to think there’s just brass on Hey Jude , but they had a whole mini-orchestra: 10 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 1 bassoon, 1 contrabassoon, 4 trumpets, 2 horns, 4 trombones, 1 percussion
Yes, I’d say it’s a double bass as well. As for the reason why that sound is only audible in that one part, I’d say it’s just that whoever played the instrument happened to hit that note a little bit louder at that point.
6.13pm
16 September 2013
Offline Thanks for pointing this out. I listened to it, and sure enough, there it is, very prominent. I will never not hear it again. In fact, I cannot wait for the opportunity to casually drop that into a conversation with my many Beatle-loving musician friends. I’ll say something like “I really like that terrific groaning glissando after the first set of Hey Jude ‘s na-nas.” And I just know my friends will then listen, and have the same reaction: fascinated, they will never not hear it again. 
Also, thanks for pointing out that the groaning glissando is probably played by a double bass. I would not have known that, as I am not very familiar with many orchestra instruments.
10.55am
31 March 2008
Offline You’re welcome! Make sure you play them the mono version though.
It’s not quite as prominent, but there’s a similar thing in Penny Lane too, during the line “We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim”. Again it’s easier to hear in the mono mix:
I wish there was a way to hear the raw scores that George Martin wrote for the songs. I bet there are loads of hidden things buried in the mixes.
Talking of which…
ScrambledEggs said
Yes, I’d say it’s a double bass as well. As for the reason why that sound is only audible in that one part, I’d say it’s just that whoever played the instrument happened to hit that note a little bit louder at that point.
I’m not sure. I think it’s probably a mixing error. The studio engineers would have set up the microphones very carefully for each instrument, and I assume the musicians would have had directions on the score for the dynamics (loudness). My money’s on the balance engineer getting it wrong during the recording, and they either left it in or forgot to mix it down when making the mono.
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1.13am
1 November 2012
Offline It sounds like the deepest note on a bassoon, being played very “fortissimo”. That would be the coolest explanation. Second possibility, a tuba’s deepest note (but somehow it doesn’t sound quite “tuba-y” to me). Or it could be some electronic manipulation of sound (which would be kind of cheating).
I never heard it before, but I’m glad I heard it now!
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1.16am
1 November 2012
Offline Also, I’m not sure I would call it a “glissando” — that description kind of threw me when I first tried to locate what Joe was talking about on the sample. Isn’t a glissando a sliding over many notes? This sound sounds markedly uniform, on one note.
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10.53am
31 March 2008
Offline It is a slide, from one note to another.
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