After receiving word that RTH’s Senior Correspondent in New Orleans, Townsman BigSteve, was flummoxed by the strange noise heard at roughly 2:40 in the “true stereo” mix of “Fool On the Hill,” RTH Labs engineers donned their white lab coats and went to work.
Upon cursory examination, it was clear to our engineers that the sound was a highly sped-up sample of something — but what? After applying industry-standard pitch manipulation software to the problem, RTH Labs has come to the conclusion that the Abbey Road engineers and/or producers simply grabbed a few feet of existing tape of a single instrument — possibly a guitar track, though horns are not out of the question — and, prior to speeding it up by perhaps as much as two octaves, applied a very heavy tape flange to the product.
Attached is our vastly slowed-down sample for your consideration. As always, we welcome your comments and questions.
Yours sincerely,
Milo T. Frobisher
Chief Engineer
RTH Labs
At regular speed, it sounds like it’s supposed to be a flock of geese or something. I checked the video to make sure that wasn’t what was happening while Paul was frolicking on the hill, but no dice. The slowed down version makes me even more confused. I have no idea what that might be.
It sounds like the outtro to Fool On the Hill, is it? With a flange or something. That fat strum fading and a hissing sound and little flutes? Isn’t it Fool On the Hill? I’ll have to get to my desktop to check.
There’s only one logical answer, especially now, having heard it slowed down via today’s superior technology: dolphins. Super-intelligent dolphins (even by dolphin standards) who had been in communication with the Beatles but were wooed away by the Monkees later that year. F’n Dolenz, man.