| "Love Me Do": Tempo Comparisons |
| |
| By carefully measuring every beat of these three performances, we can see how Paul McCartney interacts with each of the three drummers. Adding to the differences between these versions is the quality of sound in the studio. In the first version, engineer Norman Smith replaces McCartney's noisy bass amp with studio speakers. In the second version, McCartney brings a new amplifier and speaker cabinet. In the third recording, Smith seems to have arrived at a solution for how to record this ensemble. |
| In the past, ethnomusicologists determined beat durations by physically measuring real-time graphs produced by pen recorders; however, digital music editing programs allow much more precise reading of musical time. Skidmore student Jesse Flower-Ambroch ('06) realized that rather than counting milliseconds, samples provide a more precise measurement. Below are some examples of recordings captured with the program Cool Edit. |
Love Me Do, 6 June '62
Chorus 1, Measure 8, Beats 1-3 |
Love Me Do, 6 June 1962
Chorus 1, Measure 8, Beat 2 |
Love Me Do, 6 June 1962
Verse 1, Measure 2, Beat 1 |
| |
|
|
Love Me Do, 6 June '62
Chorus 1, Measure 8, Beat 2
(2 channel) |
Love Me Do, 6 June '62
Chorus 1, Measure 8, Beat 2
(detail 1) |
Love Me Do, 6 June '62
Chorus 1, Measure 8, Beat 2
(detail 2) |
|
|
|
| |
| Love Me Do |
| |
|
29 August, 2009
|
