What is a Master, Submaster, Safety Copy?
Recording the Beatles
Master Tape Recording techniques advanced significantly during the decade of the Beatles’ recording career. The first three Beatles albums, recorded at EMI Abbey Road, up to but not including Hard Day's Night, were “Twin track” a 2 channel recording in which instruments were typically recorded on one channel and vocals on the other. Though the albums were released as stereo with this separation, it was not recorded for that reason, but rather to make the mono recording the best it could be by delaying the vital decision on the relative volume of the vocals vs. the instruments until the remix stage. Once a good take was achieved (often by editing together pieces of different takes) the song was remixed for stereo and mono Master Tapes. The remix is a tape to tape copy, a remix of the original recording, made to get the levels and EQ right. The best remix of each individual song was then cut out of the remix tape and assembled in the correct order into what is called the Master Tape. So the Master Tape is really itself a copy (the remix) of the original recordings.
In later recordings, Hard Day's Night through most of the White Album, the recording was onto 4 track recording machines meaning that 4 different performances could be recorded on separate tracks (at the same time, or each track at a different time) giving the artists more flexibility to record different instruments or vocals to different tracks, and to add instruments or backing vocals one at a time, each on its own track. For remix, the 4 tracks remixed to mono or stereo, balancing the level and stereo placement of each track in the process. The White Album (starting with the recording of While My Guitar Gently Weeps) through Abbey Road were done on 8 track machines, However as the Beatles got more sophisticated, they would often require more tracks/performances than they had tracks on the tape machine, so several of the tracks would be bounced down (re-recorded) mixed to a single track on a new tape on a second 4 track machine, freeing up the remaining tracks for recording of new material. Many songs were bounced several times, (Penny Lane has 2 bounces, see below) which means that the first tracks that were recorded had been copied (re-recorded) several times.
Folks make a big deal out of whether the tapes are first, second or later generations copies, but in our experience well-made copies (and a lot goes into making a well-made copy) in the first several generations are great (out to 4 or 5 generations, with slightly increasing hiss and slightly increasing loss of highs), still vastly superior to any other source, CD, LP, Remaster, .... below we describe the standard naming conventions.
Regarding nomenclature on tape generations
The Master Tape is typically assembled from the best remixes of each tune cut out of the remix tape. but -all that aside - we'll join with the Industry and call the assembled master tape of all of the remixes just that - the Master. We won't get better quality than that without access to the actual un-mixed recording itself. When that Master Tape is copied its generally called a safety copy or sub-master. These are first generation copies of the Master Tape. Copies of those first generation copies are called, wait for it, second-generation copies, and so on.
But many of the Beatles recordings are multiple bounce downs meaning that the Master can be a third or fourth generation copy of the first tracks recorded for a given song. When considering the sonic quality between a Master Tape, a first generation copy of the Master Tape, etc, consider that the Master Tape itself is often no where near a first generation copy of the original material. Lets look at the recording of Penny Lane to illustrate this point.
Penny Lane as an example of “bounce down”
Based on Lewisohn’s research, we can trace out the likely manner in which the Penny Lane recording was made. We know that on December 29, 1966, Paul began work on Penny Lane, recording onto the 4 track Studer J37 recorder at Abbey Road. He first recorded a piano part onto track one, then a piano played through a Vox amp onto track 2, a piano part played at half speed onto track 3 and harmonium and (with Ringo) percussion parts onto track 4. At that point it was called take 6. That filled up the four track recording tape. So now what? The next day these four tracks were bounced down (re-recorded) onto a second four-track machine mixed together into a single track (first reduction), freeing up 3 tracks for new material, take 7. (This four piano mix is available as part of the Sgt Pepper 50th anniversary material.) That night, Paul’s and John's vocals were added to track 4, filling tracks 1 and 4, with space for additional new recordings on tracks 2 and 3.
In the New Year, 1967, on January 2, John recorded piano and George guitar simultaneously onto track 2 and Paul added additional vocals onto track 3, take 8. On January 5, reviewing that material, they abandoned take 8 and returned to take 7. The vocal on track 3 was replaced with a new vocal from Paul, backed by John. Paul added bass (track 2) and George played guitar while John played congas onto track 4. Now, yet another reduction (#2) was needed which squeezed all the instruments onto track 1 and the vocals onto track 4. On January 9, flutes and trumpets were taped onto track 3 and then on January 10, various effects, chimes, handclaps, were added to track 2, along with backing vocals. On January 12, more instruments, trumpets, oboes, english horns and a double bass were added to track 2 superimposed over the existing instruments. Finally on January 17, the piccolo trumpet parts were added, squeezed onto track 2 for the solo and track 3 for the other parts, between the other orchestration, finally completing the recording!
Two bounce downs, plus the eventual EQ, levels, compression mixdown of the four track tape to stereo and mono master tapes. So the Master Tape of Penny Lane is in fact a fourth generation copy of the piano tracks recorded before the first bounce, mixed with a thrid generation copy of the January 2nd and 5th recordings, the second generation copy of the January 6th recordings, etc. Listen carefully at the very beginning, ending and in quiet sections for tape hiss. Though, even with the slight hiss, it still sounds quite nice to my ears.
Sound Quality of the Master Tape, 1st Generation copy, 2nd gen, etc.
Over the years recording and working with high end recording and sound reproduction gear, we’ve studied the quality degradation that occurs with each subsequent generation copy.
The single biggest factor in tape quality of lower generation copies is the care and the equipment with which the copy is made, and the tape itself. Assuming the equipment is of high calibre and a slew of other factors are met (the machines are carefully calibrated, the tape path and heads are clean and demagnitized, the tape quality is good, the levels are reasonable) the tape copy will likely be extremely good.
However, the biggest effect regarding the degradation of sonic quality from multiple generation copies is that the tape hiss increases slightly with each generation, while the highs drop a bit. Eventually the Dolby compander technology was developed to deal with the hiss problem but that was not used on any of the Beatles master recordings and was not commonplace on tapes produced or copied at EMI Abbey Road until the 70s (though from the early seventies through at least 1980 most tapes provided by EMI Abbey Road were Dolby A encoded and had a sticker (below) attached over the EMI sticker). That said, in our experience, carefully made copies on professional, well aligned and maintained equipment sound really pretty good with barely discernable degradation of the highs, and very modestly increased hiss, down to about 5th generation copies (a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of the master), though the increase in hiss can be apparent in quiet passages.
So are the tapes provided by EMI to its world wide affiliates are copies made from the masters called Production Masters as they were used for the production of LPs and cassettes. The MFSL covers indicate that the Production Masters are generally made from the original masters in most cases. A counter example is the MFSL Magical Mystery Tour LP which was assembled from masters provided back to EMI by Capitol US based on cuts from tape copies of individual songs they, of course, originally got from EMI, so its at least 2nd generation source for the LP. (Magical Mystery Tour had been released in the UK as a deluxe EP omitting the singles that had already been released). In any case most of what EMI provided directly to affiliate record companies world wide as Production Masters would be likely be first generation copies. The German Odeon copy of MMT has the first stereo versons of the singles on Side B, and was apparently directly copied from Masters at Abbey Road. Why the copy of the Capitol US was provided to MFSL instead of the version made for Germany is unknown.
Master Tape Recording techniques advanced significantly during the decade of the Beatles’ recording career. The first three Beatles albums, recorded at EMI Abbey Road, up to but not including Hard Day's Night, were “Twin track” a 2 channel recording in which instruments were typically recorded on one channel and vocals on the other. Though the albums were released as stereo with this separation, it was not recorded for that reason, but rather to make the mono recording the best it could be by delaying the vital decision on the relative volume of the vocals vs. the instruments until the remix stage. Once a good take was achieved (often by editing together pieces of different takes) the song was remixed for stereo and mono Master Tapes. The remix is a tape to tape copy, a remix of the original recording, made to get the levels and EQ right. The best remix of each individual song was then cut out of the remix tape and assembled in the correct order into what is called the Master Tape. So the Master Tape is really itself a copy (the remix) of the original recordings.
In later recordings, Hard Day's Night through most of the White Album, the recording was onto 4 track recording machines meaning that 4 different performances could be recorded on separate tracks (at the same time, or each track at a different time) giving the artists more flexibility to record different instruments or vocals to different tracks, and to add instruments or backing vocals one at a time, each on its own track. For remix, the 4 tracks remixed to mono or stereo, balancing the level and stereo placement of each track in the process. The White Album (starting with the recording of While My Guitar Gently Weeps) through Abbey Road were done on 8 track machines, However as the Beatles got more sophisticated, they would often require more tracks/performances than they had tracks on the tape machine, so several of the tracks would be bounced down (re-recorded) mixed to a single track on a new tape on a second 4 track machine, freeing up the remaining tracks for recording of new material. Many songs were bounced several times, (Penny Lane has 2 bounces, see below) which means that the first tracks that were recorded had been copied (re-recorded) several times.
Folks make a big deal out of whether the tapes are first, second or later generations copies, but in our experience well-made copies (and a lot goes into making a well-made copy) in the first several generations are great (out to 4 or 5 generations, with slightly increasing hiss and slightly increasing loss of highs), still vastly superior to any other source, CD, LP, Remaster, .... below we describe the standard naming conventions.
Regarding nomenclature on tape generations
The Master Tape is typically assembled from the best remixes of each tune cut out of the remix tape. but -all that aside - we'll join with the Industry and call the assembled master tape of all of the remixes just that - the Master. We won't get better quality than that without access to the actual un-mixed recording itself. When that Master Tape is copied its generally called a safety copy or sub-master. These are first generation copies of the Master Tape. Copies of those first generation copies are called, wait for it, second-generation copies, and so on.
But many of the Beatles recordings are multiple bounce downs meaning that the Master can be a third or fourth generation copy of the first tracks recorded for a given song. When considering the sonic quality between a Master Tape, a first generation copy of the Master Tape, etc, consider that the Master Tape itself is often no where near a first generation copy of the original material. Lets look at the recording of Penny Lane to illustrate this point.
Penny Lane as an example of “bounce down”
Based on Lewisohn’s research, we can trace out the likely manner in which the Penny Lane recording was made. We know that on December 29, 1966, Paul began work on Penny Lane, recording onto the 4 track Studer J37 recorder at Abbey Road. He first recorded a piano part onto track one, then a piano played through a Vox amp onto track 2, a piano part played at half speed onto track 3 and harmonium and (with Ringo) percussion parts onto track 4. At that point it was called take 6. That filled up the four track recording tape. So now what? The next day these four tracks were bounced down (re-recorded) onto a second four-track machine mixed together into a single track (first reduction), freeing up 3 tracks for new material, take 7. (This four piano mix is available as part of the Sgt Pepper 50th anniversary material.) That night, Paul’s and John's vocals were added to track 4, filling tracks 1 and 4, with space for additional new recordings on tracks 2 and 3.
In the New Year, 1967, on January 2, John recorded piano and George guitar simultaneously onto track 2 and Paul added additional vocals onto track 3, take 8. On January 5, reviewing that material, they abandoned take 8 and returned to take 7. The vocal on track 3 was replaced with a new vocal from Paul, backed by John. Paul added bass (track 2) and George played guitar while John played congas onto track 4. Now, yet another reduction (#2) was needed which squeezed all the instruments onto track 1 and the vocals onto track 4. On January 9, flutes and trumpets were taped onto track 3 and then on January 10, various effects, chimes, handclaps, were added to track 2, along with backing vocals. On January 12, more instruments, trumpets, oboes, english horns and a double bass were added to track 2 superimposed over the existing instruments. Finally on January 17, the piccolo trumpet parts were added, squeezed onto track 2 for the solo and track 3 for the other parts, between the other orchestration, finally completing the recording!
Two bounce downs, plus the eventual EQ, levels, compression mixdown of the four track tape to stereo and mono master tapes. So the Master Tape of Penny Lane is in fact a fourth generation copy of the piano tracks recorded before the first bounce, mixed with a thrid generation copy of the January 2nd and 5th recordings, the second generation copy of the January 6th recordings, etc. Listen carefully at the very beginning, ending and in quiet sections for tape hiss. Though, even with the slight hiss, it still sounds quite nice to my ears.
Sound Quality of the Master Tape, 1st Generation copy, 2nd gen, etc.
Over the years recording and working with high end recording and sound reproduction gear, we’ve studied the quality degradation that occurs with each subsequent generation copy.
The single biggest factor in tape quality of lower generation copies is the care and the equipment with which the copy is made, and the tape itself. Assuming the equipment is of high calibre and a slew of other factors are met (the machines are carefully calibrated, the tape path and heads are clean and demagnitized, the tape quality is good, the levels are reasonable) the tape copy will likely be extremely good.
However, the biggest effect regarding the degradation of sonic quality from multiple generation copies is that the tape hiss increases slightly with each generation, while the highs drop a bit. Eventually the Dolby compander technology was developed to deal with the hiss problem but that was not used on any of the Beatles master recordings and was not commonplace on tapes produced or copied at EMI Abbey Road until the 70s (though from the early seventies through at least 1980 most tapes provided by EMI Abbey Road were Dolby A encoded and had a sticker (below) attached over the EMI sticker). That said, in our experience, carefully made copies on professional, well aligned and maintained equipment sound really pretty good with barely discernable degradation of the highs, and very modestly increased hiss, down to about 5th generation copies (a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of the master), though the increase in hiss can be apparent in quiet passages.
So are the tapes provided by EMI to its world wide affiliates are copies made from the masters called Production Masters as they were used for the production of LPs and cassettes. The MFSL covers indicate that the Production Masters are generally made from the original masters in most cases. A counter example is the MFSL Magical Mystery Tour LP which was assembled from masters provided back to EMI by Capitol US based on cuts from tape copies of individual songs they, of course, originally got from EMI, so its at least 2nd generation source for the LP. (Magical Mystery Tour had been released in the UK as a deluxe EP omitting the singles that had already been released). In any case most of what EMI provided directly to affiliate record companies world wide as Production Masters would be likely be first generation copies. The German Odeon copy of MMT has the first stereo versons of the singles on Side B, and was apparently directly copied from Masters at Abbey Road. Why the copy of the Capitol US was provided to MFSL instead of the version made for Germany is unknown.
