The Fab Four VST without Any Actual Fab or Four

I am not so much into the Beatles' music and sometimes I grow rather angry with them and all they stand for, just because of the "semi-divine aura", which seems to surround them. Take this fact, for example: how do Apple Corps. drag their feet when it comes to the digital format for their albums; Elton John has finally agreed to set 30 albums in digital, available for web download - Beatles still crapping pants about their money-gains from such a move.

This is why I respectfully salute the new VST from EastWest, entitled Fab Four even if they've not sampled a single second from actual Beatles recordings but have worked their a**es out for more than one year and replicated the 60's sound in conditions close to perfection.

The Fab Four VST is the result of a huge amount of work, from actually gathering all the old, vintage and genuine instruments and gear from almost 50 years ago to re-creating the recording conditions from back then. Nevertheless, the producers of this package weren't "offline" as far as the Beatles' sound is like.

The recordings and overall sound was engineered by Ken Scott who had previous rich experiences with artists like Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, Supertramp and so on. Having worked on five Beatles albums, Ken Scott was by far one of the most competent persons to advise and conduct such an endeavor. Even more Beatles-related people came up: drummer Denny Seiwell and guitarist Laurence Juber (both ex-Paul McCartney and Wings) have actually done a lot of the sessions needed.

The amount of information on the VST is simply huge as it took more than one year to finish the job but I just have to tell you that Beatles-identical gear was used to record the samples, from Neumann, AKG or Cole old microphones to Gretsch/Fender/Epiphone/Les Paul and so on guitars actually made in the 50's and 60's, old amps, basses and many more.

To get the correct "vibe", the engineers have used old-fashioned Fairchild limiters and EMI RS124 modified Altec compressors, the Studer J-37 4-track tube recorders. As stated by the producers of the Fab Four VST, "most of the sounds would be impossible to create without all of the above equipment. For example, the "revostortion" guitar sound was created by feeding a Epiphone Casino guitar into one EMI REDD 47 preamp, and the output into a second EMI REDD 47 preamp, which is exactly how it was created originally by the EMI/Abbey Road engineers." So, I guess it's quite clear now what this piece of code will sound like and be like.

Finally, even the GUI looks old, with old-looking analog VU's and large, vintage-style knobs. And (more finally), the price is a (rather) very serious $355 if preordered before official release due to early May, or $395 if bought after this date.