The Smiley Smile Message Board

Several people have bugged me over the last few years to do something more in depth about how I recreate elements of Beach Boys recordings for my research.  Specifically, getting a kind of classic Beach Boys guitar sound has been a frequent request.  I dashed off a video of me fiddling around in Logic Pro starting with a dry guitar sound and ending up with a polished Beach Boysy guitar sound 40 minutes or so later.

So if you've ever wanted to see how I go about getting such a sound all in-the-box, this could be an interesting video for you.  If you haven't, it might not be!

In any case, I am very close to putting out the first edition of a total production breakdown; it will be for Help Me, Rhonda.  Hopefully not more than a few weeks away.

Cheers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeWrokECO78 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeWrokECO78)

P.S. Apologies for the chorus effect on my voice -- I have trouble figuring out how to route many sources of audio into the screen-capturing software!

Really looking forward to "Rhonda". But what a wonderful way to tide us over until then! I suspect those "several people" have been watching the new video with open mouths. It's not for the faint of heart, to be sure -- but what a fantastic trip for those who can handle it! Thank you. 

This is utterly fascinating and super appreciated. Thank you. Do you have an idea of the bass tone for Anna Lee? Or I’m so Young, equipment wise to get that sound?

I'm So Young is an interesting case, I go into a little in my video for that track, have you seen it?

Anna Lee is not one I've looked into with a lot of focus, but it sounds like a short scale bass, so it may be the Band's Hofner "Beatle Bass" that they liked to use for a short time.  Played with a pick and with palm muting.

Missed this before - I enjoyed it, thanks!