Nord User Forum

"Come Together" keyboard by The Beatles sounds like a Würlitzer with a twist of chorus.

Can you help me ?

Love from Olsen\Denmark

Maybe you'd have more feedback would you move this request to Stage 2 Program category ?

Fred

Probably a Wurlitzer, I cant hear any vibrato and I dont think it has chorus as it was not around at that time.
But im sure you can replicate close with either your fav wuli or rhodes piano samples.
There is also a sugestion that they may have been useing a hofner pianet around that time, i dont think it sound like it to me.

Please do not post copyrighted material in the forum.

I have listened again to the original Beatles LP and think, that it‘s rather a Rhodes than a Wurlitzer. It sounds a bit distorted, so maybe they had it recorded „amped“ via one of their VOX guitar amps. And deep in my mind I seem to remember that I‘ve read some years ago in another forum from a guy whose friend worked with the Beatles during the late period and that they had two Rhodeses but no Wurli. Paul was supposed to have played it on Come together.

A good reference for the typical Rhodes sound in my opinion is Bob Mayo on „Frampton comes alive“ from mid 70ies. If I‘m not wrong it was his solo at „Do you feel, feel like I do“ which has got me! And the typical Wurlitzer sound is Supertramp.

I play Come together in my rockband with the sound as in the foto, here the details (disregard the poti positions in the foto):
Sample is EP 7 Amped Tines XL 6.0
EQ: Bass -3,0, Freq 5,6 Hz, Gain +6,4, Treble +11,2
Eff 2: 3,6 Hz
Delay: 0,2
Reverb 0,5

If this is of good help for you, then have fun with it! If not - I‘m open for other thoughts. Stay healthy everybody and best regards from Germany.

It was definitely a Fender Rhodes EP on the original.
I have watched a video on youtube (I can no longer find it).
I still have an mp3 recording I made of just the audio. Some person introduces the main speaker on the video as "Steve", who has a British accent, but no last name was mentioned.
This Steve person explained that he was given access by EMI and "Sir Paul McCartney" to not just the final 8 track recording on which the studio recording was finished, but also the original 4 track recording on which the song had been started.
"Steve" says the song as using a Fender Rhodes, which he described as being a relatively new instrument at that time.

I have used the Nord Nefertiti EP sound when our band has covered this song.

Someone at Abbey Road studios really knew how to record a drum kit in 1969. Pity they did not also record the kit for Who's Next.

It does look that it was a Rhodes, I’ve just listened to the 4 track multitrack stems. They appear to be the original 4 tracks. It sounds like a Rhodes. It even has the track listed as Guitars and Fender Rhodes. So for me it’s an early Rhodes.

Normski wrote:So for me it’s an early Rhodes.

It's a suitcase Mk 1. These became available in 1965, four years before "Come Together" was recorded.

There's a rather amusing story about how the Beatles acquired theirs (the record company on both sides of the Atlantic going through enormous lengths and jumping through hoops to buy one and fly it over, avoiding all red tape, only to be shrugged off by Paul with the realisation that "oh, I guess I meant a Wurlitzer then."

Someone recently posted a video "Deconstructing Come Together" which allows one to listen to isolated tracks. The EP starts at at bout 10:45, although it seems mixed lower relative to the guitar in the partly isolated track than in does is the actual studio recording:

Maybe this is what Normski was referring to?

As an aside, it's an amazing capture of the kit. If I didn't know the song and someone asked me when it was recorded just based on the kit, I would guess about 10 years later.