ADT Versus Manual Double Tracking
Townsend's process succeeded in simulating manual double tracking quite effectively; however, attentive listeners can often tell the difference between ADT and "real" double tracking, with the former having a synthetic quality to it and having none of the audible differences between the vocal tracks frequently present in the latter. Over the years, many artists, including the Beatles, continued to use both manual double tracking, ADT, or a combination of both in different circumstances depending on the effects they wished to achieve, with each technique thought to have certain unique qualities of its own.
The Beatles used ADT widely in conjunction with manual double-tracking on all their subsequent albums, with the exception of Let It Be, which was initially intended to be an "honest" album utilising no technical artifice (ADT can still be heard on the finished album, however, because Phil Spector treated a Hammond organ part with it on his mix of the title track). Some notable examples of ADT use by the Beatles in the years following Revolver include "Fixing a Hole" (where the bass guitar part is treated with ADT in an attempt to simulate a "fretless tone"), "Within You, Without You" (on which ADT is supposedly used on almost every vocal and instrumental part on the track), "I Am the Walrus" (which uses ADT in conjunction with equalisation to help simulate a "fake stereo" effect on the second half of the stereo mix, which was sourced from the mono mix, by splitting the entire mix between the channels), and the unusually wide ADT used on the lead vocal tracks on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and "Blue Jay Way". On While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Eric Clapton used ADT to make his guitar sound 'less bluesy', according to Ian MacDonald in Revolution In The Head.
Read more about this topic: Automatic Double Tracking
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