# Macintosh Startup Sound Appropriated From the Beatles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961 "2003-02-05T15:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/21 "2010-11-27T04:07:15Z")
> [@K364](#): > > The following is an excerpt from “ABBEY ROAD TO ZAPPLE RECORDS A BEATLES ENCYCLOPEDIA” by Judson Knight > > That Long, Long Note > > The final chord of “A Day in the Life,” possibly the most famous single note in rock history, lasts [snip] > The chord itself, E Major, was associated in the 1700s with Heaven. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/22 "2010-11-27T04:20:46Z")
[Nope.](http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Boot_Beep.txt&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/23 "2010-11-27T09:34:57Z")
> [@K364](#): > > So instead, Martin sat all four Beatles, along with Evans, down before three pianos—two uprights and a grand. Martin himself took a seat in front of a harmonium, a reed organ. On cue, all six men struck the same chord together. 😕 How come it took 6 people to play the same chord on 4 instruments? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/24 "2010-11-27T11:08:34Z")
> [@Amblydoper](#): > > [Nope.](http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Boot_Beep.txt&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium) That is the [Original Macintosh](http://www.mackido.com/EasterEggs/Sounds/StartMac.mov). The startup sound in question is [this](http://www.mackido.com/EasterEggs/Sounds/StartPowerMacPCI.mov). I like [Sosumi](http://www.zot.org/~hamish/sounds/sosumi.wav), it gets my attention better than any of the other system sounds. I don’t want my computer to [quack](http://www.zot.org/~hamish/sounds/quack.wav) at me when there’s a problem.😛 ---
**Author:** ![I-VI-ii-V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@I-VI-ii-V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I-VI-ii-V)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/25 "2010-11-27T13:18:39Z")
> [@IT22](#): > > I think it’s more likely the start up chime is that cord, rather than the last chord ever played by the Beatles off the Abby Road Album that you guys are talking about. “A Day in the Life” is on _Sgt. Pepper_. ---
**Author:** ![I-VI-ii-V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@I-VI-ii-V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I-VI-ii-V)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/26 "2010-11-27T13:26:24Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > 😕 How come it took 6 people to play the same chord on 4 instruments? They wanted a big, full sound. Overdubbing multiple takes of the chord or duplicating the same take would sound different. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/27 "2010-11-29T20:55:39Z")
Not much to add, but I did find a [brief story](http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-4-mac-startup.html) about the guy who recorded it. He makes no Beatles claim, just says it “sounded right” when he was working on it at home. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/28 "2010-11-30T02:32:42Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > 😕 How come it took 6 people to play the same chord on 4 instruments? Because it might end up [sounding like this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePaHG6g7uFw) if you didn’t. (goto the very end) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961/29 "2010-11-30T05:42:19Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > 😕 How come it took 6 people to play the same chord on 4 instruments? Think about it. Twelve hands can play more notes than eight. On a standard 88 key piano, if you played the E major chord with the maximum amount of notes possible, you’d hit twenty-two keys. The E major chord is E-G#-B, but can be played in a whole slew of ranges on a piano. I assume some of the pianos would have two Beatles on them, playing anywhere from six to eight keys each. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macintosh-startup-sound-appropriated-from-the-beatles/152961.md?page=1)