Macintosh Startup Sound Appropriated From the Beatles?

[Leo_Bloom]

@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?

[Amblydoper]

Nope.

[njtt]

@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?

[Mr.Me]

@Amblydoper

Nope.

That is the Original Macintosh. The startup sound in question is this.

I like Sosumi, it gets my attention better than any of the other system sounds. I don’t want my computer to quack at me when there’s a problem.

[I-VI-ii-V]

@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.

[I-VI-ii-V]

@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.

[jk1245]

Not much to add, but I did find a brief story about the guy who recorded it. He makes no Beatles claim, just says it “sounded right” when he was working on it at home.

[K364]

@njtt

How come it took 6 people to play the same chord on 4 instruments?

Because it might end up sounding like this if you didn’t. (goto the very end)

[pulykamell]

@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.