Reel ADT puts the magic of that era in your hands within seconds. John Lennon reputedly dubbed ADT “Ken’s Flanger,” which some say led to flanging becoming established as a technical term in studios around the world. ADT became such a prominent and integral part of the production process that Abbey Road’s momentous move from 4-track to 8-track recording was postponed for several months-from May to September 1968-until the new M3 8-track tape heads could be modified to enable the independent sync output needed for achieving ADT.

The introduction of ADT was a milestone in the history of sound recording, and the technique was used heavily on many recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios. And by gently wobbling the frequency of an oscillator to vary the speed of the second machine, the replayed signal could be moved around just enough to make it sound like a separate take. By connecting the primary tape machine to a second, speed-controlled machine, two versions of the same signal could be played back simultaneously. To solve the problem, Abbey Road engineer Ken Townsend created Artificial Double Tracking (ADT). By 1966, the band had become frustrated with the need to continually re-record vocals to create multi-layered vocal effects. As the band’s success grew, so did their desire to find new ways of working, leading Abbey Road’s engineers to experiment with new technology.

The effect that would become an integral part of Abbey Road’s signature sound was initially created at the famed studios in the 1960s to meet the Beatles’ unique recording needs. This is largely because a definitive description of the exact process used at Abbey Road has been a closely guarded secret-until now. Over the years, many recording engineers have tried to replicate the effect, but only with partial success.

It is the most legendary of all Abbey Road tape effects and can be heard on countless historic recordings. TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, MaWaves Audio has debuted the Waves/Abbey Road Reel ADT, the first plugin to successfully emulate Abbey Road Studios’ pioneering process of Artificial Double Tracking.ĪDT was the signature effect created at Abbey Road in the 1960s to meet the requirements of some very special clients: The Beatles.

Waves Audio Introduces the Waves/Abbey Road Reel ADT

Reel adt