George Martin on the secret of his Beatles orchestration
George Martin was a huge contributing factor towards the success of The Beatles, so much so that he is commonly dubbed the ‘fifth Beatle’. He is, without a doubt, the most successful producer of his time, and his unparalleled orchestration was responsible for so many Beatles hits that we today know and love.
The Beatles never really stayed in one place musically. One of the reasons they are labelled such a massive influence for various bands is because they dabbled in so many different styles of playing. For a songwriter, this freedom is exhilarating; for a producer, it can be a nightmare.
The Beatles were lucky to have someone like George Martin on board, who understood their creative approach and was always open to trying different things. He was an integral part of the band’s success, so he is often said to be an extension of the band itself rather than just a standard producer.
Martin had an extensive background in music, which will have undoubtedly prepared him for working with the Fab Four. Having earned his stripes working in classical music, comedy, jazz and light pop, it meant that when he first met the band in June 1962, after being won over by their charm and charisma, he was ready to start work. After that meeting, Martin decided to sign the band to Parlophone.
That was the start of an excellent working relationship, one which would see Martin and the Fab Four skyrocket to stardom, encouraged by their fantastic ability to read one another and produce exceptional music. Martin was widely in charge of the orchestration of the band, something which became more and more complex as the band went on. Tunes like ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, ‘Eleanor Rigby’, and ‘Glass Onion’ all have incredible string sections attached to them, which wouldn’t exist were it not for Martin.
“The writing of the parts is me, and the requirements is them,” said Martin, “It varied between John and Paul. Paul was generally quite articulate with what he wanted. Mostly we would sit down at the piano together and play it through and work out how it would sound. Paul still doesn’t know how to orchestrate but he knew what he wanted and would give me ideas and I would say ‘you can’t do that or you can do this’. We’d talk about it, talk it through.”
Martin’s secret to consistently producing such high-quality music for the band was to keep a level head. As the Beatle’s careers progressed, their music became more complex, and to take those sounds and put them into something understandable for the average listener is tough, but it was something Martin was able to continue doing.
“The Beatles wanted something unusual,” he says, “Although at the core of it is orchestration that I liked to do. I liked to have clean orchestration. I’ve got various theories about orchestration. I don’t think the human brain can take it too many notes at once. For example, when you’re listening to a fugue of Bach or someone and you hear the first statement and the second one joins it, you can catch hold of that all right and then the third one comes in and it starts to get more complicated. Any more than that and it then becomes a jumble of sound. You can’t really sort out what is what.”
The Beatle’s ability to write music was one of the most significant factors that led to their success, but they needed the right people around them to ensure that music came out at the highest standard possible. That’s where Martin came in, and arguably, the songs we know and love today might sound very different without him. He has well and truly earned the accolade of being ‘the fifth Beatle’.
