Now and Then - The Beatles - Full Instrumental Recreation (4K) - Michael Sokil Featuring Sam Popkin

The last Beatles song, recreated!

It's been three weeks of joy putting this together. When "Now and Then" was released, I had a vague inkling that I might end up working on a cover. I had no clue I would start this quickly. Inspired by Sam Popkin (who posted his cover seemingly within 20 minutes of the song being released), I felt a rush of excitement about uncovering the secrets of this song. Amazingly, isolated tracks became available basically immediately. It was extremely clear in each track what I had to learn.

Like every Beatles song, this tune reveals incredible details upon close inspection.

I started with the strings, which are fully recreated in Cinematic Studio Solo Strings. This is not "plug and chug" like a commenter suggested - that is, I don't input a score - I actually perform each individual string part. This took about 5-6 days.

Second, I layered the acoustic guitars and figured out a facsimile of George's somewhat buried lead guitar, which I absolutely love and brought forward in the mix quite a bit.

Third, I mapped out Ringo's fills, which was surprisingly the easiest part of the song. I thought I heard some type of brush work underneath the drum track, and sure enough you can see Ringo using brushes in the "Now and Then" footage from 1995. Apparently it's bleed through from the original backing track. Incredibly cool.

Fourth, the piano. This was a huge challenge - I ended up attempting it maybe 6-7 times before really getting all the notes and feel right. It's far more complex than it sounds, and it's absolutely a Paul signature part with the alternating, back-and-forth bounciness (similar to his "Day in the Life" section, "Martha My Dear," and even "Lady Madonna").

Lastly on my end, I studied Paul's bassline note for note, which is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Dude somehow still has the Beatle magic - every single verse is different, there's a really amazing glissando riff (which I spotlighted in the video), and I was just totally blown away. Total genius.

Finally, Sam Popkin very graciously agreed to lend me his phenomenal slide playing, which I strongly believe is superior to Paul's tone on the album. Sam made it gently weep. Amazing work.

One final bonus - as you can probably tell, those backing vocals are the real deal! YouTube somehow let me use the isolated vocals from "Here, There and Everywhere," "Eleanor Rigby," and "Because," which I lengthened using the "Paulstretch" tool in Audacity, which also drenched them in reverb and made them more heavenly and angelic.

Also, lots of editing in this mix to stich together the best takes. Somehow this slightly sterile and less organic approach sounded much more like the actual track to me. Works for me - it hid my mistakes!

Let me know what you think!

- Mike

Instruments:
- Gibson Reissue 1962 Custom Shop J-160E
- Gibson G45 (the natural finish acoustic)
- Hofner Contemporary Series Bass
- Fender Custom Shop Classic Player Sonic Blue Strat
- 60's Ludwig No. 980 Super Classic Outfit 9x13 / 16x16 / 14x22 kit (Black Oyster Pearl)
- Tambourine

Recording Equipment & Miscellaneous:
- Beatles Drop-T #4 drumhead courtesy of Russ Lease (beatlesuits.com)
- Vox Valvetronix VT100X Guitar Combo Amp
- PreSonus Studio 1824C Interface (6 microphones used)
- Cad Audio Stage7 7-Piece Drum Microphones (toms, snare & bass drum)
- MXL V250 Condenser Mic
- Drums recorded and mixed with PreSonus Studio One
- Shure SM57

Video Equipment:
- Camera: Canon M50
- Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro on HP Envy 32'' All in One

Feel free to leave comments, I'll respond to as many as I can.