Strawberry Fields Forever...recording slowdown question?

Question

I've read that the song is made from two separate recordings at different speeds, and the second was slowed down to match the tempo of the first. My question is this: was the second recording spliced in only once in the song, or was it spliced in over and over (since "let me take you down..." comes around more than once)? Just curious.

Answer 1

I've heard that too, George Martin says that the difference is very noticable. But, I can't find out where it is. I doubt if it switches back and forth multiple times. Supposedly, they were in different keys and different speeds, so he had to slow down one track to get the speeds to match. The only place I can hear a 'break' is near the very end, after all the singing is done, where the symphony starts playing. It sounds like the key changes. That's the only place that I have found where a different recording could have been spliced in.

Answer 2

George Martin was probably working with a four-track recorder, which may or may not have had a Vari-speed function. The recordings may have simply been played simultaneously.