History in the making: HFC’s Anthony Lai discusses how A.I. made the last new Beatles song possible
The use of Generative A.I.* (artificial intelligence) is being widely debated across numerous fields, including academics and entertainment.
“People have talked about the potential negative impacts of A.I., but A.I. is here to stay. There’s no way around it,” said HFC Interim Director of Music Anthony Lai, who shared fascinating developments about the impact of A.I. on music during the September 15 “Thinking Outside the Bot” symposium.
“There are always legitimate concerns with every new technology. When the phonograph was invented, it was feared to be the end of live music. Clearly it wasn’t.”
Lai pointed out that A.I. has many positive aspects, such as making it possible to release the last new song by the legendary Beatles on November 2. The song is called “Now and Then”.
“This is legitimately the Beatles,” said Lai. “A.I. has not replaced John Lennon or George Harrison. It is their music and voices that we hear. A.I. made it possible for this song to finally be released after more than 45 years.”
*“Generative A.I.” is broadly defined as “deep-learning models that can generate high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained on.”
SHORT FILM: “The Beatles’ ‘Now and Then:’ The Last Beatles Song”
“Real Love” and “Free as a Bird,” but not “Now and Then” -- the tech wasn’t ready yet
Lennon wrote “Now and Then” and recorded a demo tape of the song on his Sony CF-580 cassette recorder in 1977. The song was never produced for release, and Lennon died in 1980.
In 1994, Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow, gave Paul McCartney – considered the Beatles’ de facto leader – two cassette tapes, which contained “Now and Then,” “Free as a Bird”, and “Real Love”. With Ono’s blessing, McCartney, Harrison, and Ringo Starr – the then-surviving Beatles – reunited to finish these songs, which were featured on 1995’s Anthology 1.
“That album made me a big fan of the Beatles. They had the biggest musical influence on me like they did with so many other generations before me,” said Lai. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life until I got that album.”
While the latter two songs were included, “Now and Then” is absent because both the piano and Lennon’s voice were too hard to hear. The technology did not yet exist in order to separate the parts of the sound. Harrison was the first to express his frustration over this, and plans to release the song were abandoned as the remaining three Beatles concentrated on the “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.”
Getting by with a little help from A.I.
Because A.I. has evolved by quantum leaps since 1995, director Peter Jackson – best known for his groundbreaking work on the Lord of the Rings movie series – separated Lennon’s original vocals from the piano. He took the demo tape and splitting all its components onto separate tracks based on machine learning (A.I.). He also enhanced the vocals in the process. These were the same technical restoration methods Jackson used in his 2021 documentary series, The Beatles: Get Back, which separated the Beatles’ voices from the background noise.
“There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear,” McCartney said in a statement to the media. “It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public hasn’t heard, I think it’s quite an exciting thing.”
McCartney and Starr – now the only surviving Beatles – built the track from Lennon’s demo tape, adding guitar parts Harrison wrote and performed in 1995 and a slide guitar solo by McCartney in a tribute to Harrison. They tracked their bass and drum contributions to the song and provided backup vocals. They weaved in backup vocals from the Beatles classics “Eleanor Rigby”, “Because”, and “Here, There, and Everywhere”.
A string arrangement was written with the help of Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer George Martin, who has been called the “fifth Beatle.” The musicians were told they were working on a new McCartney song instead of a new Beatles song, to make sure word didn’t get out about the new release.
Harrison’s widow, Olivia, said in interviews that her late husband would have approved of “Now and Then” and would have joined McCartney and Starr in recording this song.
“It is Paul, John, George, and Ringo we hear singing from across the decades”
“This is a great example of how A.I. can salvage something that was once unsalvageable. We have similar tech in our recording arts studio here at HFC. Being able to remove unwanted sounds, unwanted background noises, and separate the instruments from the vocals – it’s brilliant and empowering,” explained Lai. “What you are hearing is not Generative A.I. It is not ‘A.I. Beatles.’ It is Paul, John, George, and Ringo we hear singing from across the decades.”
Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting partnership remains one of the most successful in history. Lai explained one would come up with an idea and the other would complete it, then the two would tweak it together.
“Examples of this are the songs ‘We Can Work It Out’ and ‘A Day in the Life’,” said Lai. “That continues to this day. John began ‘Now and Then,’ and Paul finished it all these years later.”
An excellent example of how A.I. can be used well
Lai pointed out that the Beatles (who disbanded in 1970) have always been at the forefront in audio recording technology. They incorporated many innovative techniques into their music, such as sound effects, tape loops, unconventional microphone placements, double tracking, and pitch control (or vari-speed). In 1967, they performed “All You Need is Love” in the first live worldwide satellite broadcast.
“They revolutionized many aspects of the music industry. Once again, we got to see their innovative use of technology one last time with ‘Now and Then,’” said Lai. “This is an excellent example of how A.I. can be used well. It served as a supplement, not a substitute. All it did was separate the instruments and clean up John’s voice. It was so good for John to be heard again after all this time. Hearing this makes me wonder who will end up a huge Beatles fan now in the same way I became one back in 1995.”