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Brent Barkley Brent Barkley is offline
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Default How did they create that sound on "Mercy Mercy Me"?

I just found this thread. I've been infatuated with the "reverb hit" from Mercy Mercy Me since I was a teenager and they used the song for a Maxell commercial (I believe) touting the fidelity of relatively new CD technology at the time. (I'm guessing this was 1989-90 era or so.)

I can't believe I'm going to say this--I've always been on team woodblock. But I was just listening to Mercy Mercy Me and let the rest of the album keep playing afterwards, and I believe we are given a hell of a hint with the track, Inner City Blues.

You can hear it in the intro and particularly in the last 25 seconds during the outro of Inner City Blues. Congas panned left, 100% wet verb panned right. Not nearly as much decay/gate as Mercy Mercy me, but the pitch is the exact same pitch of the sound in Mercy Mercy Me.

For me this settles it. Whatever that drum is (sounds conga to me but could be bongos), that's what makes the sound in Mercy Mercy Me, and for me no question they recorded a separate track post mixdown (since it's not in the original 16 according to posters on here) and added that gated verb to perfection a single hit on that drum on the 2 and 4.

Sadly, I believe I've read elsewhere that nobody is still alive from those sessions, and honestly it might have been done so post that even the original musicians there wouldn't have been present for it. Thank god it's there though. Whoever's idea it was, it makes the track for me.