emerick was the engineer on "a day in the life", which used a 40 piece orchestra and recalled "dismay" amongst the classical musicians when they were told to improvise between the lowest and highest notes of their instruments (whilst wearing rubber noses). however, emerick also saw a change in attitude at the end of the recording when everyone present (including the orchestra) broke into spontaneous applause. emerick recalled the evening as the "passing of the torch" between the old attitudes to pop music and the new.