"Good Vibrations" is a song composed by Brian Wilson with words by Mike Love for the American rock band the Beach Boys, of which both were members. Released on October 10, 1966, the single was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record charts in several countries including the US and UK. Characterized by its complex soundscapes, episodic structure, and subversions of pop music formula, it was the costliest single ever recorded at the time of its release. "Good Vibrations" later became widely acclaimed as one of the greatest masterpieces of rock music.

"Good Vibrations" established a new method of operation for Wilson. Instead of working on whole songs with clear large-scale syntactical structures, Wilson limited himself to recording short interchangeable fragments (or "modules"). Through the method of tape splicing, each fragment could then be assembled into a linear sequence, allowing any number of larger structures and divergent moods to be produced at a later time. This was the same modular approach used during the sessions for Smile and Smiley Smile. To mask each tape edit, vast reverb decays were added at the mixing and sub-mixing stages.  For instrumentation, Wilson employed the services of "the Wrecking Crew", the nickname for a conglomerate of session musicians active in Los Angeles at that time. Production for "Good Vibrations" spanned more than a dozen recording sessions at four different Hollywood studios, at a time when most pop singles were typically recorded in a day or two. It was reported to have used over 90 hours of magnetic recording tape, with an eventual budget estimated between $50,000 and $75,000 (equivalent to $380,000 and $570,000 in 2017), at that time the largest sum spent on a single. In comparison, the whole of Pet Sounds had cost $70,000 ($530,000), itself an unusually high cost for an album. It is said that Wilson was so puzzled by "Good Vibrations" that he would often arrive at a session, consider a few possibilities, and then leave without recording anything, which exacerbated costs.  In 2018, Wilson disputed the $50,000 figure for "Good Vibrations", saying that the overall expenses were closer to $25,000 ($190,000). When asked in a 2005 interview if it was true that the Electro-Theremin work alone cost $100,000, he responded "No. $15,000."

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