A stupid "how'd they do it" thread...

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Slackmaster2K

Slackmaster2K

Gone
I know how ridiculous this kind of question is, but I'm not expecting a specific answer, and I'm not asking it so that I can try to get the same sound with my cheap gear and lack of experience.

Over the past year or so I've become a big Radiohead fan, and I've been working backwards through there stuff. A few months ago I started getting into OK Computer, and there's one particular track on there called Exit Music (For a Film). I've liked this song a lot for a while, but have mostly listened to it at work or at home at low volume.

Well, the other day I cranked it up on my monitors and was just fucking blown away. Sorry to swear, but it's the most appropriate word in this case :)

The vocal part is so damn HUGE that it literally gives me the shivers, and my entire desk started to vibrate!

To anyone who is familiar with this particular track, I'd like to hear some discussion or speculation on how it was recorded. What kind (not necessarily brand names) of gear (mic/pre especially) do you think was used? Is the reverb fake (I'm really a newbie remember)? How compressed is it? The rest of the instruments (some acoustic guitar, synth, scratchy noises) are set kind of far back....is that how they were able to get the voice so huge? Because it's the prominent instrument, were they simply able to really boost the level by hiding the rest of the instruments a bit?

Radiohead vocals are some of the most interesting and creative that I've ever heard...and from some of the live tracks I've downloaded, I know that to some degree they reproduce them in a live setting as well as in the studio. When I'm doing vocals anymore, I often try to get myself into the radiohead mindset...not so much that I try to copy a sound (which I can't), but I try to come up with something that works with the song, instead of something that's right out of the textbook.

Anyways, any discussion would be cool.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I have read that the swear by Pro Tools...

They did 90% of Kid A in PT.. If my memory serves me right..
 
i had heard the opposite, that they rely mainly on big name studios.
from listening to them, i can guess the vocals are tube-driven a lot of times, if not always.
i also heard they don't care much about the digital/analog war, and they'll go with any guitar/amp that sounds good to them, analog or digital.
ok computer is probably their best produced record to date, but the music itself is better in 'the bends', IMO. and even though i used to be a big fan, i think 'kid a' and 'amnesiac' suck ass.:)

adriano
 
I think you need to give amnesiac another chance. Their songwriting came around full circle on amnesiac. Just listen to tracks 2 & 4 about ten times, and you will be hooked.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Smoke more pot and hook up all your effects. You'll get the right sound sooner or later.
 
I think they jumped ship from ProTools and went to Logic. I read an interview with one of the guitar players and he wouldn't shut up about Logic. Not that Logic has anything to do with the vocal sound.:D He's just a really good singer. That's probably what his answering machine message sounds like.
 
I think they recorded a lot of those vocals at Abbey Road. Listen to the vocals on OK Computer, and compare with "Because" on Abbey Road, and subtract 30 years worth of recording technology advances, and there you have it. I would guess Thom Yorke's voice went through a U47 or U67 into a Neve board or a Neve-derived pre. I would guess that the reverb is also natural, though how they captured it (as with "Because") is still a mystery to me. And on top of that, a lot of very high-quality compression...
 
First off, I'd like to state that I absolutely LOVE OK Computer... but for some odd reason, though I'd never think I would change my mind about my favorite album (OKC)..... I'm starting to like Kid A more. I think it was unfairly slagged by both sides.... the "mainstream radiohead fans" for being "too weird", and by the "indie radiohead fans" for being too derivative of aphex twin, stuff like that.... but anyways, if people aren't big fans of kid a or amnesiac, no big deal.... I'm waiting for them to die out, so it's easier for me to get tickets to their concerts. :) 4 so far I've been to.
anyways, about ok computer... I assume everyone knows this knowledge, but I guess not..... OK Computer was recorded primarily on a mobile setup they had.. they rented a mansion in Bath, England. this mansion belongs to the chick who played Dr. Quinn in "Dr Quinn, Medecine Woman." her mansion had several huge open rooms, including a practically cavernous library, so I'm pretty sure that's the room they did the vocals for that particular track on. hope this helped some. oh, and the abbey road thing... they don't record there, but a lot of their stuff is mixed there, and kid a was mastered there. ok computer was mastered by (surprise) bob ludwig (that man is EVERYWHERE).
really, I thought Amnesiac was kind of disappointing... I don't know... it was a little too muddy in spots for my taste. but I've always kind of liked their b-sides better anyways though.
 
oh, and also.... I'm being anal retentive at this point.... slack, there's no synths on that song.. just bass distortion, acoustic guitar, that real high tremelo guitar part, and a sample loop.
and if you listen from the beginning, you can tell that the preamp on either the acoustic or his voice was cranked.... cause there's just so much hiss from the beginning when it's just the guitar... don't know if they just left the vocal mic on through the whole take, or what...... it certainly works though.... everything before then is so fucking pristine, it's nice to have a good deal of hiss going on. :)
 
postalblue said:
i think 'kid a' and 'amnesiac' suck ass.:)
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I agree. :D


Slack - this is unrelated to Radiohead, but I was in a band in college called AssMaster 2000 - thought you might get a chuckle out of that. And my favorite song that we wrote is called 'Jewfro.' Maybe I'll post that stuff some time....
 
Just out of curiosity, what bugs you guys about kid a and amnesiac?
 
charger - how do you know that the reverb on Becuase was natural? If you have a site or something about their recording techniques I would love to hear it. I love that song...never really looked at it is an amazing recording so much as an amazing performance given the level of studio gear in those days.
 
Neither Kid A nor Amnesiac sound great the first time through. However, they both (amnesiac especially) have the sort of long lasting appeal that I would attribute to more classic rock albums. The hooks are subtle enough, the recording is mellow enough, and they lyrics are very mature. "You and Whose Army" was the song that hooked me on Amnesiac, it's just....perfect.

The interesting thing about radiohead is that it always sounds like there's a lot of artificial crap going on, but there is often less than it seems once you get into it. It's tasteful and intelligent in that respect.

VotaIdiota, I think that the "fake" vocal harmonies on Exit Music sound very much like typical synth voices. But I'll take your word that they are sampled. The "seagull" noises, as I understand it, were created by squeaking guitar strings with mega delay. Thanks for the tidbit about Dr. Quinn's mansion...that's pretty cool!

Assmaster 2000
 
Wes, what do you mean the level of recording gear in those days? That was only, what, five years ago? I'm pretty sure that the equipment lists for most professional studios haven't changed a hell of a lot in the critical departments over the past five years, or 25 years for that matter.

Now if they had recorded it on a VS machine or something.... :)

Slackmaster 2000
 
Wes, what do you mean the level of recording gear in those days?
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I think he's talking about "Because" which was recorded in 1968 or '69.

If you buy the Beatles Collection 3 that they released about 4 or 5 years ago when they did that big TV special, they have a version of "Because" on there that is just the 9 vocal tracks with no guitar. And I think in the liner notes they say that the reverb is just the natural room reverb at Studio A at Abbey Road.

"Fake" vocal harmonies? Do you mean the Mellotron choir sounds?
 
Slack, sorry about that, I forgot that there's those mellotron choir parts..... although, technically, they ARE looped.... I mean, isn't that how mellotrons work? :)

the "seagull" part is the part that sounds like people talking in the background and a lot of wind and various stuff, right? yeah, if you listen carefully, it keeps repeating itself over and over...

I think amnesiac is a pretty good album, but it's nowhere near as cohesive as kid a, hell, not even as cohesive as ok computer.... and plus, come on.... you have to ADMIT that, as cool as the song is, dollars and cents' bass line is just MUD. such a great song, and it's just washed over in 250hz.........
 
I really liked Ok Computer, but haven't even bothered trying to listen to anything since. I buy few CD's and rely on advice from friends I trust who buy everything.

I must say Radiohead is absolutely the most overated band since...LOL, I can't even think of their name right now...that Noel Gallagher group, . Anytime someone half-way serious comes along they're touted as geniuses. It's only cuz everything else sucks so badly that they seem so good. I don't have this opinion based on anything objective, it's just that it's not all that moving. OKC was some of the weakest lyrics I've ever heard from a "serious" group. Not that it matters much, lyrics aren't really necessary for their type of stuff anyway. Their strongest suit is rhythm, and how they build such weird orchestration around it.

I can't help but feel that it's more about spending a shit-load of time messin' with loops and effects, and less about getting in touch w/ emotion. It comes more from random experimentation and less from inspiration. Not that any of that is meritless, just less so.
 
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