The Who's Recording Technique

  • Thread starter Thread starter VOXVENDOR
  • Start date Start date
VOXVENDOR

VOXVENDOR

New member
As I read the profiles of peole here, I notice there are quite a few older guys, who have been in the industry since the seventies, so here is a good question for them... How did The Who achieve, that keyboard sequencing heard in the songs, "Won't get fooled again, Baba O'Reilly and Sister Disco.." Obviously sequencers didn't exist, but how did they get that quantized arrpegio type sound. My guess would be that they used some sort of old filter or something.. But not sure.. Dying to know about this for years!!!!.. Any answers are greatly appreciated..
 
Sequencers certainly did exist... just not MIDI sequencers.
 
I think they used a Putney modular synth on Who's Next, the same one that was used on Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon. Later I know Pete Townsend bought an ARP 2500.
 
Damn - I can't even remember which synth they used, I thought it was the ARP, but I'm sure Wide is right.

I do remember that most of it was played on a hammond, fed through the synth. Some parts were played in reverse and the speed of just about everything was changed.

For live gigs there was a 1/2" Otari (great bonk of metal in a flightcase, a delight to haul around). As the band more often than not seemed to loose track-with-the-track, Bobby Pridden had a large button fitted on the Otari as a vari-speed, so he could [grab hold of them and put them back on track].
As they played so sweet and softly on stage, moony had a special set of headphones especially for 'o-reilly. You couldn't get near the things - let alone put them on your head. This was in addition to his monitor set-up, which would have made most small bands very happy as a main system.

And no - no sequencers were used, it was all synth, tracked on tape as far as I can remember. Miracle I can remember anything of that time
 
Thanks for the above replies everyone!.. Still one question, now we have the synths established, how was it played, I mean no human hand plays that quantized... They must have used some device... I was imagining, they keyboard player just holding the notes, for lengths of time and some type of filter breaking them up into that choppy quantized sound, that is heard, but am probably wrong.. Im only 25, and was a still a good year and a half away from conception when, "Next" was recorded. Im kind of lost on these old techniques, but would love to try them out in my studio:)
 
Major240 might be correct, the EMS VCS3 was known as the Putney. It was a small briefcase-like little synth made in England in 1969. The AKS version had a 256-step sequencer. I know I have the Pete Townsend interview discussing his early days somewhere, and it's been quite awhile since I read it so I'm not positive. I think Won't Get Fooled Again was a Hammand organ processed through an ARP 2500 filter.

www.vintagesynth.com has pictures and descriptions of old synths.
 
I thought MOON beat the synth with his sticks to get that sound.
 
I can vouch for these:
Baba O'Reilly, Won't get fooled again.

Pete townsend is playing the keys/organ thing, un-looped contray to what some people think. He is playing, as you watch and as he says on the "classic album series-who's next" very simple chords, arpegiating them in the most part.

What Pete did was spend hours on the synths that no one really new how to work in those days, (you should see the size of the thing-rig=EMS synth is correct with organ). He says, like in the organ solo of 'won't get fooled again';
it is something I could never have written
naivley easily chords
harmonically complex
very disciplined
un-edited, following the music
takes on a life of it's own

un-looped, un-edited and very disciplined. I think that says it; down to persevearance.

You better appreciate this, I had to watch several parts to get the quotes. I recomend you buy the video if you can get hold of it, talks through parts of the who's next album.
 
*grin* and recorded at one speed (parts of it) played back at another.........
 
Wide Awake said:
I think they used a Putney modular synth on Who's Next, the same one that was used on Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon. Later I know Pete Townsend bought an ARP 2500.
Click to expand...

Bingo!!

Or very close at least....

I just read in this months Guitar World, about how it was recorded and yes it was the sequencer in an ARP 25/2600
So yeah sequencers did in fact exist!

And all this time, I thought it was some little foot pedal effect or something

Thanks for your replies.. I thought I would Clear this thread up and bring it up to the top, for the people who were interested and replied to me...

Joe
 
Try this

I have done the organ thing on "Won't get fooled again".

I took a Hammond B3 with a line level out into a modular Moog.

Then put that signal through a lowpass filter modulating the filter with a slow sign wave oscillator. Then took the filter output to a voltage controlled amplifier and modulate that with a slow pulse wave oscillator to give the "on and off" effect then through the reverb.

Did you get all that? It sounded pretty close. I think The Who did something close like that but with an Arp 2600.

When they played it live it was always recorded, so this is just a theory.

TGA
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top