Thom Yorke Synths

[heartbeat]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you could provide some insight into how Thom Yorke gets his synth sounds. They are almost always sustained notes and chords but don't really sound like normal synth pads. Examples:

Latest Songs From MP3 & Music Blogs / The Hype Machine

Latest Songs From MP3 & Music Blogs / The Hype Machine

Thanks!

[jeremyglover]

ableton and/or logic.
cheers, jeremy

[loglady]

seen him using a korg prophesy

not much help, i know

[sctt_stone]

I could be wrong, but I believe that Thome uses a Prophet 5 for a lot of his work.

Either that or he incorporates recordings previously done with a Prophet5 as samples.


I have a Prophet 5 and can nail all of the pads off of the Eraser and the song you posted.

The only one I can not recreate is the pad at the begining of "And it rained All Night."

I have heard a clip of a Jupiter 6 preset called Haunted YouTube - Jupiter 6 Haunted Pad That sounds just like it to me.

If I can get this out of my P5 I would love to know how.

[Heathfinnie]

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a "real" prophet 5 and instead a Prophet 5 emulation plug in. I read an interview with him at that time and he said most all of the album was done in the box...

[sctt_stone]

Originally Posted by Heathfinnie

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a "real" prophet 5 and instead a Prophet 5 emulation plug in. I read an interview with him at that time and he said most all of the album was done in the box...

That may be what he says, but I do not buy it.


He has way too many cool instruments too ot use them.

[Resonant Serpent]

Originally Posted by Heathfinnie

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a "real" prophet 5 and instead a Prophet 5 emulation plug in. I read an interview with him at that time and he said most all of the album was done in the box...

Correct. A majority of it was done on the laptop except for the vocals. A large amount of it is NI synths, including Pro 53. A majority of it is different Reaktor ensembles.

[sctt_stone]

I wanted to add one more thing about his material. It is really simple. It is also mixed well. I guess it really dose not matter what gear he uses. The point is it just sounds good.

Scott.

[nickolo]

Agree with Scott..Sure its interesting the what and how up to a point!!..but he will set up certain gear and if its a 'good' day he will get great textures and songs that mean something to him..
Love his stuff...

[bs333]

Browse the presets in FM8 and Reaktor and you'll hear some of the exact sounds he uses.

[gregwar]

i figured the eraser was all soft synths but i have no way of proving this. in rainbows sounded different i think there were real drums, guitar, outboard analog gears like mixers, etc. that's just my general impression..

[erluna]

wat about the drums? like the ones heard at the beginning of "black swan" for example.

[mamonu]

i remeber this summer seing a live dvd of in rainbows at a friends house and in the extras there was an interview or something where they were in the studio and i could see definately some euromodular business (AS if i remember correctly)

[erluna]

Originally Posted by mamonu

i remeber this summer seing a live dvd of in rainbows at a friends house and in the extras there was an interview or something where they were in the studio and i could see definately some euromodular business (AS if i remember correctly)

yeah i saw the doepfer (i think-) when they played idioteque on snl. great sounding drums, and beat.

[erluna]

Originally Posted by bs333

Browse the presets in FM8 and Reaktor and you'll hear some of the exact sounds he uses.

Which ensemble in Reaktor?

[loglady]

Originally Posted by erluna

yeah i saw the doepfer (i think-) when they did played idioteque on snl. great sounding drums, and beat.

seen some footage of that - i think its's an doepher analogue step sequencer they use. (edit-WRONG, see below)

alas, i believe the modular stuff is more johnny's stomping ground.

[erluna]

Originally Posted by Resonant Serpent

Correct. A majority of it was done on the laptop except for the vocals. A large amount of it is NI synths, including Pro 53. A majority of it is different Reaktor ensembles.

Where did you hear that? What ever happened to Pro 53?

[100th Monkey]

For those who haven't seen it, Scotch Mist is the entirety of In Rainbows played live in someone's house/practice space/studio. There's a ton of gear all over the place and it's a fascinating look at how they recreate the album live.

YouTube - Radiohead - Scotch Mist

I thought I remember reading that a lot of Thom's solo album used elements and outtakes from various Radiohead sessions, but I could be wrong.

[erluna]

anyone know, or make an educated guess on what was used for drums? they sound very classic, maybe tr, but pretty compressed to me.

[mekohler]

Originally Posted by erluna

anyone know, or make an educated guess on what was used for drums? they sound very classic, maybe tr, but pretty compressed to me.

No idea but when he did some Eraser tracks live with just him and Nigel, Nigel was using a 909.

YouTube - Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill (live at Latitude festival)


What synth is that again?

[sctt_stone]

Wow. I saw that show back around 2000 I believe. I remeber being so blown away by the whole thing. I had never even heard of a modular synth before that and actually though that the modular was some sort of home made contraption. I have looked for the video online and have never been able the locate it.

Originally Posted by erluna

yeah i saw the doepfer (i think-) when they played idioteque on snl. great sounding drums, and beat.

[loglady]

YouTube - [HD] Radiohead - Idioteque (Live @ Saitama Super Arena - Oct 5, 08 - Tokyo, Japan)

idioteque with their modular.

yes i still dont know how to embed a youtube video.

"They use the System 8000 and RS200 sequencer according to the Analogue Systems website.

The system 8000 is: Walnut cabinet containing RS20, 35, 40, 50, 3x 60, 70, 2x 85, 3x 95e, 100, 110, 120, 130, 2x 160, 165, 170, 3x 180, 215, 230, 250, 270, 280

Keep in mind that the only thing the modular seems to be doing in that video is providing the rhythm. The FM-y sounding synth pads are a pre-recorded sample from Paul Lansky's computer music work at Princeton in the 70's."

I got this info from a thread elsewhere. Apparently johnny's modular rig is purely analogue systems.

[erluna]

What about the drum on the Eraser? Reaktor, what ensembles?

[100th Monkey]

Johnny also uses an Ondes Martenot style AS French Connection controller with the ring below the keyboard.

[spunkadellic]

hey. does anyone know the synth from "everything in its right place"?

[mobius.media]

Originally Posted by spunkadellic

hey. does anyone know the synth from "everything in its right place"?

+1

According to this:
[Just...Radiohead] Fan Club @ RHG @ Thom's Pianos & Synths

It may be a Prophet 5.

Everything in its Rhodes Place, Mitchell Sigman
^
Just found that. Goes into more detail.

[aevadlom]

okay. i have to post ont his because i have been researching radiohead gear for a while now. i now own tons of of stuff and i can distinctly hear what they are using for what..plus i have seen them live really up close a few times.
firstly, the eraser definitely does not sound like it was done entirely on analogue synths, or entirely on plug-ins. the drums sound like they are digitally programmed for the most part. perhaps abletone live? the synths could very well be NI. and he coud very well have used the Pro 53. he definitely used a Prophet 5 A LOT. and that is the synth you hear in Everything in its right place. one of the best synths ever made..definitely. there is definitely some TR-909 on the eraser for some of the drums . but A LOT of it and MOST of it is software programmed. some sort of sequencer is being used also. might be a software sequencer. his stuff is pretty simple synthesis. you could do very much of it with a good analogue synth and some outboard effects. or, you could do it with NI plugins..if you are patient enough to put all of that energy into programming on the computer. i personally prefer the analogue stuff. but a good blanace is nice. which is what you hear from him. a good balance of analogue and digital. a lot of the pads on the eraser do not sound digital. the must be analogue synths. VERY LIKELY the prophet 5. that thing is amazing. and as far as In Rainbows goes, that album is almost entirely ANALOGUE synths and typical rock intruments. guitar, bass, real drums. there is some sampling done on that album but not much. ive seen them perform that album from 10 feet away so I saw it all. mostly all live done there with synths and instruments. i'm seeing him perform the eraser next month live..again, i will be ten feet away, so i will get back to this post after that. hope all of this helped.

myspace.com/inheadlights

[aevadlom]

oh, and that is 100% correct. jonny definitely uses ANALOGUE SYSTEMS modular systems and sequencer. he also control it with the french connection controller that the same conplany makes. in fact, they designed it especially for them.

[erluna]

What about that Harrowdown Hill synth? 0:08. Sounds unstable like it's about to break. I love it. Any guesses on what it is? It has subtle and quick momentarily pitch changes. I wonder if that's programmed or just an unstable synth.

Something else that sticks out are the drums on Black swan. You Tube really butchers the sound on this one though, so try to listen to a higher quality version. I sliced it and played the samples back. Each hit is pretty different as I expected.

[ceichel88]

Originally Posted by erluna

What about that Harrowdown Hill synth? 0:08. Sounds unstable like it's about to break. I love it. Any guesses on what it is? It has subtle and quick momentarily pitch changes. I wonder if that's programmed or just an unstable synth.

Something else that sticks out are the drums on Black swan. You Tube really butchers the sound on this one though, so try to listen to a higher quality version. I sliced it and played the samples back. Each hit is pretty different as I expected.

speaking of the drums, does anyone know what he uses?