Raidohead - In Rainbows - Production questions

[jamie10]

Originally Posted by u b k

It is indeed; the vinyl is light years better in that regard (vinyl always is), but I'd still like to have more dynamic range. The ending of All I Need is compromised by the crush, it wants to absolutely explode into a million pieces and instead it's completely held back and mashed together. This kind of limiting creates a lot of tension without allowing for a full release because we're almost always slamming against the ceiling.

A bit too much yang, methinks. I love the amount of squeeze on Kid A, think it's perfect.

Am I the only one who thinks that the drum machines layered on the live drums are gratuitous in 15 Steps? It's way less rhythmically interesting to me and has way less 'feel' because of what I hear as excessively busy and overmixed beat boxes. It seems an odd choice. Contrast this with the stark mechanized beauty of Idioteque, that stupid pumping compression is lovely, it works beautifully.


Gregory Scott - ubk
.

i have the vinyl box too....but dont have a record player....rip off con!!! had to buy the £40 box to get the bonus cd of new songs....

the ending of all i need is influenced by coldplay, or inspired by them.
so youre saying the ending is over limited/compressed?
can you tell if limiting is happening or if compressing is happening? or is it an overal suggestion? or are limiting and compressing cut from a similar cloth?

squeeze on Kid a??????? thats a dyamnic and subtle record is it not????
very spacious...3d...breathy...... not overly slammed.....oh you mean the subtle squeeze of kid a?

its not the drum machines layered on the live drums......its the llive drums layered on the drum machines........phil has to do something right? they should "serve the song" and let thom and jonny do it all......stand back and let the masters do the biz.

"Idioteque, that stupid pumping compression is lovely, it works beautifully."
lol lol reverb compression from hell.......hard tecno djs were known to play that in uk clubs...

[10 Dollars]

Originally Posted by jamie10

Look at all the other top producers in world.
They work with other artists and keep doing good work.
But nigel only is only recognised for his radiohead credits.

....

Nigel Godrich doesnt make music himself does he?
ALL THE BAD BOY PRODUCERS IN WORLD SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE TRACKS WITH THEIR OWN SKILLS.
dance producers can do this...hip hop producers build their own tracks...nigel just caresses the bands sounds.
but thats another discussion (albeit a boring one) about the diff types of producers today.

Like Butcha said, Nigel is definitely known for his contributions to Beck. Mutations and Sea Change are ****ing amazing albums!

He also produced The Information... and I remember reading that that album was written while they were both living at Beck's house in LA. Nigel is credited for co-writing Soldier Jane, Motorcade, Movie Theme, and The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton. So, to answer your other question, I guess he can make music.

[u b k]

Originally Posted by jamie10

squeeze on Kid a??????? thats a dyamnic and subtle record is it not????
very spacious...3d...breathy...... not overly slammed.....oh you mean the subtle squeeze of kid a?

lol, this stuff is all relative but to my ears the squeeze on Kid A is not remotely subtle. It is well done and tasteful imo, but subtle it is not.

Bear in mind that I listen to vinyl and can be spotted grooving to Ravi Shankar circa 1964, or Nat King Cole circa 1955, or the Bee Gees circa 1977. Those albums are very open, 3d, and uncompressed, you can almost step into the room they were recorded in and walk around.

But Kid A? Massive compression, heavy limiting. The VU meters technically move, but with nowhere near as wide an arc or fast a dance as the old stuff; the RMS is way hotter.

Doesn't mean there aren't still big dynamics in terms of the moods and spaces and energy in the arrangements of the songs, because there are. But the physical recording itself does not represent or give back these radical swings nearly as much as it would have had they made the record 30 years ago.

And again, I'm not saying it would make the record better or more enjoyable. As with salt, once you master the use of it in your own concoctions, you can easily taste where and how other chefs are using salt in their own dishes, and you like some dishes with just a dash, and some come to life with a liberal sprinkling.

Clearly I'm not a compression luudite, seeing as I designed my compressor to be able to go to Radiohead-ish extremes and still sound good.


Gregory Scott - ubk
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[jamie10]

nice thread.

lets talk about rheads guitars and effect pedals.
not too clued up on the names of the equipment.

[Silver Sonya]

To me, Post 134 pretty much gets everything exactly wrong.

- c

[monkeyxx]

Originally Posted by jamie10

nice thread.

lets talk about rheads guitars and effect pedals.
not too clued up on the names of the equipment.

I think you might want a new thread for that question, not really on topic for this one? also, a hint: google

I guess on in rainbows I saw a lot of pictures of old amps ("vintage") being used in those sessions, and old guitars (gretsch, gibson SG, fender jazzmaster) along with the old favorites, as well as the usual radiohead pedal selection which is well documented on numerous websites.

[everythinglouder]

Originally Posted by u b k

The ending of All I Need is compromised by the crush, it wants to absolutely explode into a million pieces and instead it's completely held back and mashed together. This kind of limiting creates a lot of tension without allowing for a full release because we're almost always slamming against the ceiling.

The ending of 'All I Need' sounds just about as dynamic as the ending of 'Optimistic,' which is just about as dynamic as the ending of 'There, There,' which is no more dynamic than the ending of 'You and Whose Army?' which is just slightly less dynamic than the ending of 'Climbing Up The Walls.'

These almost-but-not-explosive-enough endings used to bother me; they even disappointed me slightly. But when I realized that this has been going on with Radiohead for each of their last five albums, I began to think this has all been on purpose; that Radiohead doesn't want to let us have it that way, that it would be too satisfying or too much of some sort of effect that Radiohead simply wont give us on a record or a disc.

[corworld]

"compression luddite" he he thumbsup

[jamie10]

godrich uses preset compression settings.

[warrenmusic]

Originally Posted by jamie10

godrich uses preset compression settings.

Evidence? Whose presets?

[Naindurth]

I have to say that I agree with Godrich, to point a 57 into an amp and that's it. But you must have a great sound first. A 57 with a good API is enough to capture a great performance into a great sounding vox ac30 (recently did that!).
There's not to much science in that. I always struggled with mic positions and eq with cheap pre's and cheap amps and cheap guitars.
and Thom Yorke won't sound as pleasing in his records, if he was to record with my first mic and pre and lousy converters.

I'm sure they didn't use a sm58 into an m-audio for Exit Music for a Film, because it was the punk thing to do..
by the way, anyone know what was the vocal chain on that song?
and in Subterranean Homesick Alien?
(please don't tell me it's all Thom singing)