Radiohead: Fitter Happier - Old, detuned, distorted Piano - How to?

How to do this, that and the other. Share, learn, teach. How did X do that? How can I sound like Y?
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Hi there,

this is one of my all-time favourite songs, and sadly I have never found anything even remotely similar. Neither from Radiohead nor anyone else. Though that's not primarily what I'm asking for, I'd be happy if you could name some artists who make music like that. (Not like Radiohead, but this song)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HimvFbossU8

What I want to ask is how they probably did it. I once recorded a piano intro from a Roland E-Piano and tried to add some distortion to it, but it always sounded way to digital. Since it was for dark electro anyway, it didn't matter, but for other songs I'd like to have this Radiohead piano sound.

Does anyone have an idea how to do that? I hear a reverb and low pass filter, but how do I distort and "fine-detune" it, so that it sounds so imperfect and warm as in this Radiohead song? I image that writing the detune automation manually must be super annoying!


Thanks

Peter

Post


Post

Me thinks this is a "field recording" of a real upright piano that hasn't been serviced in quite a while and desperately needs tuning. The GM specs have "honky-tonk piano" as patch #4.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead ... al_acclaim
They resumed recording, not at a traditional music studio, but instead at St. Catherine's Court, a 15th-century mansion near Bath.[50] The sessions were relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording songs in different rooms, and listening to the Beatles, DJ Shadow, Ennio Morricone and Miles Davis for inspiration.
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4456
This song, known for its computerized voice, is musically a hybrid of a score composed by Jonny Greenwood, and a piano part written by Thom Yorke (and recorded while drunk).
http://www.greenplastic.com/radiohead-l ... r-happier/
He recorded it one night in an isolated area of the rehearsal space that the band had set up. Ed: “Thom basically had this checklist, like a nineties checklist if you like, and he had written it out. There is a bit of him playing piano, [which was] in the rehearsal room. He was very drunk one night, which you can tell by the sloppy playing on it, and he just played out this melody and stuff.
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. Image
My MusicCalc is served over https!!

Post

That plastic ghost piano is a nice thing to remember. Unfortunately there seems to be no demo.

@BertKoor
That is bad news for the pitch automation. I never used it but I guess I can use the logic editor in Cubase for that. If possible, I could assign each MIDI note a different pitch. But while I'm writing write this, I realise, that a pitch change affects all notes... I have to think about it...

Post Reply

Return to “Production Techniques”