That’s hard to do when you’re an anonymous individual.
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Write music with me.
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Hello! Jonny has various stickers on his telecasters, is there anywhere that sells them or has high quality images of the stickers themselves? 'noonecares9269' on YouTube has the stickers, but he may have made them himself or something. Thanks.
I am not aware of anywhere that sells them, and I suspect that noonecares9269 made them himself or had them made for him.
This may be rich coming from me, with a whole website tediously detailing Radiohead facts and techniques, but is having copies of Jonny’s stickers really necessary? Jonny put those stickers on his guitar because those are things that he likes. He watches Attack No.1 (I assume) and rides Honda Motorcycles. Put stickers on your guitar that reflect the things that you like.
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How would you compare the Pathfinder 10 to the 15R? You have said many times here that the 15R is a good and cheap amp to get that classic Vox sound, so I was looking for one, but I can't seem to find it where I live. On the other hand, there are plenty of Pathfinder 10 and I was thinking of buying one. What's your opinion?
There seem to be several 15R’s on eBay currently, assuming that that is an option for you. It’s full name is the Vox V9168R Pathfinder 15R, so sometimes it may be called Vox V9168R or other variations.
Considering the price of the Pathfinder 10, it definitely wouldn’t be a loss to pick one up if you got a good price on one (under $60 with shipping).
However, I think that you’re better off getting the 15R. It’s louder and has switchable tremolo and spring reverb, so it’s a really good amp to have for small practices. By all accounts, it also sounds a bit better, but I have never heard them head to head. That said, the Pathfinder which is met with so much acclaim is the 15R, and there is probably a reason that the 10 is not discussed so fondly.
My advice would be to get the 15R. Eventually I will do a comparison of the two amps, but that will be too far in the future for it to be worth it for you to wait to hear it.
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Is there a specific way in which Jonny converts line/instrument levels when sending his guitar signal into his laptop for manipulation? Any tips for doing something like this with an MBOX? would there be a need to convert the audio coming from the MBOX back to instrument level before sending it to a guitar amp? thanks.
Jonny uses a Metric Halo Mobile I/O 2882. Theoretically he could also use his Boss LS2 to raise or lower the volume from the laptop.
The MBOX has input and output level controls. Just sent the input gain to the highest level without clipping when played hard, then set its output to be the same volume as the your guitar would be if the MBOX was not in use. If set right, you shouldn’t notice a difference in volume.
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A recurring theme on this site (and others) is Ed's use of multiple delays to get his effects - do you know any good resources for getting started using effects like that? I'm not trying to just replicate some of Ed's, just trying to understand how best to combine delays to make interesting sounds. Thanks!
I do not know of any resources which educate about pedals, aside from those documenting their production history such as BossArea or America’s Pedal.
Ed seems to have learned empirically, by messing with the pedals until he liked what he heard. This is how most guitarist figure out how to use pedals. All pedals are different, and techniques which are usable when you have four Boss DD5’s will not necessarily work when you have a bunch of Boss DM2’s or MXR Carbon Copies (though in generally having several different delays rather than several of the same is preferable as it gives more options). Just get to know how your own delay pedals work (really get to know I mean), and you shouldn’t have too much trouble figuring out ways to combine them.
Also note that delays are always only part of how he makes these effect. The way in which he plays his guitar and the other effects used all are just as important to the sonic result.
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Hi good afternoon, could you tell me which effect uses Ed on Morning Bell? I need to know please thanks
I am going to assume that you mean for the 2001 Paris performance, at about the middle of the song and at the end?
First of all, there’s definitely distortion. It’s not super heavy for the most part, so not from his Mesa Boogie. As such, it’s probably his Boss SD1, though it could be his Crowther Hotcake (I need to research further to see if it was used in 2001). However, it does seem to get heavier at the very end of the song, which suggests he may have switched on both the Crowther Hotcake and the Boss SD1 for that last held note, or switched to the Mesa.
Second, it sounds like there are two delays, both Boss DD5’s. There’s a one that’s about 675ms, and there’s also a shorter one that’s abut 200ms. There’s also a delay set to the DD5’s reverse delay, which is a big part of what makes his part sound so interesting and distinct. I’m not totally sure if the reverse delay is the same as the short one, or a third distinct delay, but I suspect the latter.
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It looks like Jonny was using an Ampeg B15 Portaflex with his...
It looks like Jonny was using an Ampeg B15 Portaflex with his Guild bass for The King of Limbs From The Basement. The amps seems to be one of the HeritageSeries reissues, based on the position of the input jacks. An original 60’s model would have the jacks only at a level slightly below the center of the knobs, while with this unit the cable is clearly plugged in at a point slightly higher than the knobs’ center.
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Hello! I'm actually trying to recreate the sound of the synth used in Backdrifts (the one that appears in the introduction and keeps along thru the song) with Logic Pro. Do you have any idea what they used for it? Thanks in advance!
The main synth sound of Backdrifts was taken from a royalty-free sample CD. You can hear the same sample being used by the website SonicState at the very beginning of this video. Radiohead sampled the sound, very possibly with Jonny’s Akai S3000XL, and repitched for the part. The way that Thom plays the part, triggering the sound at different pitches with the Novation Bass Station (used as a MIDI controller) is probably not far off from how it was done it studio (though they probably used the MIDI sequencers inLogicor ProTools).
If you sampled the first few seconds of Backdrifts, you could reproduce the song in exactly the same way that the band created it.
For the most part, however, I’m sure that Logic and ProTools are used by Nigel as would be expected - as DAWs for recording the band.
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I didn't know Backdrifts was built from that royalty-free sample! But how can you be sure? The video you linked might have sampled Backdrifts. Do you have a source?
From the comments of that video.
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Hi can you relink that video your link doesn't seem to work
The link is working perfectly fine for me. If there’s an issue, it’s likely on your end.
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Jonny performing Talk Show Host in 1998. (I would post the...
Jonny performing Talk ShowHost in 1998. (I would post the source, but the video was removed.)
He uses the Korg Prophecy, set to more conventional synth sound, to play melodies, while using the Fatar CMS161 MIDI controller to play Mellotron string sounds on his Akai S3000XL sampler (which has samples of the band’s actual Mellotron). The output of the Akai sampler goes the ElectroHarmonix Small Stone V4, which Jonny initially to add some slow movement to the strings sound for pad-like playing, but later in conjunction with the Fatar’s pitch bend to create some really crazy sounds at the end of the performance.
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hey! just wondering do you know what guitar fx jonny uses when playing punchdrunk lovesick singalong?? thanks very much in advance :3
Hello!
The sounds heard at the very beginning (and which are heard at various other points throughout the song) are clearly a combination of a delay and a phaser. Next, at about ten seconds in, a second guitar enters, one with tremolo.
Now, I initially expected the delay and phaser sound to be Jonny’s work, as he has used such technique many times. In fact, it’s almost surprising for you to ask. However, during live performances such as the one available here,* clearly show Ed playing the delayed part, while Jonny plays the tremolo lead guitar. That live recording is particular helpful, because the guitars are panned so far. The tremolo guitar’s tone sounds like Jonny’s with his Tremulator, and when he switches to his distorted tone it seals the deal for me.
Jonny’s playing during the performance is not terribly different from the recording, and the only effects that Jonny use for this song both live and in studio are his Demeter Tremulator, and his Marshall Shredmaster. Now, what is Ed up to?
During that live performance, Ed plays a very similar part to the one heard on the studio recording. However, I don’t hear any phaser on his guitar. This is 1994, and so Ed doesn’t have bunch of BOSS DD5’s quite yet, but he did have two BOSS Half-Rack delays. It is almost certainly one of those that he used on that live performance.
But what of the recording? Despite live usage, could the Space Echo still have been used? I don’t think so. With a Space Echo, each individual repeat blends somewhat with the others. Though there is a certain warmth to Ed’s guitar on the recording, I think that it is courtesy of the phaser, as the delays sound very distinct. In addition, “Punchdrunk” was recorded in 1994. The sessions for The Bends in 1995 were the first time that we know of Radiohead using Space Echos, when they used them on the keyboard for Planet Telex. As such, I believe that for the recording as well, a BOSS Half-Rack delay was used.
The last thing that we need to figure out is the phaser used. This is a harder question to answer, but I do have a decent hypothesis. Since Ed did not have a phaser in his setup in 1994, if he were to use one, it would be from one of his rack units. However, since decided not to use one of his rack units for phaser sounds during live performances, I doubt that he used one on the recording. More likely, he borrowed Jonny’s ElectroHarmonix Small Stone V2. This makes particular sense given that the delay+phaser sound does sound sort of like Jonny, despite a different delay being used.
So there you have it. Jonny did not actually use very much in terms of effects; even back in 1994, it was Ed making the spacial, atmospheric noises.
*This performance is also notable, as it features a very brief example of Jonny “cleaning up” with his volume knob, something which some originally attributed to his volume pedal (however, the volume pedal is used only as a master volume for the Shredmaster). A little before the middle of the song, Jonny switches to a distorted tone briefly, but his signal is noticeably less distorted than later in the song.
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Do you know the chords Thom plays on the Prophet during Staircase? I've been wanting to play it on my MIDI keyboard with the Pro-53 program.
They aren’t chords; he almost never plays more than two notes at a time during that song. The part is decently simple, so I’d recommend trying to figure it out yourself, but I’ll post sheetmusic shorty.
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Do you think it's possible The Butcher's opening rhythm was sampled from this moment (1:52) in this Scott Walker documentary? (youtube link) /watch?v=JEYWGQMqC74
Absolutely fantastic find! When I first read your message, I though that it would just be some vaguely similar noise, but you made no mistake. That sounds exactly like it, and I think that we can say that they did indeed sample it. Great find!
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It's just speculation, but if the Butcher sample is indeed from that Scott Walker documentary, it might explain the title and the lyrics. The sequence in the documentary shows the engineers building a box specifically so Scott can record the sound of someone hitting a slab of meat.
The box was made to record the sound inside the box when the exterior is hit, but that was separate from the meat punching. If you watch at 3:20, you can see that the meat is actually on a piano bench.
But even if a man punching meat did inspire the lyrics, I don’t think that it in any way “explains” them. Thom is saying a lot of things with that song, and they cannot be reduced to a single potential inspiration.
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Radiohead is the coolest n smartest band ever
Why thanks you
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trueotterwaits: Jonny Greenwood & Wordless Music Orchestra...
Jonny Greenwood & Wordless Music Orchestra - LOOP. 3/29/2014 Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival.-
For his latest performances, Jonny has used his Fender Starcaster, Gibson Les Paul Standard, along with his silverface Fender Super Reverb. The Starcaster was again used for his piece Self Portrait With Seven Fingers (with the Wordless Music Orchestra), while the Les Paul was used for his piece Loop (also with the Wordless Music Orchestra) and for Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint as well. We can also assume that he used his Akai Headrush for Loop.
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trueotterwaits: Jonny Greenwood, Big Ears Festival 2014: Day...
Jonny Greenwood, Big Ears Festival 2014: Day Three, E. Counterpoint. M. White.-
Some photos of Jonny performing Steve Reich’sElectric Counterpoint with his Gibson Les Paul Standard. He has been using the instrument a fair amount over the past year; I wonder if it’s grown to be his new favorite in general, or just his favorite for his classical endeavors.
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I read that when Thom listened to the final mix of "There, There" he cried. Is there any truth to that?
Thom - “It made me cry when we finished it actually, I blubbed my eyes out. Then I went to LA and Nigel played me the mix and it just made me cry, I was in tears for ages, I just thought it was the best thing we had ever done.
"There was something about it, I loved what he did with the guitar sound and the way he mixed it and just the way it is really jubilant to me that song in a funny way.
"Also at one time I thought it was the song that we were going to lose which I was really upset about because the melody stayed with me for about four months without going away which is really unusual as it doesn’t take me long to get bored and I really never got bored of this song."
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