Jonnie Greenwood effect question...

[MBET]

I just saw Radiohead the last two nights at MSG. Both shows were excellent.

 

One question though. At one freakout moment in a solo Jonnie Greenwood stomped on a pedal that seemed to spit out short segments of what he had just been playing in bursts, forward, backward, pitched up, pitched down, really f*cked up bursts of sound that sounded rather random but it did seem to have a sequenced order. He stomped the pedal and the noise started and he walked away from it so it didn't seem to be a combination of things, and he wasn't tweaking things to get the changes in sound. Whatever the effect was IT was making the changes.

 

It was definitely a pedal. It wasn't his modular synth.

 

What pedal does this????

 

I searched Guitar Geek and the pedalboard set up they had listed was almost ten years old ('97) and didn't have anything that would have made that sound.

 

Does the "rand-o-matic" do this? I haven't tried one of those in a long time. Will the Line6 stuff do this?

 

WHAT'S THAT PEDAL?????

 

 

Oh, and they played probably 40% brand new stuff and it was excellent. The first night the highlight was "Lucky" and the second night the highlight was "Myxamitosis". I was five people away from the stage the first night and the second person from the stage the second. They blow my mind everytime...

[chrisjnyc]

I think it's a rack effect... The mutator

[MBET]

Will the Mutator do backwards guitar? I thought the mutator did filtering? It wasn't a filter effect. It was definitely backwards/forwards, pitch shifting, and fast/slow stuff.

 

I know he does use a mutator (although I didn't see it in his rack and I had a great view of it) but I thought the mutator was a really powerful, tweakable filter.

[shipatsea]

The Mutator is a filter. Maybe he was getting that sound off a Korg Kaoss pad? I know the Kaoss does weird reverse delay stuff.

[bentley]

the song Go To Sleep?

 

 

It's a patch he wrote in an Audio programming environment called Max/MSP.

 

He runs the guitar into his laptop and that does all the funky {censored} in that solo.

 

It's sorted of like an audio buffer override kind of sound (like your computer is crashing).

 

There's a VST similar to it over at

 

http://destroyfx.smartelectronix.com/

[chrisjnyc]

Yea, I heard he had a laptop effect a while back...

 

Anyone have any good pics of his current rig?

 

[EdwinneoN]

Hello everybody

 

Im very into in radiohead in many aspects and Im pretty sure Jonny uses the Max/Msp Cycling '74 program to make that things at the end of my iron lung, on go to sleep and a few more

 

it can do all you say and Jonny said in the HTTT tour that he recently adopted that program

 

in addition on lucky he uses : keyboard-midi-samplers and akai headrush or/and roland space echo among others

 

myxomatosis is also a keyboard song for Jonny , ed plays guitars

 

cheers

[Mr. Poopsicle]

 

Originally posted by chrisjnyc I think it's a rack effect... The mutator

 

 

Nope.

 

It is done using his Mac and a program called Cylcling 74.

 

My Iron Lung he just rocks his Whammy pedal back and forth violently.

[mirrorball]

 

Originally posted by chrisjnyc I think it's a rack effect... The mutator

 

 

I thought he didn't use the Mutator live. He uses the Dod 440 instead for Paranoid Android.

[bentley]

 

Originally posted by Mr. Poopsicle Nope. It is done using his Mac and a program called Cylcling 74. My Iron Lung he just rocks his Whammy pedal back and forth.

 

 

the program is called Max/Msp and the software company is called Cycling 74. I think Cycling 74 are in fact thanked in the credits of HTTT.

 

I'm hopefully gonna get some shots of his current rig as I'll have an AAA/production pass for the Pukkelpop festival.

 

and yeah I think it's just DOD440 on the Paranoid Android solo live.

[MBET]

 

Originally posted by EdwinneoN Hello everybody Im very into in radiohead in many aspects and Im pretty sure Jonny uses the Max/Msp Cycling '74 program to make that things at the end of my iron lung...

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure it was at the end of My Iron Lung. He had an apple lap top on top of his modular synth and I could see the screen had several faders.

 

If that was what he used it was programmed because he wasn't manipulating the laptop at all during that time but I think you may be right. It was a stunning effect and I had heard it on HTTT tour as well but since I was in the firing line of his guitar amps the last two nights it was much clearer to hear.

[Mr. Poopsicle]

 

Originally posted by MBET I'm pretty sure it was at the end of My Iron Lung. He had an apple lap top on top of his modular synth and I could see the screen had several faders. If that was what he used it was programmed because he wasn't manipulating the laptop at all during that time but I think you may be right. It was a stunning effect and I had heard it on HTTT tour as well but since I was in the firing line of his guitar amps the last two nights it was much clearer to hear.

 

 

He is triggering the Mac with a footswitch.

 

I downloaded a trial version of cycling 74 and was completely overwhelmed by it. You basically create any kind of sound or effect from scratch like a nuclear physicist would an A-Bomb. He must be extremely intelligent.

[StratAtak83]

 

Originally posted by bentley the song Go To Sleep?

 

 

Are you guys talking about the end of this solo, i've been wondering how he got that effect for 3 years now ..

 

check the vid

 

 

[angelhair0]

I haven't read any of the replies but I will say this is Radiohead we're talking about... there isn't any promise that there isn't someone backstage or at the soundboard trained with some sort of control over his sound or effects. I know this is a much larger scale, but bands like Rush don't have one pedal in front of them on stage. It's all the people behind the scenes taking care of that stuff. Who says Radiohead doesn't do any of that? I could be wrong. Radiohead were my Gods between the Bends and Amnesiac. I haven't followed them much lately.

[Mr. Poopsicle]

 

Originally posted by angelhair0 I haven't read any of the replies but I will say this is Radiohead we're talking about... there isn't any promise that there isn't someone backstage or at the soundboard trained with some sort of control over his sound or effects. I know this is a much larger scale, but bands like Rush don't have one pedal in front of them on stage. It's all the people behind the scenes taking care of that stuff. Who says Radiohead doesn't do any of that? I could be wrong. Radiohead were my Gods between the Bends and Amnesiac. I haven't followed them much lately.

 

 

I have no doubt that that is not the case.

 

They like tweeking their own effects too much (Everything in it's right place live), and using them differently from night to night.

 

Maybe some echoes or reverbs are handled by someone else, but every noticeable effect is done with their stage gear.

[angelhair0]

 

Originally posted by Mr. Poopsicle I have no doubt that that is not the case. They like tweeking their own effects too much (Everything in it's right place live), and using them differently from night to night. Maybe some echoes or reverbs are handled by someone else, but every noticeable effect is done with their stage gear.

 

 

Makes sense.

[Teahead]

I loved that effect when I first heard it on HTTT. While running a laptop with that programme is probably beyond most of us, try setting your delay to a short time (app.150ms) with maximum repeats and unity volume.

 

At the desired part of your solo, stomp the delay and you should get a stuttering, jack-hammer-like repeat of what you just played, stomp it off a second later and repeat the process, it works especially well when stomped in time with bends or slides..

 

It takes a little practice to get the timing right and still play the guitar, but you can approximate the impact of those chopped sections Johnny gets without the laptop.

[MBET]

I'm reading/posting from my cell phone so I'll have to check out the youtube video later.

 

I don't think anything was being triggered or controlled by anyone backstage or front of house. I feel pretty certain they were handling all their own instrumentation. Twisting knobs and tweaking effects is definitely part of their thing.

 

They are easily my favorite current band. And all these years later they are still growing/changing/evolving.

[endo23]

Are we talking about the outro solo sound from live versions of "Backdrifts," as well? Because that can be approximated with a Boomerang (in backwards mode) and some elbow grease...

 

+1 to Radiohead's sonic exploration. I know a lot of people don't go for the new stuff and I respect that, but I love that these guys continue to evolve... they're musicians, not rock stars, and they take their craft seriously. (Too seriously for some, I suppose.)

 

Anyway, they blew my mind when I saw them in '95 and they're still blowing my mind ten years later.

 

 

EDITJust watched the clip... seems like a different variation of the "Backdrifts" effect, so maybe Johnny has a bunch of patches on his laptop. Huh.

[dotlikeimpact]

Max/MSP is not beyond anyone here. I've been using it for years, and the learning curve is daunting. Yet, something like what he's doing there is one of the first things you can learn to do. It is a programming environment, and you need to be very specific about what you're trying to achieve to get anywhere with it. Part of that process is learning what aspects of a sound you are trying to influence without resorting to metaphorical descriptions (bright, warm, thick, etc.). Once you get into it, it's a lot of fun.

[TrashFace]

get cyclings pluggo

[Coach]

 

Originally posted by bentley the song Go To Sleep? It's a patch he wrote in an Audio programming environment called Max/MSP. He runs the guitar into his laptop and that does all the funky {censored} in that solo. It's sorted of like an audio buffer override kind of sound (like your computer is crashing). There's a VST similar to it over at http://destroyfx.smartelectronix.com/

 

 

Word.

 

I remember seeing them on some MTV2 concert and Johnny's solo for "Go to Sleep" made me sick to my stomach. That was a couple years ago and I was hooked.

[BAM]

I have been trying to figure out this solo for Go To Sleep ever since I first heard the Glastonbury recording. It blew my mind. From my extensive research, I have found that he is indeed using his laptop with the Cycling program previously mentioned. I also got the trial of the prgram and was just overwhelmed. i played around with it, but i couldnt understand what i was doing.

 

I've tried to manipulate it with effects (delays, tremolos with expression pedals) and it came somewhat close, but I'm optimistic. The Glastonbury 2003 solo has been the best i've heard so far. One thing I've noticed when listening to that is a presence of Mario sound bites. Yes, as in Super Mario Bros. Listen to it, you'll see what i'm talking about. Think of the sounds when you jump and when you hit coins, they're there, jsut manipulated at a high speed.

 

I'm still trying to figure out how he's doing this. I really wish someone wrote a patch that was similar. Maybe I'll give the whole thing another shot.

 

I'm seeing them in a few days. Hopefully he'll unleash there too.

 

And to those who have heard them on this tour already, has Thom played anything from the Eraser?

[TrashFace]

hmm ill download the song and try to figure it out.

 

i have those cycling progs. and ill record a clip.

[MBET]

 

Originally posted by BAM And to those who have heard them on this tour already, has Thom played anything from the Eraser?

 

 

I saw them both nights at MSG. Thom played nothing from Eraser. My understanding is that he is NOT doing any solo stuff on this tour. It's all Radiohead stuff. However, they are playing about 7 or 8 new songs each night and the stuff was really good. Kid A-ish in song structure, but Bends-ish in instrumentation. (in other words, some dance-y polyrhythmic stuff but with guitars, not as much twitchy glitchy electronics).

 

Great shows.

 

But Thom IS going to be a musical guest on Henry Rollins TV show doing solo Eraser stuff. I think there was a piece on Pitchfork Media that will tell you the date of the show.