Radiohead’s crew setup(Laptops, etc). These are used to supply sound Jonny and Colin’s midi keyboards, and to perform a multitude of other tasts.
Note that this does not include Jonny’s laptop.
Radiohead’s crew setup(Laptops, etc). These are used to supply sound Jonny and Colin’s midi keyboards, and to perform a multitude of other tasts.
Note that this does not include Jonny’s laptop.
For Everything In Its Right Place last night, Ed’s setup was far different from previously. Instead of running Thom’s signal into his regular board, as Jonny continues to do, Ed has a special pedalboard set up on a table just for the song. The pedals included are as follows:
He may also have had a Kaoss Pad, but it is difficult to say as the angle of visibility was not optimal. As might be understandable, I was a little too distracted to take pictures, but I might at tomorrow’s show. If anyone has a good one, please submit as a photo!
SUBMISSION FROM NICHOLAS
That is fascinating about Thom Yorke selling his old pedals on eBay. Do you have to have his seller’s ID, just to have a look would be just great!
Indeed it is, although technically Plank, their guitar tech, is going all the work. Unsuprisingly, it’s radioheadgear.
I haven’t done any serious work on it, so I appreciate the information. Would you care to explain why you’re so sure? I’ll add this to his page, but I personally hate not knowing the evidence. Thank you!
I noticed that as well. I’m sorry but I really haven’t a clue, and I haven’t looked into it. That synth has a lot of filters, so that could be why, or maybe Jonny is using it in conjunction with his setup to create weird manipulated textures even as Thom plays the regular keyboard part.
Submission from DHD
If I’m following the post correctly, the version or clone of the ondes shown in the picture with Thom and Jonny was seen prior to 2006. Please refer to the performance of The National Anthem from Saturday Night Live that aired in late 2000. I also recall reading that AS…
I’m not sure if TKOG will read this, but I think the responder might agree with me on this one, that the instrument in questions is a prototype French Connection. I’m waiting to hear back from AS about it - sent them the picture that got reblogged, as well as another one I found around the net - so we’ll see. After having seen ours up close and personal so many times, I’m convinced that what portions are similar, if not identical, are in fact AS items. The wood I can’t explain, but I do feel that it is walnut, and not an alternative, and the volume control is just too uncannily similar to the one on the AS French Connection for it to be merely coincidence.
I think it’s entirely plausible that synthesizer modules were integrated into the instrument when you think about creating a prototype for a controller. You cut down the nonsense and just include an oscillator, ADSR, and amplifier into the system, you can just plug the damn thing into the wall and rock and roll! This is particularly plausible, in my humble opinion, if Greenwood was unable to acquire modules prior to having the item built. I’m not sure if he ordered it for a single song, but it certainly makes sense when you think about how old tracks like How To Disappear Completely are, and others that feature the Ondes type portamento and glissando heavily.Anyways, I’ll be hearing back from AS sometime soon, so I’ll post up the results of that email conversation and see where we can get! Looking forward to it actually.
PS: Mounting quarter inch on the back of the French Connection is plausible. Ours didn’t have it, but if your keyboard controller isn’t mounted directly against a panel, like it is in Trent Reznor’s studio (I’ll find the picture later), having a rear panel mount output isn’t much of an issue. You really only need to send the CV signal from the top panel though, and if you can jam that Oscillator and amplifier module into the keyboard panel (which could have been done on ours, having seen the inside of the panel to diagnose some of the factory issues we had with it), you can pretty much run it without anything more than CV out and Gate out.
The reason the volume control is similar is because it’s the same volume control as is found on the ONDES MARTENOT. The instrument that Jonny used on the recorded versions of the songs you mentioned is an Ondes Martenot. He fell in love with the instrument after hearing Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie. He got his Ondes as part of a special production run, and when he was unable to obtain a second, he asked Analogue Systems to make him a new one to work with their modular synthesizers. You see, Jonny already had a ton of modules at the time, and he can be seen using them before the French Connection’s original appearance.
Anyway, I look forward to said email conversation.
Submission from garagestudio
The piano that is being used on the current US tour is actually a Kembel, not a Young Chang. The Kembel logo was clearly visible on the large TV screens at the Coachella performances. I also figured out what the module is that sits on the front of the piano. It’s a Dave Smith Evolver. You can make it out here: http://bit.ly/K8BlBc I would guess this is being triggered by the midi triggers in the piano and it is responsible for adding bottom end to the piano sound. Also, regarding the post about the French Connection synth being run through the Vox. I am 100% that it is running through a DI into the PA, not an amp. There is absolutely no way that any guitar amp will put out those low notes that get hit on How To Disappear. Also the mic that is on Jonnys amp, an Audio Technica AT3060 starts to roll off below 150 hz so even if the amp could hit the 40ish hz notes that he plays the mic wouldn’t pick it up well at all. Hope that solves some questions for some folks.
Thanks for the piano information, they’ve been changing around a lot over the past few years. You don’t happen to have a screenshot I could add to the page, do you?
I know about the Dave Smith Tetra, but what makes you think they use it to add bottom end? I don’t like to add uses of things without ample evidence, lest we fall completely into guesswork.
I thought I clarified that point, but I shall repeat it for thoroughness’s sake. Jonny HAS used his AC30 to play Ondes parts, but he has only done so for live performances of Cymbal Rush^1. That song does not require him to play notes in the “too low” register you refer to. Also, the amp was used in conjunction with the “unknown synth,” not the French Connection, though that is negligible since both are used for the same purpose. So I suppose it is true that he does not use it with the French Connection, but he has used it to play “Ondes.”
1. His use on that song is extremely obvious. If you watch the performance on Henry Rollins Show, there are cables running from the Ondes-instrument to a mic’d AC30. There are no other wires running to the AC30.
Submission from DHD
If I’m following the post correctly, the version or clone of the ondes shown in the picture with Thom and Jonny was seen prior to 2006. Please refer to the performance of The National Anthem from Saturday Night Live that aired in late 2000. I also recall reading that AS improved upon their initial version of the French Connection by moving the power input to the side so that the FC could be placed flush to the unit housing the modules. If so and given the AS stack also on stage and used in Idioteque, I would conclude that this is an early version of the FC made by AS. Either way, thanks for the site. I really enjoy and appreciate your work and documentation. Always interesting. Thanks again.
You fail to see the true distinction between these two instruments. The location of the power input is but one of many minor details, none of which are nearly as pertinent as a single factor: how they CREATE sound. The very fact that Analogue Systems moved the power input to be more “flush with with housing of the MODULES” proves that it is not the instrument in question. The unknown keyboard creates sound within the instrument, not in conjunction with a modular system^1. It has 1/4” output jacks on its back next the power input, something which would be simply impossible on the French Connection. This instrument is something very different any other Ondes Martenot clone I have ever seen.
Thank you for that, it’s good to know my toil isn’t completely in vain! That may sound sarcastic, but it is not.
1. Working in conjunction with a modular synth is how the French Connection functions. According to Analogue System’s own website, the was the very premise of the creation of the French Connection was to work with their Modules via CV.
Submission from Nicholas
You probably already know this but that does look like the keyboard Thom used in his latitude performance, so I would assume it is Thom’s rather than Jonny’s. It reminds of that fantastic picture of Jonny setting up his pedalboard there seems to be a room full of amps next to him, I wonder how much gear that group really has, does Jonny just have the two Teles?
That we will never know
As Thom’s page attests, the synth to which you refer is actually a Korg Poly-Ensemble, something very different.
I highly doubt Jonny has more two Tele’s, it doesn’t fit with his character. He has a spare Tele for obvious reasons(if his regular one goes bust mid-show, he needs to have a second), but he seems to really love his normal Tele, and there’s no real reason that he’d get another. He doesn’t even bring a spare Starcaster on tour, he just has the one. Jonny seems to least likely of any guitarist I’ve ever heard of the have a huge stash of guitars.
One thing to keep in mind as well is that the band doesn’t always keep gear. Just as they’re often buying new stuff, they’re selling the old. One of Thom’s old Turbo Rats sold on ebay a couple years ago, as did one of their Twin Reverbs. I wouldn’t be surprised if that room of amps is ALL of their amps, save the ones in use at the time.
Even so, they have a ton of stuff.
What in the world are they playing?
In some pictures on Dead Air Space, as well as for the 2010 Glastonbury and Henry Rollins Show performances of Cymbal Rush, Jonny is using a peculiar Ondes-style keyboard. It is clearly not the French Connection, though similar. The most noticeable difference is that it features a set of jacks on the back of the unit along with the power input.
Also unlike the French Connection, it seems to have the actual sound generator inside the instrument, evident from the multitude of controls on the front of the instrument, and the fact that no external synthesizers, modular or otherwise, are ever connected to it. It does not look to be made by Analogue Systems, nor to be an Ondes due to the placement of the control panel, the number of octaves, and the size and shape of the entire instrument. It is also clearly not an Ondéa for the same reasons.
Sonically, it sounds very much like an Ondes, definitely closer than his Analogue Systems setup to my ears.
Is this a completely unique, custom instrument? It seems possible. If only one could simply ask him…
This is a really cool image, but I think I know what the instrument is. There are two options:
- Jonny Greenwood commissioned the French Connection to built by Analog Systems, so there is a possibility that it’s one of the prototypes of the final version. We used to have one in our band before it had to be returned due to a factory defect, and I can say with confidence that the control that Jonny has his finger over is most certainly the volume control button. It’s a pressure sensitive block of wood about one inch long, and about a half an inch high that is pressed into the body of the instrument. The more the button is pressed into the body, the more volume you get; simple. The icons on the ring tracking is also identical to that on the French Connection. On the current model, it’s a series of raised and lowered bumps that correspond to the whole and half steps on the keyboard. Another simple solution, but it works fantastically well. I figure that the controls on the side are various different things that they eventually replaced with the knobs on the final product. On the one we had, there was a knob for maximum and minimum volume, and a few CV in/out ports that had dedicated knobs for them - not sure how they work, I’m not an analog synthesist.
- It’s another electronic instrument called a Tannerin. The Tannerin is a horizontal, keyboard mounted version of a theremin, that is essentially a French Connection. It’s a controller interface with, what is typically, a bar running across the front of the instrument, that is connected to the CV in on an oscillator and controls pitches based on the relative location of your fingers to a keyboard. There are a variety of manufacturers of this instrument, so it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a group of people slapping these with a Fatar keyboard and making a dope piece of equipment.
I think the Tannerin is a less likely option, but it is an option. Myself and a bandmate did a lot of work building a French Connection before he finally decided to just go out and buy one, so there are a lot of different ways to get that portamento/glissando sound from a synth. I’m pretty confident saying it’s a prototype though, just from having played with a real one for good lengths of time.
I highly doubt that this is a modified Tannerin. The only feature it has in common is that it has a ribbon controller, but even that is different from the one on this keyboard. For it to be a modded Tannerin, it would be one with a completely new enclosure, new keyboard, extra control panel, extra keyboard, and different method of achieving the portamento. As such, the chances of this are beyond minimal. They already had ONE Ondes clone build from scratch, it’s far more likely that they’d have done it again.
It doesn’t seem to be a French Connection prototype, as the original was finished in 2001, whereas this wasn’t seen until around 2006.
But I also really doubt that it’s even made by Analogue Systems. For one, the wood itself is different, the color and layout are simply not the same. Also there’s a lifted piece separating the keyboard and control sections, something that isn’t found on any Analogue Systems keyboard.
Much definitively, though, is the fact that this keyboard functions completely differently from the French Connection. The entire premise of this keyboard is different. The French Connection was commissioned and designed specifically to work with an Analogue Systems modular synth as a Controller. What that means is that it creates no sound of its own. This synth clearly does. Instead of CV and Gate outputs on the control panel, this keyboard only has 1/4” outputs on the back of the unit. Those outputs were shown to be plugged directly into Jonny’s tuner, meaning that any oscillators were already inside the unit.
The control panel on this unit is VERY different from the French Connection. Below is a picture of the French Connection’s, and you can tell that they are very different. Instead of 1/8” outputs designed for controlling a modular synth, the keyboard in the original picture has sliders and buttons for controlling parameters. It even seems to have LED’s. The ONLY shared feature is the button to control the output volume, something that both have in common with the Ondes Martnot.
This keyboard is not made by Analogue Systems, and it is not a modded Tannerin. It seems very much to be an Ondes clone unlike any other.
