Hello, do you know if the choir-y sound on Motion Picture Soundtrack is a sample of a choir or just a synth that sounds like a choir buried under everything? if it's a synth which synth?
Hello! There actually isn’t a single instrument responsible for the “choir”, it’s a combination of the band’s Mellotron M400 and Jonny’s ondes Martenot (the student model, as for all of Kid A).
Many call the Mellotron the “original sampler”, because all of its sounds are tape recordings of actual performers. Its choir consists of recordings of an actual choir, which is why it sounds a lot like one, but it’s not perfect. The Mellotron can only play discrete notes – no glissandos, unlike a real choir. As if to counteract this, Jonny layers his ondes Martenot with the choir, sliding between the notes to provide human-like glissandos. When the choir outlines a first inversion G Major triad at 2:16, Jonny follows along, syncopating to accent his glissando from D to G. The Martenot is even more prominent when it slides up the scale from D to G at 2:44. Jonny adds further organicity to the parts by playing with his own necessarily unique vibrato (The imperfections effected by its player are part of why the Martenot sounds like no other electronic instrument).
A long-exposure photograph oh Jonny playing his student model ondes Martenot, from the Henry Rollins performance of Cymbal Rush (photo originally posted on DeadAirSpace).
Jonny also used their M400′s choir sounds prominently on Exit Music (for a film), as well as for the choruses of The Tourist and the choruses and second verse of Lucky. The Mellotron’s distinctive sound comes from the nature of its function. Since all parts are recorded to tape, if there is vibrato on an instrument it will always be at the same speed and strength – it’s a part of the recording can’t be adjusted. This applies to the choir recordings on Radiohead’s instrument, and is a huge part of their character. Additionally, the playback mechanism of the Mellotron means that its sound start and stop abruptly – they don’t fade in or out. This characteristic is most obvious in Exit Music, but audible in Motion Picture Soundtrack as well. It’s worth noting that Nigel could have added fades to make the instrument sound more natural, but the band chose not to. Lastly, the tape onto which the sounds are recorded imparts its own distinctive sounds, as do the microphones and pre-amps used to record the sounds in the first place.
Jonny playing the band’s Mellotron M400 during the recording of In Rainbows (photo originally posted on DeadAirSpace).
As for the rest of the song: the main keyboard which Thom plays is a pump organ (also know as a pedal harmonium) from early 1900′s Staunton, Virginia. It’s actually the exact same one as was used by the band on Thinking About You from Pablo Honey. The harps heard during the second half are all sampled, though not from the Mellotron, and chopped up on a computer. Additionally, Colin bows a double bass during the second half, best heard at 3:03 when the harmonium drops out.
Jonny sitting at the W. W. Putnam & Co. Harmonium, from the recording of In Rainbows (photo originally posted on DeadAirSpace).
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