Le blog de Graham

[hunting android]

Voila le blog d'un ingenieur du son qui travaille avec radiohead depuis quelques jours...
Et on a le droit à un compte rendu interessant régulierement.

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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

 Radiohead band rehearsal day 1
Current mood:  enthralled
Category: Music

I woke this morning feeling rather strange; I couldnt work out whether I was nervous or excited! Missed breakfast, didnt feel like eating, was it those feelings or was I still full from last nights dinner!

It was so nice to see the boys again, as I have said before its almost 2 years to the day since we last all did this. It was almost as if no time had passed. As they individually arrived it was a chance to catch up on what had been happening. The only technical comments were based on the fact the relaxing area and tea facilities had been removed to make way for the 2 Digidesign set-ups. Then down to work.

So it was time at last to put the new desk (and me!) to the test, within an hour of starting on the kick drum the whole band were playing, I was mixing like a madman, there was no way that the band would ever know I was using something new to control their sound! They were amazing, the vibe was fantastic and they played new song after new song, each one a few times. In fact they didnt play anything I had ever heard all day (no song names, no hint of what direction they are heading in, wouldnt want to spoil it for the people who have bought tickets for the upcoming shows!)

Got lost on the desk a couple of times, Ill admit. I continually made notes and when the all went off home I had a couple of hours to introduce a few new factors. Just before they left I was given a list of the 10 songs they are going to rehearse tomorrow, thankfully I know them all well. As I write this I am listening to what I have to do in the morning, then some more homework with the Digi manual before a good nights sleep!
 

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Radiohead Band rehearsal day 2
Current mood:  exhausted

Today we had an old songs day! The band have decided that everyday we will cover 10 old songs first, Ive been supplied with CDs with more than 40 songs they propose to perform on this tour and then with the remaining time do some work on their new material. So in some ways it was much easier for me, everything suddenly became much more relative. As a monitor engineer I always have to deal with the artists parameters, for example, today they all wanted to use their wedge mixes instead of in ears, which was good because on stage they use a combination of the two. So again it was a mad mix day, with a great result!

Jonny made us all stop work for a while with his crazy samples, in fact we had to stop to wipe our tears from our eyes, how can you possibly turn a voice into the sound of ducks quacking! The boys are in fantastic form, absolutely dieing to get back doing live shows; the overall atmosphere has been great until something goes badly wrong. Technology has the great ability to stop doing what it is supposed to. Thom has a new set of in ear moulds, only used for 2 days, suddenly one side stops working, a hold up while for me to change the cable, and panic phone calls to the USA to get more supplies. So we finish the, again successful rehearsal, the boys go home and there is another few hours work getting everything ready for thier next appearance tomorrow. Id still rather do this than have a proper job any day!
 

Friday, April 21, 2006

Radiohead Band rehearsal day 3
Current mood:  relaxed

Back at work at 9am! This gives me two hours before the band arrive to start doing their thing! I spend this time discussing technical matters with the rest of the Radiohead crew, and drinking lots of tea! The band are continually coming up with amazing problems for us to solve in order to improve their live performance, they have to have a great vibe on stage in order to perform in the way they do, this is achieved with a combination of great music and a team of totally dedicated technicians. There has never been a case of sorry we cant do that for you boys, we go away and try, either it works or it doesnt. For example I have been asked if I can put an echo on every instrument on stage on a cue, thats what Ill be working on during the times they are not playing. If this can be achieved it will be done, if they dont like the results of their concept it doesnt matter to any of us because of the amount we will learn trying to achieve it.

So, the rehearsal, 10 more old songs, 2 of which happen to be my favourites, they send shivers down my spine. This is why I do what I do for a job. This is why I will spend all my waking hours trying to solve their problems. This is why when Radioheads management ask me to work for them again I say YES.

This is very tiring for everybody, luckily the day is continually punctuated by rounds of tea! Believe me, working wearing in ear monitors for that amount of time can be very wearing, Its nice at the end of a long session to remove them and go and sit somewhere nice and quiet, luckily we are based in the countryside which is very very quiet!

So the weekend ahead, no band rehearsals, they are having time to themselves as we have had a very productive few days, I think I will have the weekend off as well, hahaha no chance! Things to do!
 

Saturday, April 22, 2006

 Thanks for the fantastic response! And the messages of encouragement!
Current mood:  blah
Category: Music

I guessed that something had happened with my blog when I woke up a couple of days ago and the hits had hit the 500 mark (before then it was about 50 a day!) Thanks to who ever exposed me to the masses!

If you have sent me a message or requested to be my friend and have had no reply please be patient, as you must realise I am a very busy man at the moment.

There have been lots of people asking as to whether Radiohead are planning to play in their town, city or country, this is something I am unable to talk about until details are released on the bands official site. This is a management directive and is a part of my contract of employment. The same goes for any new CD releases by the band.

Prior to the flood gates opening I had a couple of people trying to instigate arguments with me as to whether members of the band were giving me a bad time on stage or not. These people were immediately excluded. It is obvious that the band are happy with the service I have provided for them in the past as I wouldnt be here working for them again.

I am more than happy to give all of you an insight into the technical aspects of working for one of the foremost artists of our time, long may they make us all happy.
If I get any hassle whilst doing this I will stop immediately and everyone will again be left in the dark. This is what I do for a living and it pays my bills!

Graham.

 

Sunday, April 23, 2006

 A great new web site just about to come on line
Current mood:  calm
Category: Music

Peter Plank Clements, Radioheads studio and live technician is almost ready to put his website on line. It concerns guitars and reporting and retrieving stolen instruments. When the boys are touring he looks after Thoms guitars. So all you guitar players out there should be interested! Ill let you know when its ready (he is also very busy at the moment!)

Graham.

 

Monday, April 24, 2006

Radiohead Band rehearsal day 5
Current mood:  satisfied

So we are all back in the rehearsal room together again after a weekend of recharging our batteries! Usual rounds of tea punctuating the 10 old songs of the day.

After the first few days of rehearsals last week I realised that back in New York a couple of weeks ago when I was starting programming the, very new to me, Digidesign desk that there were various parameters which I hadnt considered. At a point when a majority of the information required for me to mix their live show was well and truly stored, (on the desk, on my laptop, on a memory stick and on a on line server,I believe in backing up!) I made the descion to reconfigure my system. It was just a case of copying and pasting, the sort of thing we all have to do all the time!
Thankfully when the boys arrived to play some tunes today no one knew the difference, long live the digital age!

By the way..,as I have had many messages regarding this, Im the guy who provides the sound for the band members themselves, I live on stage, the sound you all hear in the audience is the work of my friend and colleague Jim. He has become an expert with the Digidesign desks and its use of, during the recent Nine Inch Nails tour, and was without a doubt a huge contributing factor in my decision to use one myself. The best thing for me is during these rehearsals he is standing about 10 feet away from me (during a show he is normally a small figure in the distance!) so if I need any sort of advice all I need to do is convince him to remove his ear defenders (hidden beneath those are his in ear monitors!) and he knows the answers. He had a lot to do with the software update I am using at present.

The old songs done, we moved on to the new material, probably the most difficult time for all the technical crew during the rehearsal period. There are times when the band swap instruments, develop sampling routines (everything they do on show days is live! Not like some bands who use backing tracks) so when the day is finished Im ready for a sit down, and a beer! Up to 6 hours of wearing my in ear monitors a day is hard work (normally on show days its only 3 hours or so a day, including the sound check) tomorrow the last batch of old material and then all new songs, and sometime during the week a rehearsal with Thom and Jonny, with a vastly cut down crew for the occasion, for their appearance at the Friends of the Earth charity performance next week.

Graham.