Thom Yorke (28,789 views)

[IhateMana]

Thomas Edward Yorke (7 October 1968)
Member Of: On a Friday (1985 - 1991), Radiohead (1991 - Present), Headless Chickens (1988 or 89), The Venus in Furs (1998), Atoms for Peace (2009 - 2013, 2018), The Smile (2021 - Present)
Vocal Range: E2 - B5

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Summary}Soon...

Significant High Notes

B5 ("Rattlesnake")
B♭5 ("Climbing Up a Bloody Great Hill")
G♯5 ("Pop Is Dead" Live 1994)
F5 ("Anyone Can Play Guitar" Live in Bristol 1995, "The Drunkk Machine")
E5 ("Keep Strong", "Life With the Big F", "To Be a Brilliant Light")
E♭5 ("Bitter-Sweet", "Fat Girl", "Mr B")
D5 ("Bones", "Go to Sleep. (Little Man being Erased.)", "The Headmaster Ritual" Live Webcast 09/11/2007, "Mirror")
C♯5 ("All for the Best", "Atoms for Peace", "Climbing Up a Bloody Great Hill", "Ful Stop", "Give It Up", "The Mother Lode", "Nude", "Keep Strong")
C5 ("Airbag" Early rehearsal MD112, "Analyse", "Bitter-Sweet", "Bodysnatchers" Scotch Mist version, "Cymbal Rush", "Daydreaming", "Default" Instrumental Edit, "Down Is the New Up", "Electioneering", "Free in the Knowledge", "Gazzillion Ear" Thom Yorke remix, "House of Cards", "Idioteque", "Interference", "Judge, Jury and Executioner", "Just", "Killer Cars", "Lotus Flower", "Paranoid Android", "Pearly*", "Reverse Running", "Sinking Ship", "Twist", "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time Is Up.)")
B4 ("Airbag" MD 1-3, "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy", "Banana Co.", "Bangers + Mash", "Black Star", "Climbing Up the Walls", "The Clock", "Creep", "Default", "The Eraser", "Fragile Friend", "Give Up the Ghost", "Happy Song", "Impossible Knots", "In the Breeze", "Inside My Head" Pablo Honey Collectors Edition live performance, "Jigsaw Falling into Place", "Karma Police", "Maquiladora", "Maybe", "Million Dollar Question", "Mirror", "The Mother Lode", "Nose Grows Some", "Not the News", "Nude", "The Numbers", "The Opposite", "Optimistic", "A Punchup at a Wedding (No no no no no no no no.)", "Rattlesnake", "Reckoner", "Skip Divided", "The Smoke", "Stop Whispering" Live @ The Astoria, London 27/05/1994, "Stuck Together Pieces", "Sulk", "Suspirium", "Swing" Live in Oxford 1991, "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)", "Thin Thing", "To Be a Brilliant Light", "Traffic", "Vegetable" Pablo Honey Collectors Edition live performance, "Waving a White Flag", "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)", "Worrywort", "You", "You and Whose Army?")
B♭4 ("15 Step", "2 + 2 = 5. (The Lukewarm.)", "Amok", "And it Rained All Night", "Atoms for Peace", "The Butcher", "A Choir of One", "Daily Battles", "Dropped", "Electric Candyman", "Free in the Knowledge", "Gazzillion Ear" Thom Yorke remix, "Give It Up", "Go to Sleep. (Little Man being Erased.)", "Has Ended", "The Hollow Earth", "I Might Be Wrong", "Ill Wind", "Impossible Knots", "Ingenue", "Morning Mr. Magpie" Radiohead Webcast December 2002, "Mr B", "My New Clothes" 2-1, "Paranoid Android", "Soft Pain" Thom solo 3-4, "Staircase", "Traffic", "Twist", "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time Is Up.)", "The White Flash")
A4 ("4 Minute Warning", "After the Goldrush" Live Bridge School Benefit 2002, "Attenzione!" Portland Soundcheck 25/03/1996, "Beautiful People", "The Bends", "Bishop's Robes", "Bloom", "Bodysnatchers", "Bones", "A Brain in a Bottle", "Burn the Witch", "Burning Bush", "The Butcher", "Climbing Up the Walls", "Codex", "Creep", "Cuttooth", "The Daily Mail", "Default", "Dollars & Cents", "Down Is the New Up", "The Drunkk Machine", "Everybody Knows", "Faithless the Wonderboy" Live in Hollywood, USA 1993, "Fake Plastic Trees" "Fast-Track", "Feral", "Girl Club" 2-1, "Give Up the Ghost", "The Gloaming. (Softly Open our Mouths in the Cold.)", "Go Slowly", "A Hairdryer", "How Can You Be Sure?", "How Do You?", "How to Disappear Completely", "I Am a Wicked Child", "I Don't Want to Go to Woodstock", "I Might Be Wrong", "I Promise", "I Want None of This", "I Will. (No Man's Land.)", "Iluvya", "India Rubber", "Ingenue", "Judge, Jury and Executioner", "Just", "Keep Strong", "Kid A" Live in Belfort, France 2003, "Let Down", "Life With the Big F", "Lotus Flower", "Lozenge of Love", "Man of War", "Messy Jams" Untitled jam session MD113, "Million Dollar Question", "Morning Bell", "Morning Bell/Amnesiac", "The Mother Lode", "Motion Picture Soundtrack" Early Rehearsal 2-1, "The National Anthem", "(Nice Dream)", "Not the News", "Nothing Touches Me", "Open Again", "Open the Floodgates", "The Opposite", "Optimistic", "Palo Alto", "Pana-vision", "Phillipa Chicken", "Planet Telex", "Pop Is Dead", "Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)", "Prove Yourself" BBC One Session 22/06/1992, "A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no.)", "Ripcord", "Sail to the Moon. (Brush the Cobwebs out of the Sky.)", "Separator", "Shipwreck", "Skrting on the Surface", "The Smoke", "Spectre", "Stop Whispering", "Sulk", "Swing" Live in Oxford 1991, "There Is No Ice (For My Drink)", "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)", "The Tourist", "Unmade", "We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings", "Where Bluebirds Fly", "Winter Wonderland, " Inside Out webcast 2002, "Worrywort")
G♯4 ("$ Island", "15 Step", "2 + 2 = 5. (The Lukewarm.)", "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy", "Amok", "Annoying Neighbours" 2-3, "Blow Out" Acoustic version, "Bittersweet", "Codex", "Cut a Hole" Live in Miami 2012, "Cymbal Rush", "Dropped", "Ego", "El President", "Give It Up", "Guess Again!", "A Hairdryer", "High And Dry", "I Promise" Live in Toronto 06/04/1996, MD 1-4, "Identikit", "I Will. (No Man's Land.)", "Ill Wind", "Keep Strong", "Lift", "Like Spinning Plates", "Maquiladora", "Morning Mr. Magpie", "My New Clothes" 2-1, "Nose Grows Some", "Nude", "Planet Telex", "Present Tense", "Pyramid Song", "Reverse Running", "Ride a Pony", "Risk of Suffocation", "Sinking Ship", "Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders.)", "Speech Bubbles", "Suspirium", "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief", "Umbilical", "Vegetable", "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time Is Up.)", "What Is That You See?", "Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky Is Falling In.)", "YouWouldn'tLikeMeWhenI'mAngry")
G4 ("All I Need", "Anyone Can Play Guitar", "The Axe", "Backdrifts. (Honeymoon Is Over.)", "Banana Co.", "Beautiful Feeling", "Before Your Very Eyes…", "The Bends", "Black Star", "Blow Out", "Bodysnatchers", "Bones", "A Brain in a Bottle", "Bullet Proof … I Wish I Was", "Climbing Up the Walls", "Cut a Hole" Live in Miami 2012, "Decks Dark", "Dollars & Cents", "The Eraser", "Everybody Knows", "Exit Music (For a Film)", "Ful Stop", "Fragile Friend", "Girl (In the Purple Dress)", "Give Up the Ghost", "Go to Sleep. (Little Man being Erased.)", "The Greatest Shindig (Of the World)", "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)", "Has Ended", "The Hollow Earth", "I Am a Very Rude Person", "I Am a Wicked Child", "I Can't", "I Want None of This", "In Limbo", "In the Breeze", "Inside My Head", "Jetstream", "Just", "Karma Police", "Kid A" Live in Belfort, France 2003, "Killer Cars", "Knives Out", "Last Flowers", "Last I Heard (...He Was Circling the Drain)", "Lemming Trail", "Lewis (Mistreated)", "Lozenge of Love", "Lucky", "Lull", "Lurgee", "Maybe", "Molasses", "Morning Bell", "Morning Bell/Amnesiac", "Morning Mr. Magpie", "Motion Picture Soundtrack", "My Iron Lung", "My New Clothes" 2-1, "The National Anthem", "New Generation", "Not the News", "The Numbers", "One Line", "Pana-vision", "Paranoid Android", "Pearly*", "Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)", "Prove Yourself", "Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong", "A Punchup at a Wedding (No no no no no no no no.)", "A Reminder", "The Rip" Backstage at St. Louis, "Ripcord", "Scatterbrain. (As Dead as Leaves.)", "Separator", "Shipwreck", "Skip Divided", "Skrting on the Surface", "Soft Pain" Thom solo 3-4, "Stupid Car", "Sulk", "Supercollider", "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)", "Thinking About You", "This", "This Mess We're In", "Traffic", "Trans-Atlantic Drawl", "The Trickster", "True Love Waits", "Up on the Ladder", "Upside Down", "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", "Wish You Were Here", "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)", "You Will Never Work in Television Again")


Significant Low Notes

D3 ("Anyone Can Play Guitar", "Beautiful Feeling", "Black Swan", "Bones", "Codex", "The Daily Mail", "Dawn Chorus", "Decks Dark", "Dollars & Cents", "E-Bow the Letter" Live Tibetan Freedom Concert 1998, "The Eraser", "Everybody Knows", "Faithless the Wonderboy", "Fast-Track", "Fog", "Follow Me Around", "Get Together #2", "A Hairdryer", "I Am a Wicked Child", "Jigsaw Falling into Place", "Judge, Jury and Executioner", "Lock the Door", "Melatonin", "Motion Picture Soundtrack", "My Iron Lung", "Myxomytosis. (Judge, Jury & Executioner.)", "Open Again", "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box", "Palo Alto", "Ripcord", "Somebody", "Sulk", "Swing" Live in Oxford 1991, "To Be a Brilliant Light", "Trans-Atlantic Drawl", "The Universe Is Indifferent", "Waving a White Flag", "What the Eyeballs Did", "You")
C♯3 ("The Amazing Sounds of Orgy", "Be Mine" from Falls to Climb, "Blow Out", "Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses", "Guess Again!", "Harrowdown Hill", "How to Disappear Completely", "I Will. (No Man's Land.)", "I've Seen it All", "Lemming Trail", "Lifesaver", "Mr B", "Open Again", "Pop Is Dead", "Rabbit in Your Headlights", "A Rat's Nest", "Ride a Pony", "Risk of Suffocation", "Stop Whispering", "There Is No Ice (For My Drink)", "Truth Ray", "Umbilical", "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)", "Yes I Am", "You and Whose Army?")
C3 ("All I Need", "Analyse", "The Axe", "Ceremony" Live Webcast 09/11/2007, "Cymbal Rush", "Glass Eyes", "I Am a Very Rude Person", "I'm Set Free" Live Los Angeles Benefit Concert 2002, "Just", "Karma Police", "Ladytron", "The Numbers", "Paranoid Android", "A Rat's Nest", "Reverse Running", "Sit Down. Stand Up. (Snakes & Ladders.)", "Up on the Ladder", "Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky Is Falling In.)", "Winter Wonderland" Inside Out webcast 2002)
B2 ("$ Island", "2HB", "The Amazing Sounds of Orgy", "Annoying Neighbours" 2-3, "Black Star", "Climbing Up the Walls", "The Clock", "Creep", "Desert Island Disk", "Everyone Needs Someone to Hate", "Exit Music (For a Film)", "How Can You Be Sure?", "Inside My Head", "Jigsaw Falling into Place", "Lifesaver", "Lull", "S.A.D.", "There There. (The Boney King of Nowhere.)", "The Tourist", "Waving a White Flag", "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", "What Is That You See?", "Winter Wonderland" Inside Out webcast 2002, "Worrywort")
B♭2 ("Climbing Up a Bloody Great Hill", "Electric Candyman", "Hearing Damage", "Mirror", "No Surprises", "What the Eyeballs Did", "Where I End and You Begin. (The Sky Is Falling In.)")
A2 ("4 Minute Warning", "Attenzione!" Portland Soundcheck 25/03/1996, "Beautiful Feeling", "Black Swan", "Bones", "A Brain in a Bottle", "Bullet Proof … I Wish I Was", "The Clock", "Cuttooth", "Down Is the New Up", "Judge, Jury and Executioner", "Last I Heard (...He Was Circling the Drain)", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" Unknown Atoms for Peace performance, "Morning Bell", "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box", "Poison" Early demo of "Exit Music (For a Film)" 3-1, "Rattlesnake", "Ride a Pony", "Trans-Atlantic Drawl", "Videotape", "We suck Young Blood. (Your Time Is Up.)", "A Wolf at the Door. (It Girl. Rag Doll.)")
G♯2 ("Climbing Up a Bloody Great Hill", "Everyone Needs Someone to Hate", "I Will. (No Man's Land.)", "India Rubber", "Mountains (On the Move)", "Pearly*", "Poison" Early demo of "Exit Music (For a Film)" 3-1, "Runwayaway", "Unless", "Where Bluebirds Fly")
G2 ("Anyone Can Play Guitar", "Bangers + Mash", "The Drunkk Machine", "I've Seen it All", "Lewis (Mistreated)", "My Iron Lung", "A Punchup at a Wedding. (No no no no no no no no.)", "Skip Divided")
F♯2 ("India Rubber", "Jigsaw Falling into Place", "Karma Police" Live @ Lollapalooza 29/07/2016)
F2 ("Bitter-Sweet")
E2 ("Rattlesnake", "S.A.D.", "Skip Divided", "Winter Wonderland" Inside Out webcast 2002)

.......................................................
Blue marks falsetto or Yorke notes.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix.
Italics mark non-melodic notes.
Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
G♯6 ("Climbing Up a Bloody Great Hill" [5])
E6 ("Just" [5] inhale)
D6 ("Keep Strong" [1])
C♯6 ("Climbing Up a Bloody Great Hill" [1][3])
B5 ("What Is That You See?" [1])
B♭5 ("Anyone Can Play Guitar" Live @ MTV Beach House 1993, "Keep Strong" [1])
G5 ("Electioneering" Live @ Pinkpop 1996, don't think I wasn't tempted)
E5 ("The Headmaster Ritual" Live Webcast 09/11/2007, [1, overshot D5])
D5 ("Electioneering" Early version MD 1-1, "Idioteque" Live @ Openair, St. Gallen 2016)
A4 ("No Surprises" [2 Ed?])

C3 ("Just" [5])
B2 ("Street Spirit (Fade Out)" [2])
B♭2 ("(Nice Dream)" [2])
G2 ("Creep" Acoustic version, [5 this note fucking sucks])
E2 ("Planet Telex" [1])
D2 ("Bitter-sweet" [5], "Rattlesnake" [5])
B1 ("Rattlesnake" [5])

"Dawn Chorus" spans a whopping D3 - E3 and is unironically one of his best performances

.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}
On a Friday

(1986) First Demo: G♯2 - B4 - E♭5
(1987) Medicinal Sounds: Unavailable
(1988) On a Friday: D3 - E5
(1990) Shindig Summer Demo Tape: E2 - B♭2 - C♯5 - B5
(1991) On a Friday: it's like, three songs
(1991) First Tapes: so not worth listing tbh
Radiohead

Studio Albums

(1993) Pablo Honey: G2 - B2 - B4
(1995) The Bends: G2 - B4 - C5 - D5 rebaru
(1997) OK Computer: B♭2 - A4 - C5
(2000) Kid A: A2 - G4 - C5
(2001) Amnesiac: A2 - G4 - A4 - B4
(2003) Hail to the Thief: G2 - G♯2 - B♭4 - B4 - D5
(2007) In Rainbows: F♯2 - B2 - A4 - C5 - C♯5
(2011) The King of Limbs: D3 - G4 - A4 - C5
(2016) A Moon Shaped Pool: B2 - C♯5

EPs

(1992) Drill: E3 - B4
(1994) Itch: dunno - don't care
(1994) My Iron Lung: G2 - G4 - A4
(1998) Airbag / How Am I Driving?: G♯2 - D3 - A4 - C5
(2004) Com Lag (2plus2isfive): G♯2 -
(2009) In Rainbows Disk 2: G2 - A2 - G4 - C5

Solo

Studio Albums

(2006) The Eraser: E2 - G4 - C♯5
(2014) Tomorrow's Modern Boxes: A2 - C♯3 - E4 probably i don't fucking know or care - C♯5
(2018) Suspiria: C♯3 - D3 - G♯4 - B♭4 - B4
(2019) Anima: G♯2 - G4 - B4 - C5 IhateMana

EPs

(2006) Spitting Feathers: G2 - A4 - C5 - F5

Atoms For Peace

(2013) Amok: G♯2 - C5


The Smile

(2022) A Light for Attracting Attention: B2 - A4 - C5

SPOILER: Click to show

{Radiohead - Minidiscs (Hacked)}
Note: in the thread, the small font tags use labelling from the OK Minidisc shared doc. E.g. a version labelled 1-2 indicates that it is from the first minidisc (MD111) and that it is the 2nd version of that kind of song (i.e., is the 2nd band rehearsal of "I Promise") featured on that disc.

MD111: A2 - A4 - C5
MD112: G♯2 - A4 - C5
MD113: G♯2 - A4 - B4

SPOILER: Click to show

{Bolds}
B4 ("Stop Whispering" Live @ The Astoria, London 27/05/1994, "Sulk", "Swing", "You")
A4 ("Creep", "Stop Whispering")
G♯4 ("Nude")
G4 ("The Bends", "In Limbo", "Prove Yourself")

D3 ("Faithless the Wonderboy")
C♯3 ("How to Disappear Completely")
B2 ("Exit Music (For a Film)")
G♯2 ("I Will. (No Man's Land.)")
F♯2 ("India Rubber")
F2 ("Bitter-Sweet")

[rebaru]

the formatting in the questionable notes spoiler gets messy under G2

that may be my fault, sorry uwu

[IhateMana]

nah that was me, i missed a (/size)

[Gilad]

Yesss was waiting for this one! Looking sharp, I must say
A4s in No Surprises tho

[IhateMana]

those are probably Ed

[Seb]

Woah check it out, Thommo's range grew a little from last time

[Gilad]

Where's the C5 in Just?

[IhateMana]

Herem'st

[Gilad]

How tf did you even catch that lmao

[IhateMana]

Some of us don't have our ears painted on

[1999]

Was actually Reb the one to catch it ? Lol

Apr 2, 2020 0:48:47 GMT IhateMana said:

(1995) The Bends: G2 - B4 - C5 - D5 rebaru

[Smitty.]

Bb2's here in this demo version of "Climbing Up the Walls"

[Brenda]

Oct 13, 2020 20:46:43 GMT IhateMana said:

Herem'st

I couldn't hear jackshit and, honestly, at least in that video, I still can't. Only spotted the C5 upon isolating the center channel.

Well, since I'm here, might as well:

Some G4s, I think, very pretty vocals.

[fallenalien]

I don't know why, but for some reason I'm surprised that Thom doesn't sing in the fifth octave THAT much.

Even though he's obviously rather high placed and known for his falsetto, it seems like he prefers singing in the mid-range part of his voice.

It's actually rather impressive that he can create a sound so bright without going into his extremities too much notewise.

[queenfan11]

Personally i'd mark the "Burn the Witch" A4s as black. This one clearly is:

[epicanova]

The No Surprises A4 is very clearly Thom.

[aritrp]

I think there used to be some D2s from one of Atoms for Peace songs listed, where did it go?

[IhateMana]

I removed them because i didn't think the pitch was significant enough

[IhateMana]

Jun 5, 2022 10:13:16 GMT epicanova said:

The No Surprises A4 is very clearly Thom.

Hello there. Greetings. Good morning/good night! How are you? I am well, thank you. My name isn't actually IhateMana, it is simply an online handle I use. People usually just call me Mana, I do not mind if you choose to do this, indeed the irony of the fact that I have spent the better part of the last decade being referred to by the name of a musician I pretend to have any kind of strong opinions on either way is not lost on me.

Indeed, I must admit I feel as though I have to do some pretty lithe mental gymnastics to say that those backing vocals do not sound like Thom. In fact, I think they do. However, there is a caveat to this, and his name is Ed O'Brien. Now, despite what you may think, I do not make any claims to being a Radiohead expert, as unfortunately I have copulated at least once in my lifetime, and therefore do not qualify. I make this disclaimer since there may be some very distinct nuances between the sensual voices of these two hunks of beef which my palate cannot ascertain (please note that I do not mean to imply that you take this position yourself---that of an expert on their voices---I am not trying to be backhanded and rude). The point I am intentionally trying to obfuscate with this senseless meandering---a sly attempt at humour which will likely only register to a select in group who are already familiar with me and my forum persona---is that, fuck me doesn't Ed sound a lot like Thom?

Like holy shit, I mean check out these live performances lol and close your eyes (Jools Holland 31/05/1997) (Montreaux Jazz Festival 2003) they're the same guy lol.

Now, granted, I'll give you two things. uhh, fuck it, three: Ed's a little lower placed than Thom, you can sooooorta tell, but not really, right? cause we're listening to the same shit, and like, that's the same dude. Two; Ed's diction is marginally better, but like point one, it's like, only sorta not really, like he still kinda just goes "leee meeeeeh aahhdadaaah" like you'd expect Thom would. and three; and this is kinda the most crucial one that will swing opinions I think, Ed doesn't sing the A4, he sings the next line down.

But, I counter with these two points: one; while the OK Computer album notes are super unhelpful, the No Surprises single actually credits Ed with backing vocals. two; Ed does not always sing every song's backing vocals/harmonies live, but there are some select specifics which are always a constant, for example "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" and "Lift", it's the meme about him only ever singing his own name, and of course, "No Surprises". Now, I would like to posit that we can assume these are him for one kinda silly reason that would obviously not hold up in a court of law or anything, but is one that I kinda think makes sense: he sings these parts live, because they're "his parts", ergo, he sings them on the studio recordings too.

Hope this helps explain where my brain is at, have a good day! and subscribe to FD Signifier.

[sylvia!!]

yo

live version of a hairdryer (on kexp, mixed pretty neatly) he hits g4 and a pretty cool falsetto c#5

[Døc]

Jun 6, 2022 9:27:19 GMT IhateMana said:

Hope this helps explain where my brain is at, have a good day! and subscribe to FD Signifier.

You have good taste!

[Bink]

Brief, but in my opinion countable A2 in "Karma Police", he hits it twice in the song.

[Osmosis]

Nah questionable note category [1] on that if at all. 1st one is close to countability but I'd say it's far too brief and I don't think it's that intentional.

[quartzstq]

I personally don't think that Ful Stop and Burn the Witch aren't falsetto, but other people might know better than me.

However, Kid A should definitely not count, as it wasn't actually sung, and live he sings it an octave up anyway (sometimes he even belts an A4:)



Quote from an Interview with Jonny & Colin:

Mark: "I wanted to ask you also about the vocal treatments, 'cause maybe this comes back to what you were saying about being bored with the limitations of your instrument, or trying to find new sounds. So I was really struck by the way sometimes the vocals are very disguised, I mean, particularly on 'Kid A', there's almost a Stephen Hawking sound to the vocal. Is that something you were deliberately trying to do?"

Colin: "With regards to Thom... I think, I suppose, he's obviously... he's someone who's very into the fine voice that he has, and at the same time, you know, he's always looking for new ways to try and express different personae, and a way of doing that is by treating the voice, you know, and the... I don't know which track..."

Jonny: "'Kid A'."

Mark: "'Kid A' was the one which struck me..."

Colin: "Oh yeah."

Mark: "It does all sorts of things."

Colin: "Well, that was a vocoder whose notes... he sang through a vocoder, and the notes were triggered by the Ondes Martenot that (to Jonny) you were playing at the same time as he was singing, wasn't it?"

Jonny: "Yeah, that's right."

Colin: "That was pretty mad."

Quote from an Interview with Thom:

Turning the voice into an instrumental texture, Other-ising it via effects, allowed Yorke "to sing things I wouldn't normally sing. On "Kid A", the lyrics are absolutely brutal and horrible and I wouldn't be able to sing them straight. But talking them and having them vocodered through Johnny's Ondes Martenot, so that I wasn't even responsible for the melody... that was great, it felt like you're not answering to this thing."

[quartzstq]

A4 on FeelingPulledApartByHorses on the recently released Live EP.