Strings sound in "Nude" on In Rainbows

[motorollin]

Hopefully someone who can answer this question has listened to In Rainbows by Radiohead. If not, just buy it :-)

I'm interested in the high strings part in the song "Nude". The part comes in at about 2:32. I can't work out whether they are playing flautando, or maybe sul tasto, or whether this is just some effect (and if so what it is).

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moto

[motorollin]

Commercial? Hah!

It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download for which users may choose how much to pay

Now stop trying to derail my thread, commie scum! :-P

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moto

[motorollin]

Oh I see. I thought you meant commercial in the economic sense. I'd be interested to hear to what you think they are conforming. If anything I would say they have risked losing their mainstream fans by doing what they want, rather than what the fans want then to do.

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moto

[motorollin]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
Well, in my opinion, the music isn't kinda a 'living thing', and the artists are not part of it. They perform.

Maybe this quote from Thom Yorke about their song Street Spirit will change your mind about them "living" their music:

Street Spirit has no resolve. It is the dark tunnel without the light at the end. It represents all tragic emotion that is so hurtful that the sound of that melody is its only definition. We all have a way of dealing with that song. It's called detachment. Especially me; I detach my emotional radar from that song, or I couldn't play it. I'd crack. I'd break down on stage. That's why its lyrics are just a bunch of mini-stories or visual images as opposed to a cohesive explanation of its meaning. I used images set to the music that I thought would convey the emotional entirety of the lyric and music working together. That's what's meant by 'all these things are one to swallow whole'. I meant the emotional entirety, because I didn't have it in me to articulate the emotion. I'd crack...

Our fans are braver than I to let that song penetrate them, or maybe they don't realise what they're listening to. They don't realise that Street Spirit is about staring the {bleep}ing devil right in the eyes, and knowing, no matter what the hell you do, he'll get the last laugh. And it's real, and true. The devil really will get the last laugh in all cases without exception, and if I let myself think about that too long, I'd crack.

I can't believe we have fans that can deal emotionally with that song. That's why I'm convinced that they don't know what it's about. It's why we play it towards the end of our sets. It drains me, and it shakes me, and hurts like hell every time I play it, looking out at thousands of people cheering and smiling, oblivious to the tragedy of its meaning, like when you're going to have your dog put down and it's wagging its tail on the way there. That's what they all look like, and it breaks my heart.

That's the kind of involvement with ones music, "living" it if you will, that I can only dream of.

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moto

[motorollin]

You don't have to feel and think that way. You could just take the music at face value. But the depth is there if you want it. Don't get me wrong I respect your opinion, but I disagree that Radiohead are trying to force their listeners to feel a particular way. If anything, their cryptic lyrics leave most of their songs open to the listener's interpretation.

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moto

[motorollin]

:-P
Anyone know the answer to the original question?

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moto

[motorollin]

You're in for a treat McVenco. In Rainbows is beautiful.

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moto

[motorollin]

McVenco wrote:
I *did* listen to Nude, but I can't figure it out really. Methinks it's just some sort of effect out of a keyboard/synth/computer (a repeated sinuswave - I had samples like that in Protracker :-) ). It doesn't really sound natural, it's too electronic to be a real instrument.

I don't think it's sinusoidal. It's too irregular - there is an element of tremolo to the sound (though of course this could be synthesised - but it still wouldn't be sinusoidal :-)

If you have any samples which are similar, then feel free to share :-D What did you think of the song BTW?

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moto

[motorollin]

@Wain
The bit I'm talking about, to clarify, is a high part playing C#m for 2 bars and then B for 2 bars (when counting the bars I'm assuming that the song is in 6/8 not a slow 4/4). It comes in at 2:32 just as Thom sings "happen". It *sounds* string-like, even if it's not actually strings.

If you have any ideas of samples I could try, even to get close so I can tweak them, or maybe effects chains I could use, I would be really grateful.

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moto

[motorollin]

No, I don't have perfect pitch - though I keep meaning to learn the skill :-) I can however name any interval of notes, so I just played middle C on a piano, then played the part of the song in question, and since I could hear that the interval was just one semitone I knew that the chord in the song was C#m. I could hear that the next chord moved down by two semitones so much have been B.

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moto