Six synths that define Radiohead’s soundRadiohead fans study their favourite band as if they were seeking a doctorate.
Last year, the Abingdon-formed five-piece embarked on their first tour in nearly a decade, and the fans analysed and digitised every song they played at every stop. There’s a YouTube page filled with old interviews, and entire fan-made websites dedicated to the gear they’ve used both in the studio and on stage.

READ MORE: Fouk on 27 years of producing, staying inspired, and the techniques behind their sound

Members Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Colin Greenwood (bass), Ed O’Brien (guitar, backing vocals), and Philip Selway (drums) have built their legendary reputation on exploring new sonic territory every time they make music. Still, there are a few pieces of gear that have been with them for the bulk of their 41 years together.
From the subtle electronics of OK Computer, to the lead synth lines of Kid A, and to the ambient textures of King of Limbs, here are six instruments vital to Radiohead’s sound:

Ondes Martenot / Analogue Systems French Connection
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Jonny Greenwood became obsessed with the Ondes Martenot instrument as a teenager after listening to Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony (1948), an 80-minute, 10-movement piece that features the 98-year-old instrument.
Greenwood got his hands on a version while Radiohead was recording Kid A in Paris in 1999. His model was made in 1983 by Mr Martenot’s son. It has four octaves instead of the original six, and it uses additive synthesis.
Eventually, Greenwood commissioned Analogue Systems to build a controller in the same style out of concern that his antique would be damaged in transit (even though he has taken the original on recent tours). That commission is known as the French Connection, which can be bought secondhand for around $3,000.
The eerie yet warm electronic tones of Jonny’s Martenot are ubiquitous on Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001). The opening pad and lead electronic sweep on How to Disappear Completely as well as the spectral layers beneath the crunchy bass and drums on The National Anthem.
Speaking to the documentary filmmaker Caroline Martel on his rare synth, Greenwood said: “It was distrusted by all the early electronic composers because it was too passionate, it was too lyrical and expressive. They were looking for electronic sounds that were quite brutal and raw, so it was a bit overlooked.”

Mellotron M400
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This is another niche instrument Greenwood used in early Radiohead recordings. It was in their studio for OK Computer (1997) and ended up on several tracks on the primary release (Exit Music (For A Film), Airbag, Paranoid Android) and a couple of B-Sides (I Promise and Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2)), that made it to the extended release, OKNOTOK 1997-2017 (2017).
Many of the sounds seem organic on a first listen. One is the grand choir sound that closes Exit Music (For A Film). Another is the similar choral section during the bridge of Paranoid Android. These moments sound convincingly human because the Mellotron M400 transmits audio from individual pieces of tape for each key. After the key is released, the tape is automatically rewound. As such, the sound is completely analogue, but also brings a certain phase and metallic edge that can fold well into a larger synthetic feel.

Novation Bass Station
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Colin Greenwood is the band’s revered bass guitarist, but the group also look to synths like the Novation Bass Station for their low-end sound. The Novation Bass Station — which is available as a plugin for $129 and has a hardware version for $579 — was the low-end for the OK Computer song Climbing Up the Walls.
The electronic quality is immediately apparent as the band uses the instrument’s analogue filters to widen the bass from pure low-end to a jittery, sludgy sound. It’s an ideal foundation for the combination of acoustic guitar and other atmospheric electronic noises.
The Novation Bass Station was in their live setup, on duty for bass-heavy songs such as Myxomatosis.

Moog Minimoog
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Radiohead got their hands on an original 1974 Minimoog Model D to create the full-bodied bass and some ancillary sounds for Lotus Flower. Known for its incomparable Ladder filters and trio of VCOs adept for low frequencies, it was the perfect choice to create a bassline that engulfs the bottom range without impacting Yorke’s iconic falsetto.
Radiohead have also used the Minimoog as a live synth bass for well over a decade. They played it in their From The Basement set for King of Limbs in 2011, and it was on stage for their 2025 tour. They were even spotted using it in a photo of their sessions for their latest album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).

Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
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Radiohead did not put out any singles leading up to the release of Kid A. So, Everything In Its Right Place was the world’s introduction to the new, totally electronic version of Radiohead — specifically the descending synth line pulsing with beautiful, rumbling harmonic tones that Radiohead made with the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. In the subsequent quarter-century, the song has been remixed many times and synced into numerous movies.
The ubiquity of the Prophet 5 goes beyond Radiohead, though. It was in huge demand before they picked it up, finding its place on iconic songs such as Thriller, Take On Me, and Like A Virgin. Radiohead might be revered for their innovation, but they don’t shy away from synths because they’re popular, and they have used the Juno throughout their entire career.
The Prophet 5 was on Thriller, Take On Me, Like A Virgin, and endless other songs from the 80s and 90s. Its value is tried and true, and Radiohead have kept around their original at least through the A Moon Shaped Pool sessions.

Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 8
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Dave Smith did it again with the Prophet 8 (manufactured by his new company, Dave Smith Instruments, after he left Sequential Circuits), and since Radiohead were hip to his mastery, they quickly snatched one up.
Staircase, the B-side to The Daily Mail, features buzzy layers from the Prophet 8. Identikit, which was a live favourite before Radiohead released it on A Moon Shaped Pool, features the Prophet 8 during the post-chorus, playing the misty ascending synth line.
To that end, it makes sense that Identikit was a live favourite as Yorke uses the Prophet 8 frequently during performances. A software version is available from Soundtower as well for $49.95-69.95
The post Six synths that define Radiohead’s sound appeared first on MusicTech.

Inside the studio using breathwork to inspire creativity in musiciansMaking music can be a fragile process. So often, the mind disrupts creative flow even for the most experienced artists —Sting, the legendary frontman of The Police, famously had writer’s block for eight years. However, there are ways to abate such internal barriers, and one of them is simply to breathe.
The practice, known as breathwork, might sound like spiritual woo-woo, but there are various proven scientific benefits for focus and managing emotions. Angelica Hay teaches these techniques at her aptly-named studio in Los Angeles, Breath/Work.

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Angelica runs the studio with her husband, Ryan. She is the primary practitioner of the breathwork courses, and she and Ryan collaborate on the second core element of the studio: sound healing. Breath/Work tailors the approach to creatives by combining evidence-based techniques with their expertise in music production and live performance.
In addition to being musicians and visual artists who collaborate on the project Pink Sky, Ryan and Angelica have backgrounds in education and science. Angelica was a microbiologist, and Ryan is currently serving as the academic director of the music production school, IO Music Academy.
Breathwork has complemented their creative pursuits for over a decade. One of the techniques Angelica teaches in her course, Breathwork for Moving Through It, uses a system called pendulation. It’s often used to help people deal with trauma. The exercise involves spurts of active, faster breathing, followed by brief rests before actively breathing again.
“It’s building pressure within you to let something go, but instead of letting it all out at once, you’re training your body to get used to experiencing discomfort,” Angelica says. “You let go of little bits at a time, so that when in your everyday life you experience something activating, instead of going into full-blown panic mode, you recognise it, and you have the tools to go back home.”
Inside the Breath/Work studio. Image: Press
Other classes use different styles of breathing for different outcomes that are based on scientific studies. The courses offer in-depth engagement with breathwork, but overall, anyone can use these techniques in any setting, including when you’re beating yourself up because you can’t get the snare to sound just right.
Breathwork to Calm the Mind involves mostly taking deep breaths through the nose to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, commonly known as the ‘rest and digest’ system. When this system is active, stress and anxiety are reduced. Breathwork for Creatives involves circular breathing — breathing in and out of the mouth without stopping — to reduce anger, depression, and confusion that can be hindrances when artists are creating.
“Life stuff can occupy space that could otherwise be filled with creativity,” Angelica says. “Breathwork can be a helpful tool for setting down the mental and daily clutter, getting back to the core of why you’re doing what you’re doing.”
While breathwork is a tool to refocus and calm down, their sound healing events offer the means to permanently reduce mental noise by using music to address deep-seated emotions. The idea that lying on the ground while someone plays gongs and flutes can be medically or mentally beneficial might seem farcical, but music has been used for healing purposes for thousands of years. Breath/Work uses modern tools for the same purpose.
“We’ve found [sound healing] to be a highly effective tool for processing the entire spectrum of emotions. From total bliss and joy to grief and loss. It’s a medium through which we can acknowledge and release the experiences,” Ryan shares, and they’ve designed their studio as a safe space for such an experience.
When I meet them at Breath/Work, ambient music with rippling electronic pads is already playing. Their visual art hangs on the walls above shelves filled with different books, from David Foster Wallace’s classic encyclopaedic novel, Infinite Jest, to Becoming Supernatural, the seminal work from neuroscientist and healing practitioner Dr Joe Dispenza.
Angelica and Ryan. Image: Press
Paints and journals are spread across various surfaces. Their two music stations are at the far end with an arsenal of over 20 instruments, including traditional pieces such as a gong and singing bowls, and coveted synthesisers, such as a Moog Sub 37 and Elektron Octatrack.
Similar to how a concert can relieve stress and other negative emotions, Breath/Work takes elements of live electronic performance and integrates them into the realm of traditional sound healing, which is something Angelica and Ryan felt other sessions didn’t deliver.
Most sound baths they attended served the purpose of relaxation, whereas their electro-acoustic sound baths are stimulating. Rather than relying entirely on calming sounds, they use contrived sonics and effects that guide attendees between comfortable and uncomfortable emotional states based on music theory.
For centuries, music has been built around tension and release; moving from dissonance to consonance; melodies and harmonies resolving. Ryan and Angelica induce that concept within the body.
“I love being brought into a liminal state by sound, but I felt that musically [previous sessions] lacked an emotional depth that aligned with the intensity and character of my experience,” Ryan says.
Most sound baths guide attendees into liminal states by using singing bowls and gongs because of their resonant sound around specific fundamental frequencies. These focused tones can decrease brain stimulation, which results in less emotional reactivity. But with a full range of synths, Ryan and Angelica can lead attendees into a wider variety of mental states.
Electroacoustic soundbath setup in Breath/Work. Image: Press
“I wanted something that was a vehicle for us to create that liminal state through drone sounds and more traditional instruments, but then be able to introduce tension and emotional release through melody and chords floating in and out,” Ryan says.
“There’s something about the sounds not being able to be produced naturally that makes them feel mysterious,” Angelica adds. “The addition of the instruments allows us to build more of an arc for the full session.”
Their setup is completed with a Rhodes, electric guitars, and Native Instruments’ Noire Piano, giving them an immense range of acoustic and alternative sounds.
Each instrument has a specific role in the sound healing sessions. A Moog Labyrinth is for rhythmic textures. The Novation Bass Station II is for leads and occasional arpeggios. Various groove boxes, such as the Volca FM2, create repeating patterns to introduce a hypnotic quality — similar to what clubbers can feel on the dancefloor after listening to hours of techno.
The strain begins with a faint sub-bass that Ryan expands with filters and noise effects. Once it’s reached an amplitude where everyone in the room can feel the lower frequencies in their bodies, they remove the bass to create a void for the uneasy emotional state to exist.
From there, Ryan and Angelica build a foundation from a root note that eases or stresses the current emotions. They’ll build soft melodic motifs to lessen the intensity, but then also alter them slightly with different rhythms and pitches to sustain the engagement. They also use effects such as delays for a modern version of the same function.
Angelica and Ryan. Image: Press
“We bring more musical elements in to facilitate the emotional release and then provide total safety and surrender through a really soft, lush, full-spectrum experience,” Ryan says. “We’re feeling the bass in our body. We’re feeling the stability of a drone, and we’re being given the ear candy.”
Ryan also shared a piece of feedback he received from a sound bath attendee that captures their precise intention. After the set was finished at one of their events, someone asked him:
“As I was lying down during this set, I was almost reliving some very difficult, complicated experiences. Then, in the last several minutes, I felt an overwhelming sense of safety and release. Is that normal?”
Such a visceral experience may not arise while working on a mixdown for a new track, but emotions and memories can often distract us. Breath/Work might seem woo-woo, but if the techniques lead to better music, they’re worth a try.
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DIY Band Couch on World Tours, Self Managing, and Fan BuildingThis week, Ari is joined by Boston soul-pop band Couch to discuss their DIY rise, seven-member dynamic, and managing a band from within.

Large demand zone below $2K ETH price gives signal on where Ether may goETH’s market structure and fractal analysis from 2021 and 2024 provide insights where significant buy demand may exist. Currently, it’s on the downside.

The Bassline That Blew My Mind: Nukem in a RushDon Lauder, bassist with San Diego thrash metal titans Nukem, told us about his Geddy Lee "YYZ" love...

Don Lauder: The first time I think I actually noticed bass guitar was when I first heard Rush’s song "YYZ" back in 1981. My brother’s best friend was/is a huge Rush fan and so when Moving Pictures came out he played it for us. When "YYZ" played, I was confused because I had never heard a musical pattern like that. I was only 8 but still I recognized that something was way different and in a very cool way.

When it got to the part where Geddy plays his killer lead licks, I initially thought it was Alex on guitar doing that until I was corrected. I was even further confused because I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of bass playing anything other than holding down the rhythm. From that moment on, my idea of what bass guitar was and could be was forever changed. Music in general became much bigger for me and that lead me in a new direction that got me to where I am today.

Nukem's "Tactics of Terror" single is out now. The album The Grave Remains drops in April.

The post The Bassline That Blew My Mind: Nukem in a Rush first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

An ice dance duo skated to AI music at the OlympicsCzech ice dancers Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek are learning the hard way that LLMs sometimes spit out straight-up plagiarism.

Pi Pico Learns Morse CodeWhen [101 Things] didn’t want to copy Morse code, he decided to build a Pi Pico system to read it for him. On the face of it, this doesn’t seem particularly hard, until you look at the practical considerations. With perfectly timed dots and dashes, it would be trivial. But in real life, you get an audio signal. It has been mangled and mixed with noise and interference as it travels through the air. Then there’s the human on the other end who will rarely send at a constant speed with no errors.
Once you consider that, this becomes quite the project, indeed. The decoder captures audio via the Pi’s analog-to-digital converter. Then it resamples the input, applies an FFT, and converts the output via a complex classification pipeline that includes, among other things, Bayesian decoding. Part of the pipeline makes simple typo corrections. You can see the device do its thing in the video below.

Another issue with the code is that it decodes multiple channels in real time. So looking up spelling corrections, for example, has to be done rapidly. The device can also send code and show stats and graphics on an LCD screen.
If you know the code is arriving at a known speed, you could do something much simpler. The Pico has lots of memory which makes it easy to use complex algorithms. When you are memory-limited, you need different tricks.

Roslyn Pineda appointed President, Asia for Sony Music Publishing, as Carol Ng retiresPineda succeeds longtime SMP Asia President, Carol Ng, who will remain with the company until her planned retirement at the end of March this year.
Source

Big Man Labs Big Max ZeroBig Max Zero is a versatile limiter with four distinct algorithms and ultra-low latency, built for music creation and production. While most limiters are designed for mastering with heavy lookahead delay, Big Max Zero is made to live on your channels and buses while you work — keeping monitoring tight and creativity uninterrupted. Four algorithms, from transparent to aggressive. Read More

Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, The Wild Robot) gives an intimate studio tour
Legendary composer Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, The Wild Robot) invited us to his gorgeous Los Angeles studio for an intimate tour.

Build your very own Universal Audio UAD bundle – with 10 plugins for just £87Plugin Boutique is offering a Universal Audio ‘Winter Mix Tape’ plugin bundle deal until 26 February, allowing you to pick 10 plugins for just £87.
This bundle would normally cost you over £200, and lets you choose from 51 plugins in total, spanning across UAD’s studio effects, virtual instruments, and amp models.
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The bundle spans emulations of legendary hardware and UAD original plugins too. You can select from its range of vintage amp emulator pedal plugins – the Dream ‘65, Ruby ‘63, Lion ‘68, and Woodrow ‘68 — or get your hands on its celebrated Minimoog plugin. Its popular LA-6176 channel strip plugin and 1176 FET compressor are also up for grabs.

READ MORE: This instrument brings Windows Vista-style, Frutiger Aero-inspired sounds into your DAW

You can select any 10 from the full list below:

LA-6176
Pultec EQ Collection
LA-2A Tube Compressor
Fairchild Collection
Pure Plate
Oxide
LA-3A
1176 FET
Galaxy
Dream ‘65
Ruby ‘63
Lion ‘68
Woodrow ‘68
Waterfall Rotary
Ravel
Electra
Waterfall B3
Polymax
Lexicon 224
Ampex ATR-102
UA 175B/176
Century Tube Channel
Helios 69 Preamp
Verve Analog Machines
Brigade Chorus
Studio D Chorus
MiniMoog
dbx® 160 Compressor / Limiter
SSL 4000 E Channel Strip
SSL 4000 G Bus Compressor
Opal Morphing Synth
Anthem Analog Synthesizer
Empirical Labs EL8 Distressor Compressor
Teletronix LA-2A Leveler Collection
1176 Classic Limiter Collection
Sound City Studios
API 2500 Bus Compressor
API Vision Channel Strip Collection
Avalon VT-737 Tube Channel Strip
Capitol Mastering Compressor
Capitol Chambers
Hitsville EQ Collection
Hitsville Reverb Chambers
Manley Massive Passive EQ
Studer A800 Multichannel Tape Recorder
A-Type Multiband Dynamic Enhancer

And the following, which are not native and will require Apollo or UAD-2 hardware:

API 500 EQ Collection
Empirical Labs FATSO
EMT 140
EMT 250
Cooper® Time Cube Mk II Delay

Earlier this year, MusicTech reviewed Universal Audio’s Volt 876 audio interface, which relies upon analogue circuitry to add character to your recordings. There are seven members of the Volt family, six of which are portable. The 876 is the newest and largest addition, and is a 1U rack mount module with 24 ins and 28 outs. Like its siblings, it uses USB-C for audio, but requires mains power.
Shop this deal and more over at Plugin Boutique.
The post Build your very own Universal Audio UAD bundle – with 10 plugins for just £87 appeared first on MusicTech.

A full Dolby Atmos set up for £169: Meet Majority’s new flagship Bowfell surround sound systems and soundbarsCambridge-based audio company Majority has launched a new line of soundbars and surround sound systems, hailed as its “most ambitious and comprehensive” to date.
These new launches are designed for music fans as well as film lovers and gamers, and Majority says that the collection’s headliner, the Bowfell Halo Atmos, is “engineered to redefine what immersive home audio sounds like at this price level.”

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The flagship Bowfell Halo Atmos is, as its name suggests, powered by Dolby Atmos technology, and delivers 300W of output. The system includes an external wireless subwoofer and dual wireless rear satellite speakers, creating a fully immersive, three-dimensional soundstage. Connectivity options include HDMI ARC and optical inputs, alongside Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless streaming. USB and AUX playback are supported, and a remote control is included. It comes in at £169.95.
The Bowfell Halo Dolby system offers a slightly cheaper price point (£119.95) and still offers some Dolby goodness. It delivers 5.1 surround sound with Dolby Audio processing and a total power output of 180W. The system features an external wired subwoofer and dual wired rear satellite speakers, as opposed to its wireless sibling. Connectivity options remain the same.
Moving away from the Halo offerings are the Bowfell Axis Atmos (£129.95) and the Bowfell Axis Dolby (£89.95) soundbars.  The Bowfell Axis Atmos is a 2.1 channel soundbar system also powered by Dolby Atmos, producing a 200W output, while the Axis Dolby delivers 120W of output with Dolby Audio processing. The Axis Atmos features an external wireless subwoofer (wired on the Axis Dolby), and connectivity options remain the same.
The Bowfell soundbar range will launch on 16 February and will be available from Amazon and Richer Sounds. The range will be showcased at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show from 20 February. Find out more via Majority.
The post A full Dolby Atmos set up for £169: Meet Majority’s new flagship Bowfell surround sound systems and soundbars appeared first on MusicTech.

Stacks Audio offers the FREE eleven-product NAMM 2026 Bundle
Stacks Audio has released its free eleven-product NAMM 2026 Bundle. For anyone lucky enough to visit the NAMM show in Anaheim earlier this year, I hope you had a great time. For everyone else, the only thing better than keeping up to date with YouTube videos is getting something free, just for the sake of [...]
View post: Stacks Audio offers the FREE eleven-product NAMM 2026 Bundle

Woodstock Audio releases free Waveform Compressor plugin for Windows and macOS
Woodstock Audio has released Waveform Compressor, a free compressor plugin for macOS and Windows. Obviously, free compressors are nothing new, and most of us already have way more compressor plugins than we realistically need. And pretty much every DAW out there comes with a decent comp of its own. But even so, Waveform Compressor is [...]
View post: Woodstock Audio releases free Waveform Compressor plugin for Windows and macOS

“The gold standard in dynamics – times five”: Softube and Weiss launch the DS5 Multiband CompressorSoftube has continued its longstanding partnership with Weiss Engineering with a new version of its award-winning DS1 mastering processor.
Offering “complete control over compression across specific frequency ranges”, the Weiss DS5 Multiband Compressor, Softube says, delivers the power of the Weiss DS1 “to the power of five” via “line-by-line code port” of the DS1, while retaining simple ease of operation.

READ MORE: Behringer launches the BMX, its take on the classic Oberheim DMX drum machine

The Weiss DS5 Multiband Compressor comes with a number of presets designed by prominent engineers including Bob Katz, Jonathan Wyner, Maor Appelbaum and Philippe Weiss, which can be further tweaked to user taste or to work perfectly with any mix.
Softube made every effort when designing the DS5 Multiband Compressor to adhere to Weiss’s philosophy of “transparency”. It says the plugin’s filters and compression are designed to be transparent, with fast-acting filters and pre- and post-ringing artifacts reduced to a “mathematical minimum”.
The plugin’s phase-compensated 24 dB/octave crossover filters can be activated in three modes: Dynamic Phase, Static Phase and Linear Phase.
The Weiss DS5 Multiband Compressor is available now at an introductory price of $449/€449 until 7 April, after which the price will rise to $549/€549.
The plugin is also available as part of the Weiss Complete Collection 3, which has an intro price of $899/€899 until 7 April, after which it’ll rise to $1,199/€1,199.
For more information, head to Softube.
The post “The gold standard in dynamics – times five”: Softube and Weiss launch the DS5 Multiband Compressor appeared first on MusicTech.