This project attempts to recreate Radiohead’s 1997 masterpiece “OK Computer” using nothing but the stock software instruments in GarageBand on iOS and a pair of Apple earbuds. More detail on the project and corresponding credits can be found in the about section.
The iPad and The Humans
Track Status
As last updated on 2018.10.18
Track
Status
Comment
1
Airbag
Rough Mix
Needs some love on the bridge FX
2
Paranoid Android
Rough Mix
Needs final mixing, guitar fixes
3
Subterranean Homesick Alien
In Progress
Vocals next
4
Exit Music (For a Film)
In Progress
Vocals next
5
Let Down
Planning
Tracking started
6
Karma Police
Rehearsing
The human needs to learn the piano part
7
Fitter Happier
Not Started
Let the robot at it!
8
Electioneering
Not Started
9
Climbing up the Walls
Not Started
10
No Surprises
Rough
Need to rework vox
11
Lucky
Not Started
12
The Tourist
Not Started
Journal
August 3, 2018 Airbag
Pitching Shifting Guitars for Airbag
GarageBand has very limited guitar effects. Johnny Greenwood, Radiohead’s main guitarist, uses an assortment of pitch shifters, flangers, and phasers on many of the tracks of this record. I knew in advance that pitch shifting would be necessary.
GarageBand does not have a built in pitch shifter, but there’s nothing to stop you from replicating the track and moving all of the guitar notes up on octave. This was the approach I took to the ride side guitar that features in the intro.
Simply copy and paste the original performance to the second track and shift the notes up an octave in the editor. You will also have to bring down the volume of both tracks slightly. Learn more in the video below.
August 8, 2018 Exit Music (For a Film)
Exit Guitars
After working tirelessly to finish up the tracking for Subterranean Homesick Alien, I was looking forward do settling down with a simpler track, Exit Music (For a Film). Here's sketch of the main guitar line and some scratch vocals. Love these guitar chords and the challenge of getting the guitar phrasing right.
This will be a difficult challenge due to the fact that the guitar is played well up by the neck, lending to the breathy sound of the strumming which is difficult to replicate in GarageBand. Still, I have a ways to go but it's starting to sound great.
Again, you can see we're using track replication to get around the lack of AUX sends in GarageBand.
August 20, 2018 Karma Police
Human Learns Karma Police Piano
The human is thinking way ahead here and trying to learn Karma Police before we record it. He finds that learning parts on piano first helps get the feeling right before he records it on the iPad. It’s not cheating though since we can assume that Thom Yorke knows how to play his own song well before committing it to digital bits.
October 1, 2018 Exit Music (For a Film)
Replicating the Mellotron is Hard
The human and I spent the better part of an hour tracking and attempting to find better sounds that replicate the Mellotron featured in the choruses of Exit Music (For a Film). We're currently settling with "Granular Vox" Alchemy preset, but still not happy. We'll be tweaking away over the coming days to try to get this right.
October 18, 2018 AirbagParanoid AndroidSubterranean Homesick AlienExit Music (For a Film)
New Instrumental Tracks Posted
Happy Thursday!
We've been working hard on finishing the tracking for Exit Music (For a Film) and Subterranean Homesick Alien. Its always a work in progress, but we're getting close. Nolan has the ball now to finish vocals for these and Chris is heading on to Let Down in the coming weeks. Looking forward it. In the meantime, here's a quick video update we've posted to Twitter.
It has been a good four weeks or so since we took a break from the project. But I am excited to get started back on tracking for this project. While waiting on vocals for Subterranean Homesick Alien and Exit Music, I've started to track Let Down. And let me tell you, I'm excited once again.
I started out one Saturday afternoon by planning what tracks I would need to cover up to the first chorus. This is what I originally came up with in Apple Notes (side note: I also use the iPad exclusively for writing notes and keeping track of the project progress).
Let Down tracking notes
After a few hours, I had a quick sketch completed. Here are the results so far. Check out the latest Twitter update here with video!
It all started one evening when my good friend mentioned to me that his favorite song was “No Surprises”.
In my work between the US and Japan, I recently took up a new hobby to fill the 14 hour flight back and forth. Since I used to own a studio and am considering building a studio in a new house, I thought I’d get my chops back up to speed by utilizing GarageBand to record some tracks while on the go.
Not very impressed with its ability to immediately replicate my previous rock glory, I somewhat set it aside, tinkering with it here and there until one night, at my favorite izakaya near my home in Tokyo, inspiration struck.
“No Surprises, oh man that song just ... mmm, man it just hits me right here”, was my recollection of my friend's comment. I went home that night, listened to No Surprises, and subsequently found myself revisiting the entire “OK Computer” album.
I’ll spare the accolades for the record, it truly is a marvelous piece of work. But the next morning I set out to try to replicate the song purely in GarageBand, using nothing but the built-in software instruments and effects and the stock Apple ear buds.
A few hours later, I had a draft completed and sent over to my friend. Having listened to “OK Computer” a few more times, I soon decided to have a go at the entire record, and thus the project “OK iPad” was born.
Inspiration Through Limitation
Some of the best musicians I have met could make the rattiest piece of gear sound amazing, purely through technique and raw skill. Though I don’t consider myself the best guitar player or singer, I do think I make a pretty decent audio engineer.
So in the spirit of creativity through limitations, and as a test of just how far I can push GarageBand to its limits, I will share my trials, tribulations, frustrations, accomplishments, and hopefully just sheer fun of seeing these great songs come together on my iPad with GarageBand.
Parameters of the Project
All recording and mixing will be done on the iPad utilizing GarageBand
No external audio gear is allowed (that means no midi controllers or audio interfaces)
No real instruments - all instrument performances must be must be software instruments wherever possible
No third party plug-ins or instruments, only stock GarageBand effects
Vocals are limited to the microphone on the Apple earbuds (I know it doesn’t technically come with the iPad) or the built-in mic on the iPad.
As I work on and eventually finish each track, I will post what I have learned, the techniques that I utilized, and the final GarageBand track file for free download when completed.
My intent is not to create an in-depth GarageBand tutorial, or to teach the finer points of recording in general. Rather, I hope to illustration how I solved, or didn’t solve, technical challenges related to the limitations of working solely inside software, and more specifically inside GarageBand for replicating OK iPad.
I hope that through this project other people will learn how to use GarageBand more effectively. I also hope to hear from people who have encountered different ways to solve various problems.
Finally, after the first experience of recording “No Surprises”, I know I will certainly come to more deeply appreciate the songwriting and recording techniques utilized in this fantastic record.
Humanoid Assistive Units
Christopher ScheidelProducer, technologist, OK iPad engineer and vocalist.
Nolan VossArtist, producer, co-founding member of Anicon, graphic designer, OK iPad vocalist.
