Radiohead creepy vocal synth sound?

[floydianite]

Does anyone know what Radiohead used to get that weird vocal sound in Exit Music (For A Film) (from 1:27 - 2:17; again at 3:21)? Sounds like maybe a formant synth replicating a bunch of "ahhhh"s and "oohhh"s with a fast attack and release and some creative panning. There's also this wavering effect, possibly a slight detuning or modulation of some sort. What soft synth would you use to emulate this sound (and create similar sounds)?

[ViktorW]

These are from a Mellotron, the choir sounds from the Mellotron. You can probably find some samples for free if you look around, maybe on some free soundfont sites. Give it a try.

Vik

[Rusty Shackleford]

Audio Damage 914 fixed filter bank really gives a spooky vocal-esque sound to anything running through it too.

[headhunter]

Yes it's a Mellotron. I've seen a Radiohead gig on TV and remember one on stage. Gmedia do M-Tron with most of the tapes.

[floydianite]

Thanks guys, I didn't realize it was a Mellotron on that song. I knew they used it on OKC and I'm guessing on "Like Spinning Plates" (not sure).

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Thanks guys, I didn't realize it was a Mellotron on that song. I knew they used it on OKC and I'm guessing on "Like Spinning Plates" (not sure).

Well, Like Spinning Plates is reversed background music, then, vocals which were first sang forward, later reversed, learned phonetically in reverse, then sung forwards and finally reversed to sound funny. That has nothing to do with a Melotron though.

[Polite Company]

You can probably find some samples for free if you look around, maybe on some free soundfont sites. Give it a try.

Vik

Tweakbench's Tapeworm feature's some choral samples from the H.P. Hovercraft Mellotron page. Definitely worth trying out.