Editing Kid A (section)

== Recording ==
{{see also|Amnesiac (album)#Recording}} [[File:Jonny Greenwood - Ondas Martenot.jpg|thumb|Jonny Greenwood performing on an [[ondes Martenot]] in 2010|alt=]]After the success of ''OK Computer'', Radiohead bought a barn in Oxfordshire and converted it into a recording studio.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Jude |author-link=Jude Rogers |date=2024-09-29 |title=‘It commemorates collective moments’: Radiohead through the eyes of Colin Greenwood |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/29/radiohead-colin-greenwood-photography-how-to-disappear#comments |access-date=2024-09-29 |work=[[The Observer]] |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>{{sfn|Randall|2004|pp=183, 189}} Yorke planned to use it as the German band [[Can (band)|Can]] had used their studio in Cologne, recording everything they played and then editing it.<ref name="monsters" /> As the studio would not be complete until late 1999, Radiohead began work in Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris, in January 1999.<ref name="monsters" />

Radiohead worked with the ''OK Computer'' producer [[Nigel Godrich]] and had no deadline. Yorke, who had the greatest control, was still facing writer's block.<ref name="monsters" /> His new songs were incomplete, and some consisted of little more than sounds or rhythms; few had clear verses or choruses.<ref name="monsters" /> Yorke's lack of lyrics created problems, as these had provided points of reference and inspiration for his bandmates in the past.<ref name="KENT">{{cite journal |last=Kent |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Kent |date=1 June 2001 |title=Happy now? |journal=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]}}</ref>

The group struggled with Yorke's new direction. According to Godrich, Yorke did not communicate much,<ref name="postrockband2">{{cite news|last=Marzorati|first=Gerald|date=1 October 2000|title=The post-rock band|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/01/magazine/the-post-rock-band.html|access-date=28 July 2008|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and according to Yorke, Godrich "didn't understand why, if we had such a strength in one thing, we would want to do something else".<ref name="ZORIC"/> The lead guitarist, [[Jonny Greenwood]], feared "awful art-rock nonsense just for its own sake".<ref name="monsters" /> His brother, Colin, did not enjoy Yorke's Warp influences, finding them "really cold".<ref name="KENT" /> The other band members were unsure of how to contribute, and considered leaving.<ref name="KENT" /> O'Brien said: "It's scary&nbsp;– everyone feels insecure. I'm a guitarist and suddenly it's like, well, there are no guitars on this track, or no drums."<ref name="monsters" />

Radiohead experimented with electronic instruments including [[Modular synthesizer|modular synthesisers]] and the [[ondes Martenot]], an early electronic instrument similar to a [[theremin]], and used software such as [[Pro Tools]] and [[Cubase]] to edit and manipulate their recordings.<ref name="monsters" /> They found it difficult to use electronic instruments collaboratively. According to Yorke, "We had to develop ways of going off into corners and build things on whatever sequencer, synthesiser or piece of machinery we would bring to the equation and then integrate that into the way we would normally work."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sterner |first=Daniel |date=July 2019 |title=Talk: Thom Yorke |url=https://www.elektronauts.com/talk/134 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710213712/https://www.elektronauts.com/talk/134 |archive-date=10 July 2019 |access-date=2019-07-12 |website=[[Elektron (company)|Elektronauts]]}}</ref> O'Brien began using sustain units on his guitar, which allow notes to be [[sustain]]ed infinitely, combined with [[Loop (music)|looping]] and [[Delay (audio effect)|delay]] effects to create synthesiser-like sounds.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 November 2017 |title=Radiohead's Guitarist Created His Own Instrument and Helped Change the Band's Music |website=Esquire |url=http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a13529349/radiohead-ed-obrien-interview/ |url-status=live |access-date=14 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115072535/http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a13529349/radiohead-ed-obrien-interview/ |archive-date=15 November 2017}}</ref>

In March, Radiohead moved to Medley Studios in Copenhagen for two weeks,<ref name="monsters" /> which were unproductive.<ref name="postrockband2" /> The sessions produced about 50 reels of tape, each containing 15 minutes of music, with nothing finished.<ref name="monsters" /> In April, Radiohead resumed recording in a mansion in [[Batsford Park]], Gloucestershire.<ref name="monsters" /> The lack of deadline and the number of incomplete ideas made it hard to focus,<ref name="monsters" /> and the group held tense meetings.<ref name="postrockband2" /> They agreed to disband if they could not agree on an album worth releasing.<ref name="monsters" /> In July, O'Brien began keeping an online diary of Radiohead's progress.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Best You Can Is Good Enough: Radiohead vs. The Corporate Machine |url=https://www.popmatters.com/tools/print/132589/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004163150/http://www.popmatters.com/tools/print/132589/ |archive-date=4 October 2015 |access-date=3 October 2015 |website=[[PopMatters]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref> 

Radiohead moved to their new studio in Oxfordshire in September.<ref name="monsters" /> In November, Radiohead held a live webcast from their studio, featuring a performance of new music and a DJ set.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/570044/radiohead-debut-song-during-webcast/|title=Radiohead debut song during webcast|last=Vanhorn|first=Teri|date=12 November 1999|work=[[MTV News]]|access-date=11 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112021255/http://www.mtv.com/news/570044/radiohead-debut-song-during-webcast/|archive-date=12 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> By 2000, six songs were complete.<ref name="monsters" /> In January, at Godrich's suggestion, Radiohead split into two groups: one would generate a sound or sequence without acoustic instruments such as guitars or drums, and the other would develop it. Though the experiment produced no finished songs, it helped convince O'Brien of the potential of electronic instruments.<ref name="monsters" />

On 19 April 2000, Yorke wrote on Radiohead's website that they had finished recording.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nelson|first=Chris|date=20 April 2000|title=Radiohead complete recording for ''OK Computer'' follow-up|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/821233/radiohead-complete-recording-for-ok-computer-follow-up/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004102055/https://www.mtv.com/news/821233/radiohead-complete-recording-for-ok-computer-follow-up/|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 October 2021|access-date=2021-10-04|website=[[MTV News]]|language=en}}</ref> Having completed over 20 songs,<ref name="DIARY">{{cite web|last=O'Brien|first=Ed|date=22 July 1999 – 26 June 2000|title=Ed's Diary|url=http://www.greenplastic.com/coldstorage/articles/edsdiary/index.php|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070413133839/http://www.greenplastic.com/coldstorage/articles/edsdiary/index.php|archive-date=13 April 2007|access-date=19 May 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Radiohead considered releasing a [[double album]], but felt the material was too dense,<ref name="MTV">{{cite web |last=Yago |first=Gideon |date=18 July 2001 |title=Played in Full |url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/r/radiohead01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715094234/http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/r/radiohead01/ |archive-date=15 July 2014 |access-date=14 July 2014 |website=[[MTV]] |publisher=Viacom}}</ref> and decided that a series of EPs would be a "copout".<ref name="Kot-2001" /> Instead, they saved half the songs for their next album, ''[[Amnesiac (album)|Amnesiac]]'', released the following year. Yorke said Radiohead split the work into two albums because "they cancel each other out as overall finished things. They come from two different places."<ref name="Kot-2001">{{cite web|last=Kot|first=Greg|date=31 July 2001|title='It's difficult justifying being a rock band'|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/07/31/its-difficult-justifying-being-a-rock-band/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212061753/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-07-31/features/0107310006_1_pink-floyd-amnesiac-thom-yorke|archive-date=12 December 2013|access-date=27 March 2012|website=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> He observed that deciding the track list was not just a matter of choosing the best songs, as "you can put all the best songs in the world on a record and they'll ruin each other".<ref name="Yamasaki-2000">{{Cite journal|last1=Yamasaki|first1=Yoichiro|last2=Yamashita|first2=Erica|date=December 2000|title=I Don't Want To Be In A Rock Band Any More|url=|journal=[[Select (magazine)|Select]]|publisher=[[EMAP]]|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> He cited the later [[Beatles]] albums as examples of effective sequencing: "How in the hell can you have three different versions of '[[Revolution (Beatles song)|Revolution]]' on the same record and get away with it? I thought about that sort of thing."<ref name="Yamasaki-2000" /> Agreeing on the track list created arguments, and O'Brien said the band came close to breaking up: "That felt like it could go either way, it could break ... But we came in the next day and it was resolved."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien steps up|url=https://theface.com/music/radiohead-guitarist-ed-obrien-album-shangri-la-interview-thom-yorke|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424035341/https://theface.com/music/radiohead-guitarist-ed-obrien-album-shangri-la-interview-thom-yorke|archive-date=24 April 2020|access-date=2020-04-18|website=The Face|date=6 February 2020 |language=en-gb}}</ref> The album was [[Audio mastering|mastered]] by Chris Blair in [[Abbey Road Studios]], London.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Southall|first1=Brian|title=Abbey Road: The Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studios|last2=Vince|first2=Peter|last3=Rouse|first3=Allan|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-676-4}}</ref>

=== Tracks ===
[[File:DorchesterAbbey Interior Nave&EastWindow.JPG|thumb|upright=0.75|Radiohead recorded the strings for "How to Disappear Completely" in [[Dorchester Abbey]], Oxfordshire.]]Radiohead worked on the first track, "[[Everything in Its Right Place]]", in a conventional band arrangement in Copenhagen and Paris, but without results.<ref name="O'Brien-2000">{{cite interview|last1=O'Brien|first1=Ed|interviewer=Paul Anderson|title=Interview with Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway|last2=Selway|first2=Philip|publisher=[[XFM]]|date=25 September 2000|subject-link1=Ed O'Brien|subject-link2=Philip Selway}}</ref> In Gloucestershire,<ref name="O'Brien-2000"/> Yorke and Godrich transferred the song to a [[Prophet-5]] synthesiser,<ref>{{Cite news|date=4 March 2014|title=The 14 synthesizers that shaped modern music|language=en-US|work=[[The Vinyl Factory]]|url=https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-14-synthesizers-that-shaped-modern-music/|access-date=5 March 2018|archive-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424111958/https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-14-synthesizers-that-shaped-modern-music/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Yorke's vocals were processed in [[Pro Tools]] using a [[Scrubbing (audio)|scrubbing]] tool.<ref name="Greenwood-2000">{{cite interview|last1=Greenwood|first1=Jonny|interviewer=[[Nic Harcourt]]|title=An Interview With Jonny And Colin Greenwood|last2=Greenwood|first2=Colin|work=Morning Becomes Eclectic|publisher=[[KCRW]]|location=Los Angeles|date=20 October 2000|subject-link1=Colin Greenwood|subject-link2=Jonny Greenwood}}</ref> O'Brien and the drummer, [[Philip Selway]], said the track helped them accept that not every song needed every band member to play on it. O'Brien recalled: "To be genuinely sort of delighted that you'd been working for six months on this record and something great has come out of it, and you haven't contributed to it, is a really liberating feeling."<ref name="O'Brien-2000"/> Jonny Greenwood described it as a turning point for the album: "We knew it had to be the first song, and everything just followed after it."<ref name="Greenwood-2000" />

Yorke wrote an early version of "[[The National Anthem (Radiohead song)|The National Anthem]]" when the band was still in school.<ref name="Greenwood-2000" /> In 1997, Radiohead recorded drums and bass for the song, intending to develop it as a B-side for ''OK Computer'', but decided to keep it for their next album.<ref name="Greenwood-2000" /> For ''Kid A'', Greenwood added ondes Martenot and sounds [[Sampling (music)|sampled]] from radio stations,<ref name="Greenwood-2000" /> and Yorke's vocals were processed with a [[ring modulator]].<ref name="mc22">{{cite journal |last=Swenson |first=Kylee |date=January 2001 |title=A Spy In the House of Music: Radiohead's Ed O'Brien Discusses Sonic Espionage |journal=MC2 |pages=44–47 }}</ref> In November 1999,<ref name="mc22"/> Radiohead recorded a [[brass section]] inspired by the "organised chaos" of ''[[Town Hall Concert]]'' by the jazz musician [[Charles Mingus]], instructing the musicians to sound like a "traffic jam".<ref name="JUICE"/>

The strings on "[[How to Disappear Completely]]" were performed by the [[Orchestra of St John's]] and recorded in [[Dorchester Abbey]], a 12th-century church about five miles from Radiohead's Oxfordshire studio.<ref name="MM2">{{cite journal |last=Blashill |first=Pat |date=29 March 2000 |title=Radiohead revealed: the inside story of the year's most important album |url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=66 |url-status=dead |journal=[[Melody Maker]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711130337/http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?year=2000&cutting=66 |archive-date=11 July 2007 |access-date=18 March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |date=21 May 2001 |title=Radiohead warm up with ''Amnesiac'' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-warm-up-with-amnesiac-20010524 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=25 July 2015 |archive-date=15 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715085158/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-warm-up-with-amnesiac-20010524 |url-status=live }}</ref> Radiohead chose the orchestra as they had performed pieces by [[Krzysztof Penderecki|Penderecki]] and [[Olivier Messiaen|Messiaen]].<ref name="JUICE"/> Jonny Greenwood, the only Radiohead member trained in [[music theory]], composed the string arrangement by [[Multitrack recording|multitracking]] his ondes Martenot.<ref name="Greenwood-2000" /> According to Godrich, when the orchestra members saw Greenwood's score "they all just sort of burst into giggles, because they couldn't do what he'd written, because it was impossible&nbsp;– or impossible for them, anyway".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/magazine/jonny-greenwood-radioheads-runaway-guitarist.html|title=Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead's Runaway Guitarist|last=Pappademas|first=Alex|date=9 March 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=22 June 2016|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520115900/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/magazine/jonny-greenwood-radioheads-runaway-guitarist.html|archive-date=20 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The orchestra leader, [[John Lubbock (conductor)|John Lubbock]], encouraged them to experiment and work with Greenwood's ideas.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zoric|first=Lauren|date=October 2000|title=Fitter, Happier, More Productive|journal=Juice}}</ref> The concerts director, Alison Atkinson, said the session was more experimental than the orchestra's usual bookings.<ref name="MM2"/>

[[File:Paul Lanksy&nbsp;- Mild und Leise (sample).ogg|thumb|right|Radiohead sampled this portion of "Mild und Leise", a 1973 [[computer music]] composition by [[Paul Lansky]], for "Idioteque".]]"[[Idioteque]]" was built from a [[drum machine]] pattern Greenwood created with a modular synthesiser.<ref name="Greenwood-2000" /> It incorporates a sample from the electronic composition "Mild und Leise" by [[Paul Lansky]], taken from ''Electronic Music Winners'', a 1976 album of [[experimental music]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lansky |first=Paul |url=http://paul.mycpanel.princeton.edu/radiohead.ml.html |title=My Radiohead Adventure |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]/[[Routledge]] |year=2012 |isbn=9780203086612 |editor-last1=Cateforis |editor-first1=Theo |edition=2nd |pages=8 |doi=10.4324/9780203086612 |s2cid=221172298 |archive-date=20 August 2017 |access-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820030208/http://paul.mycpanel.princeton.edu/radiohead.ml.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Greenwood gave 50 minutes of improvisation to Yorke, who took a short section of it and used it to write the song.<ref name="public-interview">{{cite web |date=12 July 2016 |title=Thom Yorke Talks About Life in the Public Eye |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15226006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220183402/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15226006 |archive-date=20 February 2009 |access-date=29 March 2009 |website=[[NPR]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Yorke said it was "an attempt to capture that exploding beat sound where you're at the club and the PA's so loud, you know it's doing damage".<ref name="REYNOLDS"/>

"Motion Picture Soundtrack" was written before Radiohead's debut single, "[[Creep (Radiohead song)|Creep]]" (1992),<ref name="RC">{{cite web|last=Kennedy |first=Jake |title=Kid A Rock |work=Record Collector |date=November 2000 |access-date=17 March 2007 |archive-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309042328/http://followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?cutting=101&year=2000 |url=http://www.followmearound.com/presscuttings.php?cutting=101&year=2000 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Radiohead recorded a version on piano during the ''OK Computer'' sessions.<ref name=":0" /> For ''Kid A'', Yorke recorded it on a [[pump organ|pedal organ]], influenced by the songwriter [[Tom Waits]]. Radiohead added [[harp]] samples and [[double bass]], attempting to emulate the soundtracks of 1950s [[Disney]] films.<ref name="Greenwood-2000" /><ref name="mixing-it">{{cite interview|last=Sandall|first=Robert|title=Interview with Jonny & Colin|last2=Russell|first2=Mark|url=https://www.mixcloud.com/ferdinandbeckett/mixing-it-20-jan-2001-radiohead-kid-a-special-full-episode/|work=Mixing It|publisher=[[BBC Radio]]|date=20 January 2001|others=Jonny and Colin Greenwood|access-date=22 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165054/https://www.mixcloud.com/ferdinandbeckett/mixing-it-20-jan-2001-radiohead-kid-a-special-full-episode/|archive-date=22 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Radiohead also worked on several songs they did not complete until future albums, including "[[Nude (song)|Nude]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/music-producers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703005546/http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/music-producers|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 July 2011|title=The Music Producers {{!}} Word Magazine|date=3 July 2011|access-date=16 August 2016}}</ref> "[[Burn the Witch (Radiohead song)|Burn the Witch]]"<ref name="pitchfork3">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/65162-watch-radioheads-video-for-new-song-burn-the-witch/|title=Watch Radiohead's Video for New Song 'Burn the Witch'|date=3 May 2016|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|access-date=3 May 2016|last1=Yoo, Noah|last2=Monroe, Jazz|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503174606/http://pitchfork.com/news/65162-watch-radioheads-video-for-new-song-burn-the-witch/|archive-date=3 May 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and "[[True Love Waits (song)|True Love Waits]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2016/05/history-radiohead-true-love-waits.html|title=The 21-Year History of Radiohead's 'True Love Waits,' a Fan Favorite Two Decades in the Making|last=Reilly|first=Dan|date=10 May 2016|website=Vulture|access-date=10 September 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907002120/http://www.vulture.com/2016/05/history-radiohead-true-love-waits.html|archive-date=7 September 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>