Radiohead went wireless for the first time during their recent tour after testing a new system that left even their most cynical techs impressed.
The band’s shows across the UK and Europe late last year were their first in seven years, and a newly forged relationship with US firm Sound Devices has helped modernize their live rigs and perhaps convinced them to ditch cables for good.
“The band doesn’t tend to change how they operate for the sake of changing; they are only interested in upgrades that will serve their musical goals,” says Radiohead FOH mixer Simon Hodge. “Although the band has used RF [Radio Frequency] systems for guitars in the past, the opinion was always that it never sounded as good as a cable.
“In an arena, you have so many factors affecting the sound that go far beyond RF or cables, which is why we spend so much time in advance doing blind tests and ensuring we’re starting from the best place.”
Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, and Thom Yorke, as well as bass player Colin Greenwood, have all welcomed Astral ARX32 Wireless Receivers and Astral TX Wireless Transmitters into their setups.
One important factor was Sound Device’s Astral Guitar Cable – for connecting electric guitars to the Astral transmitters – which ended up having no impact on their tone whatsoever.
“We brought it into Jonny’s studio and did some blind tests between Astral and their preferred cables,” Hodge recounts. “We all listened, and even the most cynical guitar techs were impressed.
“The quality of the audio path was obvious, and it wasn’t changing the sound at all. The packs also auto-detect the cable, allowing us to easily adjust them in the receiver menu or UI as needed per instrument.”
Then there was the matter of dealing with the multiple guitar changes throughout the set.
So, the tech fed the Astral ARX32 inputs into a Prodigy Audio Processor via Dante and custom Streamdeck controllers, essentially creating a main hub for all the guitar signals.
“The band travels with dozens of guitars; Ed O’Brien himself had 32 on this run,” Hodge says. “This was the first time we could have all 32 at once accessible and easily switchable in the same interface, a choice that either the musician or tech can make as needed.
“The Astral Guitar System ended up being a game changer for us.”
As revealed to Rolling Stone in March, the band has adopted a less chaotic touring model moving forward, promising 20 shows per year on a different continent. Last year, they played four-show residencies in five European cities, with other continents set to get some Radiohead action in the near future.
Elsewhere, Ed O’Brien, who recently announced a new solo album, has opened up about how the guitar has helped him combat depression.
