GOD! THEY PLAY EVERYTHING LIVE!!! Yes, they're THAT GOOD. THe only thing that they have are the synths and the back track for Violet Hill, ETIAW, and the new version of GPASUYF (the thing at the start). Because if you remember, in numerous hilarious occasions, they mess up and Chris swears. Need I mention Glastonbury- Us Against The World? Or Main Stage in France where they had to redo In My Place coz Will made a mistake? Or in either Rock in Rio or Rock Am Ring (I forgot exactly) where Chris made a mistake for his part in GPASUYF and he swore? They dont FAKE THINGS LIVE. THEY PERFORM LIVE. They are really good. After 12 years, dont you think Jonny would have perfected the songs by now? And he does make mistakes actually. :D but its rare.

they also use back tracks somethings for Viva. coz of the strings and David Rossi isnt there to play. :)

And as said earlier, Chris sings everything LIVE. you could tell coz of how he changes things. and how he goes earlier than he's supposed to. and how he makes mistakes. HAHAH! :)

^Also: Stringed stuff in VLV.

 

I know that they use MIDI controllers, but I'm pretty sure that they don't use it in this case. It's too precise, ALL. THE. TIME.

^Also: Stringed stuff in VLV.

 

I know that they use MIDI controllers, but I'm pretty sure that they don't use it in this case. It's too precise, ALL. THE. TIME.

 

I agree. To me, VLV looks like a classic pop performance - the music is played back entirely, but the singing is live.

If they could play it, they would. But it's layers and layers of Davide Rossi, it can't be duplicated so easily on MIDI controllers. I think this applies to all the strings in their songs, not just VLV.

 

Chris always sings live, except for the Fix You "choir", they use a back-track + sing live.

Also, just listen to the guitar solo Jonny used to produce during A Rush Of Blood To The Head, always fantastic, always different, no way that it's fake.

Lol - oh to be so simple as calling it "faking"

 

Coldplay uses a level of backtracking in some of their tracks. Most an amateur ear will never pick out. Some points about Coldplay's live performances:

 

1. Chris's piano is not a piano. It is a MIDI controller in a piano casing. The keys run to a sound module which include piano, organ and other synth sounds.

 

2. Jonny and Guy's keyboard is not a keyboard. It too is a MIDI controller that controls various sound modules. The set up is complex and requires someone who really knows what they are doing to set it up. So yes the strings in VLV, the synths of every teardrop, the harpsichord in LIJ, all of it is being played, I can tell that by the minimal level of proficiency Jonny displays when he plays them. No offense to him, but he's a guitar player first.

 

3. Jonny will often look like the strumming motions he makes sound nothing like what is coming out. That is because Jonny (much like the Edge) is a master of guitar effects. The final signal is so drenched in effects that it sounds nothing like it is originally strummed. It generally more of a soundscape. He does have plenty of lead lines, and does mess up more than most guitarists, but not a ton.

 

Chris also messes up on piano frequently. He is a great pianist but tries to do a lot and sing at the same time.

 

The band has a keyboard tech that has yet another MIDI keyboard that is played by him live back by the mixing desk. So there kind of is a 5th member lurking out there, that you never see. Sometimes when you hear more sounds then what can possibly be produced by 4 people, it is because more than 4 people are producing it.

 

All in all some of Coldplay's live performance is back-tracked, but it is not near as much as you would think, probably around 10% of the sounds, backing vocals, etc.

 

VLV and MX songs require considerably more complex algorithms to play live than the previous material.

 

Correction: Chris's piano is a electronic piano. It's real, but they also wired it up so it works like a MIDI controller.

 

Hoppy is Chris's guitar tech. We had the chance to talk to him after a show. My husband is fascinated by Chris's piano, so he asked Hoppy a lot of questions about the piano.

 

Your husband isn't the only guy :lol:

Lol - oh to be so simple as calling it "faking"

 

Coldplay uses a level of backtracking in some of their tracks. Most an amateur ear will never pick out. Some points about Coldplay's live performances:

 

1. Chris's piano is not a piano. It is a MIDI controller in a piano casing. The keys run to a sound module which include piano, organ and other synth sounds.

 

2. Jonny and Guy's keyboard is not a keyboard. It too is a MIDI controller that controls various sound modules. The set up is complex and requires someone who really knows what they are doing to set it up. So yes the strings in VLV, the synths of every teardrop, the harpsichord in LIJ, all of it is being played, I can tell that by the minimal level of proficiency Jonny displays when he plays them. No offense to him, but he's a guitar player first.

 

3. Jonny will often look like the strumming motions he makes sound nothing like what is coming out. That is because Jonny (much like the Edge) is a master of guitar effects. The final signal is so drenched in effects that it sounds nothing like it is originally strummed. It generally more of a soundscape. He does have plenty of lead lines, and does mess up more than most guitarists, but not a ton.

 

Chris also messes up on piano frequently. He is a great pianist but tries to do a lot and sing at the same time.

 

The band has a keyboard tech that has yet another MIDI keyboard that is played by him live back by the mixing desk. So there kind of is a 5th member lurking out there, that you never see. Sometimes when you hear more sounds then what can possibly be produced by 4 people, it is because more than 4 people are producing it.

 

All in all some of Coldplay's live performance is back-tracked, but it is not near as much as you would think, probably around 10% of the sounds, backing vocals, etc.

 

VLV and MX songs require considerably more complex algorithms to play live than the previous material.

 

Thank you. Super helpful.

 

I think a lot of us like more complex sounds, and Coldplay are certainly known for the depth of their sound. The more complex the songs, the more backtracking we may hear. I was listening to Warning Sign this morning (album version) and there is a lot going on in that song! I've always thought of them as supertalents who can play any song any way they want.

Like some people said, the piano of chirs martin is wired to play different sounds.

And johny has a guitar tech what is changing the guitar sounds during parts of the song or songs. And guys bass in paradise is just real, they just changed the sounds.

 

We also know that coldplay have a secret member, like in yellow live 2003, whos playing the guitar? the oracle told: its a member whats hidden or something. cant remember the whole answer.

 

They are not playbacking (atleast not the sang/guitar/drums. But maybe is some tunes from myloxyloto and the ITIAW electrik sound at the begin played from a CD.

 

Thats the only thing i think what they playback.

 

From bearcats post:

 

I think ur right but not with VLV:P u see chris humping to the keyboard thing to do the other part of vlv keyboard thing right:P

I think ur right but not with VLV:P u see chris humping to the keyboard thing to do the other part of vlv keyboard thing right:P

 

Chris does not hump, he makes love. :nod:

^Also: Stringed stuff in VLV.

 

I know that they use MIDI controllers, but I'm pretty sure that they don't use it in this case. It's too precise, ALL. THE. TIME.

 

Thats why theres a 5th member that press a handfull of buttons between the songs to make the sound perfect. Like johny in CB the guitar riff when chris is not singing and then when chris is singen the guitar has a different sound.

 

Btw i think the opening of CB (not the guitar part) but the synthpart, is by the tech played or something.

 

sorry for my english on the last line, didnt know how to make the line perfectly:)

I've seen several interviews on You Tube (which I found in this forum somewhere) with their MIDI and keyboard technician.

 

Chris's piano is a Yamaha GT20 and is called a 'silent piano', which a real upright piano but with MIDI in/outs built in. You can play it either like a piano or jut as a MIDI controller. In the case of the later, the hammers don't actually touch the strings but still send all the MIDI data to thir sound modules, which are all stores and controlled backstage.

 

The MIDI piano sound Chris uses was actually sampled from his Kawai, which they used during the Parachutes era, becaus he really like the sounds and couldn't find anything similar in sound from a real piano.

 

The organ on Fix You comes from a Korg Triton, which he plays via the 'piano'.

 

There are other samples that are triggered live, such as Will's bell in Viva La Vida and some of the snare and Tom noises in Violet Hill. The bell is something they bought in Texas but sounded terrible. They took the bell out and place a MIDI trigger inside do every time Will hits the bell, it triggers the bell sample from the modules under the stage.

 

As for backing tracks, most of the songs are done to a click and contain some element of baking, which is run from a 16 track Tascam hard disk recorder. This is stuff like the strings in Viva, a lot of Eno's synths and Chris's vocoda backing vocals in Hurts Like Heven.

 

A lot of bands, such as U2 and Muse, use baking tracks nowadays as they couldn't reproduce some of the texture that their music has live without an extensive amount of musicians performing it. All the bread and butter, guitars, bass, drums and piano, are live.

 

The BV's are all live too (except for the aforementioned).

Chris does not hump, he makes love. :nod:

 

:awesome:

you talk about the business Coldpay and technical instuments of music on this thread?

 

or you talk about other things?

OK, I'm not saying they're Britney Spears who has never sang live in her life, I'm asking people who have been to their concerts

and know a thing or two about playing an instrument (unlike moi :awesome:), what songs (or parts of songs) they just do on playback + sing live.

For example, I think that VLV, Lost, Charlie Brown, parts of Paradise etc. are all almost 100% playback.

 

 

Look at CB, obviously they're going to playback the alien voices, but if you look closely at Jonny, I think he's totally faking it. :confused:

And does Chris really have a built-in organ or synthesizer for Fix You?

 

I don't care if it's not all live, I just wanna be sure that I got it right. ;)

 

 

Jonny's actually playing the riff, but his part is doubled over by a Dulcimer, which is playback.

 

Generally, they use a lot less backing than people tend to think. Obviously all strings are prerecorded, as are most of the other "weird" instruments used in the Viva tracks, but most of the rest of it is live.

The riff from CB is really easy so im not surprised that a guitarist like jonny pulls it off perfectly every time. I've heard them do the looping thing on Us Against the World...I saw Chris pluck like 4 notes on the guitar at the end and then set the guitar down and run back for Politik. Kinda trippy in a cool way :)

 

That's a delay effect. Jonny uses one at the end of UATW too. It keeps their final bit of playing on a loop for awhile.

I know that some parts are playback for example on Viva La Vida you can hear two Chris Martin on the chorus so I think they use to have an earpice monitor with the beat on those kind of songs. But Chris, Jonny, Will and Guy are always playing their instruments live.

It is easy to find out though, just audiorip the sound from some concerts and check the bpm, if the bpm always is the same it is probably a clicktrack or beat they play with. But everything they can play live at the same time the play live. They use to have another member who plays synthparts and strings in the background i think.

 

Chris piano is a discontinued Yamaha GT20 (grantouch) its all digital but it has real hammer action but no strings. The piano is connected via MIDI or Line to a synthrack where they have two Korg Triton Racks for the Fix You organs, Kawai Mp9000 keyboard in rack format for chris piano sound and some muse receptors with NI Kontact installed for strings and other sounds.

 

The funny thing is the piano sound because its actually not sampled, he plays the Kawai Mp9000 but it is kontrolled by the Yamaha GT20 so the Yamaha is kind of a MIDI kontroller for the Kawai.

They stripped the Kawai and inserted the electronics into a rack enclosure so it is the actuall the instrument in a rack (rack modul). I guess that Chris liked the look of the Yamaha a lot more but the sound of the Kawai.

this thread is so helpful

I know that some parts are playback for example on Viva La Vida you can hear two Chris Martin on the chorus so I think they use to have an earpice monitor with the beat on those kind of songs. But Chris, Jonny, Will and Guy are always playing their instruments live.

It is easy to find out though, just audiorip the sound from some concerts and check the bpm, if the bpm always is the same it is probably a clicktrack or beat they play with. But everything they can play live at the same time the play live. They use to have another member who plays synthparts and strings in the background i think.

 

Chris piano is a discontinued Yamaha GT20 (grantouch) its all digital but it has real hammer action but no strings. The piano is connected via MIDI or Line to a synthrack where they have two Korg Triton Racks for the Fix You organs, Kawai Mp9000 keyboard in rack format for chris piano sound and some muse receptors with NI Kontact installed for strings and other sounds.

 

The funny thing is the piano sound because its actually not sampled, he plays the Kawai Mp9000 but it is kontrolled by the Yamaha GT20 so the Yamaha is kind of a MIDI kontroller for the Kawai.

They stripped the Kawai and inserted the electronics into a rack enclosure so it is the actuall the instrument in a rack (rack modul). I guess that Chris liked the look of the Yamaha a lot more but the sound of the Kawai.

 

This sounds like rocket science to me. Lots of info!

That's a delay effect. Jonny uses one at the end of UATW too. It keeps their final bit of playing on a loop for awhile.

 

It's called "loop station".

This sounds like rocket science to me. Lots of info!

 

:nod:

OK, I'm not saying they're Britney Spears who has never sang live in her life, I'm asking people who have been to their concerts

and know a thing or two about playing an instrument (unlike moi :awesome:), what songs (or parts of songs) they just do on playback + sing live.

For example, I think that VLV, Lost, Charlie Brown, parts of Paradise etc. are all almost 100% playback.

 

 

Look at CB, obviously they're going to playback the alien voices, but if you look closely at Jonny, I think he's totally faking it. :confused:

And does Chris really have a built-in organ or synthesizer for Fix You?

 

I don't care if it's not all live, I just wanna be sure that I got it right. ;)

 

 

They're not "faking" anything so much as they are supplementing through the use of loops and audio sequencing tracks. Yes, they do make extensive use of such tracks live, but only for instruments the band's not playing on stage (the exceptions being some acoustic guitar parts, which are played off stage by one of the two guitar techs, and very occasional overdubbed vocals by Chris, such as the end of ETIAW, so he can have two vocal parts going at the same time.)

 

Basically, everything you see one of the band members playing/singing is live, everything you don't is not. I'm not sure I'd call that faking, which to me implies that they're pretending to play a live part that they're not.

Live vs Playback

 

Hey!

 

I have a lot of friends that say Coldplay use to do playback in their last albums, not in every concert but usually when they play more powerful songs they have a lot of instruments pre recorded. What do you think about this question? For example I prefer to have more fun at their concerts rather than have the songs stripped down to 4 instruments.

Yes it's true, Coldplay do use extra pre recorded violins and synth parts to enhance the live experience.

Coldplay roadie Matt Mcginn even wrote about it in his book, 'My Life On The Road With Coldplay' when he says that sometimes he even plays the odd guitar part off stage to help fill in.

 

A lot of groups do it.

 

U2 had someone playing a keyboard during Unknown Caller on their 360 tour, with live footage of him playing his solo underneath the stage beamed live on the screens in the stadiums!

 

This only accounts for a tiny part of the live shows as 99% of the music is 'live' and played by the band!

 

There are a lot of people who perform live that don't even sing and just lip sync!

Threads merged :)