Depeche Mode - NEW LIFE - Played on Realistic Moog MG-1 Synth

Published on Jan 10, 2019 peahix

Peahix is one of my synth heroes. His creations never cease to amaze me. He also runs optigan.com.

"I resurrected an old Cubase file I created originally to record a version of this track for my Yamaha CS01II synth, in order to test out this Moog MG-1 I picked up for $100 at a garage sale. All the sounds (drums too) were generated by the MG-1. I didn't spend alot of time dialing in the patches or the mix for this one, just sort of got it ball-parky. I did a bit of a better job overall w/ the CS01II version, which you can hear and read about here: [below]

Anyway, the Moog was MIDI'd up to Cubase via a Kenton Pro-Solo, and it seemed to work nicely with that. Neat little synth!"

Yamaha CS01II plays NEW LIFE by Depeche Mode

Published on May 9, 2011 peahix

"Download this with better sound quality here: http://snd.sc/iD5jmD

The Yamaha CS01II is the first real synthesizer I ever owned. I got it when I was about 14 years old, back in 1985 or so. I noticed that I could get reasonable approximations of most of the sounds from Depeche Mode's "Speak & Spell" album with it, but at the time I didn't have the means to make decent multi-track cover versions, even after I got a 4-track.

Recently I was studying the Depeche Mode 5.1 surround mixes, and realized that I could clearly hear all the distinct parts of alot of the songs, including "New Life." I also realized that most of the sounds in "New Life," which heavily featured the ARP 2600, were fairly simple. So I decided to throw together a version of it using just my trusty old Yamaha CS01II as the sole sound source (including the drums), just to see how close I could get to the original.

This version has no vocals at all, but otherwise it comes pretty close to the original. The actual musical arrangement is 100% accurate. The sounds themselves are of course only approximations, and most of them don't have the same level of timbral detail as the ARP originals. I sequenced the whole thing in Cubase via a Kenton Pro Solo going into the custom CV/Gate inputs on my CS01II, recording each monophonic line in one at a time (20 tracks in all). Cubase provided the reverb and EQ, otherwise it's all CS01II."

Depeche Mode - NOTHING TO FEAR - Transcription / Re-Creation by Peahix

Published on Nov 25, 2015 peahix

Another great cover by peahix of http://optigan.com. Details on the synth parts below.

"Here's the latest in my periodic series of Depeche Mode song re-creations. I don't really call these "covers," because I'm not doing any sort of creative interpretation. The goal is to get as close as possible to the original recording by not using ANY samples or sound material from the original recording itself. So really, this is a technical exercise more than anything. As usual, I used the original album mix and the surround mix as reference points, and I also was able to hear a few details in DM's live recording. There are differences between these versions, so where I found conflicting parts or mix issues, I deferred to the original album mix. It's a pretty accurate transcription (probably the only one you'll find that gets the bassline right!), though there are some details that are buried in the mix of all the different versions, so I had to make some educated guesses for a few things, or I just fudged them. I sequenced this in Cubase with just two different soft synths- Retrologue and a PPG Wave freeware emulation I found online (http://www.hermannseib.com/english/sy...). Drums are Simmons SDSV samples I found online . Many of the effects on this track come from the PPG synth, so I did my best to get some sounds from the soft synth version that got in the ballpark. I didn't slave over every last patch, so some of them are closer to the mark than others. Probably could have worked on the drum sounds and the mix a bit more, but oh well, life's too short. Enjoy."

retrologue:
-bass
-lead
-sequencey riffs
-noise sweeps
-noise perc

ppg wave:
-choir
-keyboard riff (near beginning and end)
-bell-like sound
-glitchy wavetable sounds
-chord riff in bridge

all drums are simmons samples except for the hi-hat, which is 808 high-hat samples.

Depeche Mode - PHOTOGRAPHIC - Re-created w/ Arturia Arp 2600V

Published on Aug 19, 2014 peahix

"For the latest in my series of Speak & Spell era Depeche Mode re-creations, I decided to do 'Photographic' as an excuse to learn a bit about the ARP 2600 via Arturia's software emulation, the 2600V. The original track was done mostly, if not entirely with an ARP 2600, so I wanted to see how close I could get to the original sounds. The answer? Not very. I'm sure much of this is due to my lack of programming skills on the 2600, which I'm just learning. But I also suspect alot of it has to do with the shortcomings of the 2600V. Either that, or Daniel Miller & EC Radcliffe compressed the hell out of those sounds (or something)! The basic issue is that I couldn't get the 2600V's envelopes to sound anywhere near as snappy and punchy as the sounds on the DM track. I could get the patches in the ballpark, but mine all just sounded too mushy and wimpy. The kick drum in particular gave me trouble- I couldn't figure out how to get anywhere near Mr. Miller's famous 2600 kick. If anyone knows how to get it on the 2600V, please enlighten me!

Anyway, the one thing I am really proud of here is my reverse-engineering of the little randomized sequence heard throughout the track. Since the 2600V also has an emulation of the ARP 3601 sequencer (which was used extensively on the original track), I delved into the old user manual for the 3601 and worked out how this sequence was put together. The still image in my "video" shows the patch for this sequence. I was actually going to transcribe the entire part from the original (which would have been twice the job, since there's two passes of this sequence in stereo), but despite being able to hear it clearly much of the time, it was drowned too much in the mix at other times, so I said screw it. I decided instead it was actually more interesting to work out the 3601 sequencer settings for this part, even though inevitably the random notes that my sequence played are different from the original track. The note series is the same, though, which is the same note series as the little riff that plays under "I take pictures," making the random sequence a variation on that sequence. The gate switches are set such that half of them don't re-trigger the envelope, so you get note changes in the decay tails. I transcribed enough of the original part to verify that every other note in the sequence is switched differently. Plus, I got the actual 2600V patch reasonably close for this sound. The squelchy little hi-hat type sound runs on the same sequence just with a different patch.

OK, that's all I feel like typing about this one. Kinda lukewarm on it, given that in theory I should have been able to get alot closer with the 2600 sounds. But oh well. Let me know if you'd like my patches- maybe you can improve upon them!"

More by peahix

Yazoo - DON'T GO - Re-created w/ Sequential Circuits Pro-One Synth

Published on Jul 23, 2014 peahix

Another one from Pea Hicks. Don't miss the Yazoo Only You cover, and his Yamaha CS-01 Depeche Mode covers. Click here for all posts featuring peahix.

"By special request, here's another Yaz track re-created w/ the Sequential Circuits Pro-One synth. The original actually has a fair amount of ARP 2600 in it, which means that the sounds in my version are a bit hit-and-miss, but I was able to get reasonably close with most of the sounds. My starting point for this was four patches posted at http://www.unease.se/proone.htm which I modified to get closer to the original sounds. The kick is the same patch from the Vince Clarke magazine article that I used on "Only You." All the other sounds I programmed from scratch. Everything was sequenced in Cubase, and the Pro-One sounds were recorded one at a time via a Kenton Pro Solo MIDI/CV interface.

Note that, as with 'Only You,' the original recording is actually pitched a bit sharp. I've decided to record my versions at concert pitch (A440) for the sake of keeping things standard.

The snare, clap (heavy reverb), and hi-hat (heavy flanging) are all 808. The kick and toms are Pro-One.

For the record, I don't view these re-creations as "covers" or creative projects. They're more like jigsaw puzzles to me. A way to challenge my ear, a way to find out the limits of my limited gear, and a way to try to get into the head of musicians/producers I admire. Otherwise, they're relatively pointless and aren't meant to be creative statements in and of themselves.

Here you can download my midi file and patch sheets if you want to have a go and make your own version. Just let me know and give me a mention if you post your version anywhere. https://www.dropbox.com/s/s5342gtfi6o...

Thanks again to frankperri.com for the blank patch sheets!"

Yamaha CS01 II

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

The listing has a demo video by peahix. Peahix also made some incredible Depeche Mode covers using only the Yamaha CS01 II. You can check them out here.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Yamaha CS01II Plays BIG MUFF by Depeche Mode by Pea Hicks Cubase Capture

Yamaha CS01II Plays BIG MUFF by Depeche Mode - Cubase Screen Capture

Published on Dec 4, 2012 by peahix

"I've had several skeptics weigh in on my various Depeche Mode covers done all on my Yamaha CS01II synth, so I thought I'd make a screen-cap video showing the Cubase session for my rendition of "Big Muff." Here's the mastered version I posted previously: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IiZlvr7fXs [posted here]

In this version, you can see all my parts, and I solo all the different bits throughout so you can hear how it all comes together. Note that for several sounds there are actually two different tracks that play together to form a composite sound. The CS01II is a pretty limited synth, and in order to more accurately achieve certain sounds, I had to split things into their component parts. The channels that remain muted throughout are just the MIDI parts, which aren't outputting to anything here, since each MIDI track was recorded one at a time via the CS01II to an audio track. Anyway, hopefully this is useful or interesting to someone!!"

Click here for a search on "Peahix Depeche Mode" that will bring up more covers featuring only the Yamaha CS01 mkII.

Yamaha CS01II plays BIG MUFF by Depeche Mode

YouTube Uploaded by peahix on May 19, 2011

"Download this track at: http://snd.sc/iyLd2s

The Yamaha CS01II is the first real synthesizer I ever owned. I got it when I was about 14 years old, back in 1985 or so. I noticed that I could get reasonable approximations of most of the sounds from Depeche Mode's "Speak & Spell" album with it, but at the time I didn't have the means to make decent multi-track cover versions, even after I got a 4-track.

Recently I was studying the Depeche Mode 5.1 surround mixes, and realized that I could clearly hear all the distinct parts of alot of the songs, so I decided to throw together some renditions using just my trusty old Yamaha CS01II as the sole sound source (including the drums), just to see how close I could get to the originals using very limited means.

The actual musical arrangement is about 100% accurate. The sounds themselves are of course only approximations, and most of them don't have the same level of timbral detail as the ARP originals. I sequenced the whole thing in Cubase via a Kenton Pro Solo going into the custom CV/Gate inputs on my CS01II, recording each monophonic line in one at a time. Cubase provided the reverb and EQ, otherwise it's all CS01II. I've deliberately been quite pure about this process- other than the reverb/delay/EQ, there's no manipulation of the sounds going on here. This is, for me, mostly a technical exercise, so it wouldn't make much sense to process the sounds very much, as that would only take it further away from the native sound of the CS01II.

I don't really consider these to be "covers" as such- if I were covering these tunes, I'd do something creative with them as opposed to just mimicing them as closely as possible. I don't have any desire to "cover" these songs in that sense. At any rate, this project has been a good exercise in close listening and mixing for me, so I see that as the main reward for my efforts."

Also see:
Yamaha CS01II plays ICE MACHINE by Depeche Mode
Yamaha CS01II plays NEW LIFE by Depeche Mode
Yamaha CS01II plays JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH by Depeche Mode

Pea runs Optigan.com

Yamaha CS01II plays ICE MACHINE by Depeche Mode

YouTube Uploaded by peahix on May 18, 2011

"Download this track here: http://snd.sc/jE70lS

The Yamaha CS01II is the first real synthesizer I ever owned. I got it when I was about 14 years old, back in 1985 or so. I noticed that I could get reasonable approximations of most of the sounds from Depeche Mode's "Speak & Spell" album with it, but at the time I didn't have the means to make decent multi-track cover versions, even after I got a 4-track.

Recently I was studying the Depeche Mode 5.1 surround mixes, and realized that I could clearly hear all the distinct parts of alot of the songs, so I decided to throw together some renditions using just my trusty old Yamaha CS01II as the sole sound source (including the drums), just to see how close I could get to the originals.

This version has no vocals at all, but otherwise it comes pretty close to the original. The actual musical arrangement is about 100% accurate. The sounds themselves are of course only approximations, and most of them don't have the same level of timbral detail as the ARP originals. I sequenced the whole thing in Cubase via a Kenton Pro Solo going into the custom CV/Gate inputs on my CS01II, recording each monophonic line in one at a time. Cubase provided the reverb and EQ, otherwise it's all CS01II."

Also see:
Yamaha CS01II plays NEW LIFE by Depeche Mode
Yamaha CS01II plays JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH by Depeche Mode

Pea runs Optigan.com

Yamaha CS01II plays JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH by Depeche Mode

YouTube Uploaded by peahix on May 12, 2011
follow-up to Yamaha CS01II plays NEW LIFE by Depeche Mode
"Download a higher quality copy here: http://snd.sc/mCXyWu

The Yamaha CS01II is the first real synthesizer I ever owned. I got it when I was about 14 years old, back in 1985 or so. I noticed that I could get reasonable approximations of most of the sounds from Depeche Mode's "Speak & Spell" album with it, but at the time I didn't have the means to make decent multi-track cover versions, even after I got a 4-track.

Recently I was studying the Depeche Mode 5.1 surround mixes, and realized that I could clearly hear all the distinct parts of alot of the songs, so I decided to throw together some renditions using just my trusty old Yamaha CS01II as the sole sound source (including the drums), just to see how close I could get to the originals.

This version has no vocals at all, but otherwise it comes pretty close to the original. The actual musical arrangement is about 100% accurate. The sounds themselves are of course only approximations, and most of them don't have the same level of timbral detail as the ARP originals. I sequenced the whole thing in Cubase via a Kenton Pro Solo going into the custom CV/Gate inputs on my CS01II, recording each monophonic line in one at a time. Cubase provided the reverb and EQ, otherwise it's all CS01II.

The trickiest bits to transcribe accurately were the brass stabs and arpeggiator in the bridge, both originally played on a Roland Jupiter 4. The brass stabs are a series of 4-note chords, which of course I had to record in one note at a time, since you can't play chords on the CS01II.

The drums also require multiple passes. For instance, the "timbale" part required a white noise burst (band-pass EQ'd) and a low sine wave (hi-pass EQ'd). The kick and snare also have multiple components.

Sorry for the boring repeat visuals- just can't be bothered! :)"

Yamaha CS01II plays NEW LIFE by Depeche Mode

YouTube Uploaded by peahix on May 9, 2011

"The Yamaha CS01II is the first real synthesizer I ever owned. I got it when I was about 14 years old, back in 1985 or so. I noticed that I could get reasonable approximations of most of the sounds from Depeche Mode's "Speak & Spell" album with it, but at the time I didn't have the means to make decent multi-track cover versions, even after I got a 4-track.

Recently I was studying the Depeche Mode 5.1 surround mixes, and realized that I could clearly hear all the distinct parts of alot of the songs, including "New Life." I also realized that most of the sounds in "New Life," which heavily featured the ARP 2600, were fairly simple. So I decided to throw together a version of it using just my trusty old Yamaha CS01II as the sole sound source (including the drums), just to see how close I could get to the original.

This version has no vocals at all, but otherwise it comes pretty close to the original. The actual musical arrangement is 100% accurate. The sounds themselves are of course only approximations, and most of them don't have the same level of timbral detail as the ARP originals. I sequenced the whole thing in Cubase via a Kenton Pro Solo going into the custom CV/Gate inputs on my CS01II, recording each monophonic line in one at a time. Cubase provided the reverb and EQ, otherwise it's all CS01II."

via Pea Hicks of http://www.optigan.com/

Depeche Mode - In The Studio (2008) - Web Clip #17

YouTube via dmdotcom. sent my way via peahix
"Martin, in his Prada cape (with "ample, gothic circumference"), playing a Theremin.

Martin: "You'll all be wearing them soon..."

Camera: Andrew Fletcher.

Check http://www.depechemode.com/ for all Sounds Of The Universe (and Tour) details!

Sounds Of The Universe - Released April 20th (Europe) / April 21st (North America), 2009"