Depeche Mode "Cover"

[Modeler]

Not a cover per se; more a verbatim reproduction minus the vocals. I don't know if there are legal implications here, it was all done from scratch though. DM karaoke anyone?

Leave In Silence - 4:50 / 6.8 MB (MP3)

How did X do that? How can I sound like Y?

The point of this exercise was to sound like Y; where Y is Depeche Mode circa 1982. There have been a few posts on KVR where people have debated how to nail that sound, and many asking why the hell would you want to bother.

I learn a lot about producing the sort of original music I like by reproducing the sort of commercial music I like. If that makes any sense.

C&C most appreciated, good or bad.

[LBN]

Nice. Going from memory it sounds like you got close on a lot of the sounds.

The point of this exercise was to sound like Y; where Y is Depeche Mode circa 1982. There have been a few posts on KVR where people have debated how to nail that sound, and many asking why the hell would you want to bother.

I learn a lot about producing the sort of original music I like by reproducing the sort of commercial music I like. If that makes any sense.

I often do the same thing. I will "cover" a song simply for the sake of learning how to do something. I've learned more about programming synths by trying to figure out how to do a particular sound on a song. I've learned more about music by trying to figure out a particular phrase from a song. In both it's funny how the things that sound the simplest sometimes turn out to be complex and, inversely, the things that sound complex sometimes turn out to be very simple. For example, the lead sound on David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" -- I always assumed it was a synth but I learned from a Tony Visconti interview that it's just a grand piano run through a flanger. To some it may have seemed obvious but I remember hearing that sound when I was young and thinking it was one of the coolest things ever. The manipulation of sounds endlessly fascinates me.

[Modeler]

Thanks LBN. Drums were the easiest part; I was lucky enough to have all the right samples in my collection. Some of the sounds are obviously wrong, such as the "sparkle" sound that hits just before the chorus. I used a windchime type sound in its place (similar to the one used on Everything Counts). Weird; the "sparkle" sound is almost identical to a spot effect used in the Sega Megadrive version of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. I no longer have that game so couldn't sample it.

The lead synth was a Jupiter-8 on the original; took me ages to get close to it with software.

For example, the lead sound on David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" -- I always assumed it was a synth but I learned from a Tony Visconti interview that it's just a grand piano run through a flanger.

Well I'll be damned.