Vince Clarke's official website

[Locus M]

without going fishing for other quotes ....
this one to me says: he prefers the sound of analogs although he appreciates the flexibility of VAs. and i don't thinks its a bizarre interpreation.

No it is not bizzare, but not a rock steady interpretation either. As you can see from my quotes, he also states that Moog modular V has it's own character and is crazy as if he really likes it.

Anyway, this way of stating it, is also a much more modest statement than what you have said so far. In these quotes below, you sound like you can read his mind:

notice how he doesn't have any VA hardware either....as VAs being software suffer from the same problems soundwise as softsynths.
although i'm sure with new generation of softsynths the gap will be closed with the analogs .

exactly he will use analog synths cos in his opinion THEY SOUND BETTER than VAs despite the limitations of analogs .His choice is based on sound.thats what i meant in my post.
he sticks to analog synths not cos he is reluctant to learn new software as someone said(he even got deep into reaktor which i bet would be unknown territory for many here)...he simply chooses analog synths based on sound preference.

Here your own agenda about software synths are quite appearant regarding the interpretation of his statments.

anyway i knew this thread would turn into a flame war.
stayin out of this one....and only returning if it gets really nasty

Do not be paranoid now. I asked you to open your mind, that can hardly be called flaming you, can it?

[chuck death]

depeche mode - speak&spell (1981)
yazoo- upstairs at erics (1982)
his contributions to "techno" and "electro" (especially the euro flavour) were noticeably more important than any shit "detroit" "chicago" etc ever came up with.

Absolute garbage! I love Vince Clarke and would never argue he wasn't hugely influential but your statement writing off Chicago and Detroit as less important is just stupid. Your other claims are even more laughable, these two made me laugh the most:

influenced by punk he speeded up the tempo of disco.

So he invented hi-nrg disco did he?

Sylvester must have been gutted when he dropped the hi-nrg disco bomb "you make me feel (mighty real)" in 1978, only to find Vince Clarke wasn't going to invent the genre until years later.

he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)

Vince must have been furious when Kraftwerk released "Das model" in 1977, stealing his ideas years before he released a record?

[Chuck E. Jesus]

he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)

Vince must have been furious when Kraftwerk released "Das model" in 1977, stealing his ideas years before he released a record?

or I Feel Love...

[xoxos]

hi,

there have been several videos of mr. clarke working in maine (for l.a.t.e.o.t.w.)

on a laptop and 2 octave usb controller.

[chuck death]

he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)

Vince must have been furious when Kraftwerk released "Das model" in 1977, stealing his ideas years before he released a record?

or I Feel Love...

Indeed, and also 1977, several years before Vince released a record. How did these people steal Vince's ideas before he'd even had them? I'm waiting for olicana's time machine conspiracy theory...

I feel love would also disprove another of olicana's, ahem, "theories" too:

he introduced funk into electronic dance.

[olicana]

he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)

Vince must have been furious when Kraftwerk released "Das model" in 1977, stealing his ideas years before he released a record?

i am a big kraftwerk fan...but if u can't tell the difference between the first beat and the second one then i'm sorry for u.


the one in das model is not even a straight 4/4 and in terms of impact theres not even comparison. the depeche mode one has an open decay that gives it that typical oomph (that u would later hear comin out of tr909s a decade later). i've not measured the bpm ...but kraftwek seems less than 120....depeche modes is above 130.
depeche mode kick drum actually got people dancing across clubs in europe....kraftwerk at that time had diffciulties gettin outside intellectual lounges.

influenced by punk he speeded up the tempo of disco.

So he invented hi-nrg disco did he?

Sylvester must have been gutted when he dropped the hi-nrg disco bomb "you make me feel (mighty real)" in 1978, only to find Vince Clarke wasn't going to invent the genre until years later.

he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)

Vince must have been furious when Kraftwerk released "Das model" in 1977, stealing his ideas years before he released a record?

he didn't even make disco.("no disco")
u should take all those things i listed as one...as those are the different ingredients he brought to the table in creating a new sound.

depeche mode speak&spell doesnt sound like anything before.
noone invents anything from nothing....but vince clarke is one of the very few who really made a huge impact and broke the mould and imo massively more important in european dance music than any detroit or chicago figure of the mid 80s.
no wonder so many european dance producers mention depeche mode and vince clarke as their influence....and very few mention juan atkins&co.

[olicana]

I feel love would also disprove another of olicana's, ahem, "theories" too:

he introduced funk into electronic dance.

no denying "I feel love" was the first electronic dance tune ever....but hardly a glaring example of funk influences.
wheres the syncopated basslines, synth brass, funky top rythms ?
u find them all in vince clarke compositions though:

[dirty oscillators]

his contributions to "techno" and "electro" (especially the euro flavour)

what are you talking about? "euro" flavor?? this is why i'm convinced that so many people know nothing about Techno. they think it's Trance or some kind of "Euro" beat.

...were noticeably more important than any shit "detroit" "chicago" etc ever came up with.

Detroit and Chicago came up with shit?? the only shit I see is what's coming out of your mouth.

[dirty oscillators]

I feel love would also disprove another of olicana's, ahem, "theories" too:

he introduced funk into electronic dance.

no denying "I feel love" was the first electronic dance tune ever....but hardly a glaring example of funk influences.
wheres the syncopated basslines, synth brass, funky top rythms ?

it's GIORGIO MORODER and no it wasn't the first electronic dance tune ever...

[dirty oscillators]

but vince clarke is one of the very few who really made a huge impact and broke the mould and imo massively more important in european dance music than any detroit or chicago figure of the mid 80s.

there is NO way *one* artist, Vince Clarke, could have more influence on the dance scene in Europe than a whole genre of music, conceived in Chicago, called House.

[ouroboros]

I much rather have Zebra2 or Gladiator over say pretty much any Korg analog (except for the PS series.They're awesome) or Akai analog.

I have been one of the hardest defender of softies equality to hardware, but after 4 years, I have given up fighting for my particular old school synthbasses and returned to hardware for these alone. Now they are taken care of by Alpha Juno 1, Mopho, JP8000 and microkorg. It is a great relief and speed up the proces beyond 50%! All other things, I can easily make with software with just as great results - and sometimes even better, due to the clean signal and extended mod possilities (just like The Saint says it!). I can not say that Hardware in general produce better basses than software, I can only say that I like my basses the way they sounded in the 80s and they were mainly made on analogues or at least hardware. I have not been able to reproduce them to my taste on software yet. When and if they get close, it is because there are invested many hours in getting them there. Far too many.

traitor

[dirty oscillators]

@ olicana:

here this might help you:

http://www.gridface.com/features/an_ele ... eline.html


and gee, oddly enough, Vince Clarke isn't mentioned anywhere... how strange!

[S.HUSH]

Why the f**k did he live his dome to move to Maine??? Is he dating Stephen King????

And Vince's sample CD, released early 90s, is by far one of the best sample Cds ever.

[jupiter8]

Why the f**k did he live his dome to move to Maine??? Is he dating Stephen King????

He got married and had a kid. To a girl i might add which came as some surprise. I always figured he was gay but apperantly not.

And Vince's sample CD, released early 90s, is by far one of the best sample Cds ever.

Funny that,i thought it was aboslutely horrible and never used. In fact i just left it in an aprtment when i moved out and never missed.

[chuck death]

he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)

Vince must have been furious when Kraftwerk released "Das model" in 1977, stealing his ideas years before he released a record?

i am a big kraftwerk fan...but if u can't tell the difference between the first beat and the second one then i'm sorry for u.


the one in das model is not even a straight 4/4 and in terms of impact theres not even comparison. the depeche mode one has an open decay that gives it that typical oomph (that u would later hear comin out of tr909s a decade later). i've not measured the bpm ...but kraftwek seems less than 120....depeche modes is above 130.
depeche mode kick drum actually got people dancing across clubs in europe....kraftwerk at that time had diffciulties gettin outside intellectual lounges.

Of course I can tell the difference but you are now saying you meant something entirely different to what you actually wrote. You didn't say "he was one of the first to use fast electrnic beats with a production style that would later become popular in many other forms of music" I would have agreed if you had said that but you didn't. What you said was "he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)" and that statement was completely wrong. Kraftwerk was just a populist example I could have chosen many others.

influenced by punk he speeded up the tempo of disco.

So he invented hi-nrg disco did he?

Sylvester must have been gutted when he dropped the hi-nrg disco bomb "you make me feel (mighty real)" in 1978, only to find Vince Clarke wasn't going to invent the genre until years later.

he had the first proper fast electronic dance beat. (120 bpm+)

Vince must have been furious when Kraftwerk released "Das model" in 1977, stealing his ideas years before he released a record?

he didn't even make disco.("no disco")

Now you are showing yet again that you say one thing and mean another. I didn't say Vince did disco, you did:

influenced by punk he speeded up the tempo of disco.

I know full well he wasn't making hi-nrg, I was pointing out that hi-nrg existed before Vince had released a note of music. Proving that Vince wasn't doing anything new when he "sped up disco".

u should take all those things i listed as one...as those are the different ingredients he brought to the table in creating a new sound.

depeche mode speak&spell doesnt sound like anything before.
noone invents anything from nothing....but vince clarke is one of the very few who really made a huge impact and broke the mould

Finally you're talking sense. I love Vince Clarke and DM, I totally agree they took their music in a new direction. I never had an issue with you saying they are hugely influential. It's just you made a series of silly claims that weren't true, that's what I was trying to get across to you.

You are undermining what he has done by listing a series of things you claim he was responsible for when even the most basic research proves you to be entirely wrong.

What you're now saying is that Vince was one of the first to combine the elements you listed, again changihg what you originally said. This I agree with, I just wish you'd think a little and actually write what you mean first time round.

and imo massively more important in european dance music than any detroit or chicago figure of the mid 80s.
no wonder so many european dance producers mention depeche mode and vince clarke as their influence....and very few mention juan atkins&co.

This whole statement is simply your opinion and therefore there's little point me commenting other than to say I have seen fairly equal praise for Vince/DM and Derrick May/Juan Atkins/Kevin Saunderson et al over the years but that just my perception of it, I would never be as presumptuous as you and make such a profoundly unproveable statement.