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."

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 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 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 CS01-II Synthesizer Demo

YouTube via peahix.

peahix on MySpace

"All the sounds (drums too) are from my old monophonic Yamaha CS01-II, which I had retrofitted with CV/Gate jacks and plugged into a Kenton Pro Solo midi/cv box. I bounced each part from midi to audio one by one in Cubase, mixed with some effects. Maybe I'll develop this into a complete song someday, for now it was just a quick experiment to see what a full arrangement using the CS01-II would sound like.

You can download a Kontakt program of a bass sound I made with this synth here: http://www.twango.com/media/peahix.pu..."

Yamaha CS01II Analog Synthesizer Demo

Yamaha CS01II Analog Synthesizer Demo by peahix
"Here's two versions of a little demo track made entirely with my trusty old Yamaha CS01II analog synth. The original is from 1986, played by hand and "multitracked" by dubbing back and forth on my Star Studio boombox [below]. I cleaned up the sound as best I could. I decided to do a remake to see how close i could get to the overall sound of the original. Same synth, but now with CV jacks installed and sequenced with Cubase."

"Star Studio" Radio Commercial Spot

YouTube Uploaded by backporchvideos on Feb 4, 2008

"Just look what it did for Joey!!! Aired 6-1-85."

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/

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 »

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!"

Canon for 2:09AM, featuring the Yamaha CS01II Analog Synthesizer

YouTube Uploaded by peahix on May 30, 2011

"Here's a little late-night canon I wrote for my Yamaha CS01II analog synth (5 monophonic parts, each a different waveform, multi-tracked in Cubase). I shot the video (sunset light thru my studio curtains) with my Olympus Pen E-PL1 and ran it thru some cheesy FX in Sony Vegas."

Peahix Vintage 1980s YAMAHA DX100 SN 42407

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

via this auction

Peahix is the man behind optigan.com and he brought us a number of great synth vids. Note this DX100 does have problems so this one is likely for the DIY or circuit bending crowd:

"Currently powers up, but enters a glitchy state where the display flashes random characters, and sometimes it makes garbled/glitchy sounds, either on its own, or sometimes responding to the keyboard and/or MIDI. Most likely there's just a loose chip or some other connection inside. I have not attempted to repair it or trace the source of the problem myself. Could probably be fixed pretty easily by someone qualified to work on this type of electronics, otherwise this would make a great circuit-bending candidate. The data slider cap is missing, and there's some minor scuffs & grime, but otherwise it's in good shape cosmetically. Please see pics for further details."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Korg SQ-1 vs Yamaha CS01II by peahix

"here's some jamz i made with a Korg SQ-1 sequencer and a Yamaha CS01II (retrofitted w/ CV/Gate jacks)."

Korg SQ-1 Sequencer controls Yamaha CS01II Synth & a Guinea Pig

Published on May 30, 2015 peahix

"Just got this Korg SQ-1 and did some noodling with it and my Yamaha CS01II analog synth (which has had cv/gate inputs installed). The nice thing about the SQ-1 is that you can switch it to Hz/V, which is what the CS01II takes. The first part covers the different waveforms with a musical sequence, and the second part is drums done with filtered white noise. The synth was recorded direct with no FX or processing."

Mooquencer

Published on May 31, 2015

"Guinea pig Moo jams on her new Korg SQ1 sequencer while fending off hostile aliens."

This might be the first guinea pig post on the site unless you count this one.

1970s Yamaha EM-130 Mixer w/ Beatbox Demo

Published on Aug 12, 2014 peahix

"This is an early Yamaha mixer with a built-in beatbox. I couldn't find any other audio demos of this thing online, so I figured I'd make one. It only has a few different preset beats, but as with most drum machines of this era, you can press multiple buttons at once and combine the beats to get more interesting patterns. The mixer also has a spring reverb, which the beatbox isn't hard-wired to, but you can get around that by patching one of the outputs to a channel input and turning up the reverb. I demonstrate this in the second part of the video. At the end I add in a little bit of the tuning knob."

Pea Hicks' Studio Circa 1992

via Pea Hicks

Some synth spotting:
"Yamaha DX-100 & MT-100II 4-track, Ensoniq EPS, E-mu Emax & Proteus Orchestral, Sequential Circuits Pro-One, Roland TB-303, MC-202 & SBX-10, Amiga 600, Art Pro-Verb, Tascam Mixer, Shure SM-57, DBX Compressor."

Note Pea Hicks runs the Optigan website and has been featured here on MATRIXSYNTH a number of times (as Pea Hicks and peahix).

The Third Of That Needed Seven

The Third Of That Needed Seven by peahix
"Minimalist electronica done entirely with my Yamaha CS01II analog synth, retrofitted w/ CV inputs, sequenced in Cubase via Kenton Pro Solo."

Yazoo - ONLY YOU - Re-created w/ Sequential Circuits Pro-One Synth

Published on Jul 19, 2014 peahix

"Some friends needed the backing track of this song for their wedding, so I took the opportunity to geek out with it. The original is well-known by synth nerds as having been produced by Vince Clarke using only a Sequential Circuits Pro-One monophonic analog synthesizer. So, since I have a Pro-One, and there are scans of an old music magazine article online which show the settings for some of the sounds Vince used on this track (https://www.flickr.com/photos/8478882...), I figured I'd have a go at re-creating it.

First I transcribed the music (sequenced with Cubase), using soft-synth sounds as temporary stand-ins for the Pro-One. Then I had to dial in all the Pro-One sounds one-by-one and record each part via a Kenton MIDI-CV interface. I found that all of the patches from the article needed adjusting to get them in the ballpark, plus I had to create the other sounds from scratch (I've credited each patch accordingly). Having done so, I'm not convinced that every single sound on the original is actually a Pro-One. The "Tinkle" sound, for instance, sounds more bell-like on the original, so it could possibly have been something like a PPG. I don't think Vince had his Fairlight yet, otherwise I'd say it was that. Also, the string line toward the end of the song sounds like it might have been played on a polysynth, ie maybe the Jupiter 4 which Vince used alot at the time. Of course, there's also the snare, which was an 808.

In any event, I think I got pretty close with my rendition. Of course the effects and mix are going to be different, and some of the sounds are closer than others, but whatever.

If you want to give it a shot yourself, you can download the MIDI file and the patch sheets here (be sure to let me know if you make your own version, and give me a shout out if you post it online!): https://www.dropbox.com/s/lfn3vb1pxwq...

One tip: the cutoff of the "Wobble" sound varies a bit, getting slightly brighter during the chorus, etc. The only way to do this is manually while recording. I tried to use automation for this via the Pro-One's filter CV input, but doing so cancels out the Keyboard Amount setting, which is crucial for this sound, so I simply adjusted the knob in real-time.

If you liked this re-creation, check out my other videos for four "Speak & Spell" tracks that I re-created using only a Yamaha CS01-II synth.

Thanks to FrankPerri.com for the blank patch sheets!"

Canon for 2:09AM

Canon for 2:09AM by peahix
"A little canon I wrote for my Yamaha CS01II analog synth."

via Pea Hicks of optigan.com

YAMAHA WX-7 MIDI Wind Controller Flexidisc Demo Record

Published on Dec 22, 2017 peahix

"Found this in my old box of 45s and figured I'd stick it up here since it doesn't seem to exist on YouTube as of this date."