Yamaha CS01II plays NEW LIFE by Depeche Mode

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.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• analog
• synth
• demo
• 80s
• synthpop
• technopop
• cs01

[wjec1970]

I am IMPRESSED. You seriously did all this on the CS01? Talent!

[peahix]

@wjec1970 thanks! it's important to point out that this is a CS01II. The original CS01 had a more limited resonance control, which would make some of the sounds here (ie the drums) unachievable.

[Barelinio]

Great work! Didn't think this was even remotely possible on a Cs01! :)

[peahix]

@Barelinio thanks! of course, having the cv/gate inputs is a big help! :)

[milo98]

Amazing!! This has to be one of the best New Life covers out there on youtube!! The sounds are really great coming of this thing. Kudos on the drum sounds you were able to produce.

[peahix]

@milo98 thanks! it takes a bit of extra work to get decent drum sounds from the CS01II. for this, both the kick and the snare have two seperate components, tracked seperately. the kick consists of a low thud mixed with a resonance click. the snare is a white noise burst mixed with a resonance knock. i could have cheated by sampling the drums from the original, or using a korg kr55 sample for the snare, but that wouldn't have been any fun!

[akguni]

Very well done. I have a lot of respect for people who achieve astounding results with limited equipment. Everyone - well, almost everyone - can sound like Depeche Mode if you buy exactly the same synths or use the same samples. The talent is to sweat the equipment you have and stretch the boundaries of what is possible.

[therealsweep]

Excellent work.

[analogue71]

very very impressive, all the details are there. great work. How I love that toy-like, synthi pop yet very organic warm sound. Nice work !

[gretschgirl66]

excellent!!!

[andynista]

Sounds amazing! I might download it and have a go at the vocals just for fun...! :-)

[syntheocortex]

INCREDIBLE!



[Synthpeter]

One word: Wow!

[ludbet]

super sons

niquel

[theogore]

As a loyal subscriber, I so very glad you did this. Brings back memories of my first Yamaha, and brightens my day that you still have yours and are making RAD music with it.