Depeche Mode Enjoy the Silence synth cover Clavia Nord Modular G1 Atari ST Steinberg Cubase

All drum and synth sounds produced simultaneously by the Nord Modular without any multi-tracking.

This is my attempt at creating a ‘one synth’ cover of Enjoy the Silence, using only 4 sound patches on my Clavia Nord Modular G1 (with DSP Expansion) and sequenced from scratch using Steinberg Cubase 3.1 on my old Atari ST.

Just for fun, I thought it might be interesting to use Logic Pro (running on a Mac), synchronised to Cubase on the Atari using MIDI Time Code, to playback the original DM vocals (on track 1) in sync with the audio coming from the Nord Modular. Tracks 2 and 3 are recording the audio coming from the Nord Modular, along with reverb from my Soundcraft mixer recording on track 4.

Playlist:-
0.06 Nord Modular + original DM vocals
4.28 Individual sounds and sequences
8.03 Nord Modular instrumental

The instrumental section of the video includes screenshots of the Nord Modular editor software showing how each of the 4 patches is constructed.

Nord Modular Patches:-
Slot A = Drums (CPU = 89.3% Poly = 1)
Slot B = Bassline and Bells (CPU = 49.4% Poly = 3)
Slot C = Vox Chords, Phaser Strings and Vox Melody (CPU = 76% Poly = 7)
Slot D = Guitar, Filter Sweep Bass and Synth (CPU = 95.7% Poly = 4)

Nord Modular audio outputs:-
1+2 = Dry / No effects
3+4 = Hall reverb from my Soundcraft mixer

The Nord Modular G1 is 16 note polyphonic (32 with the DSP expansion) and can play 4 patches at once (in Slot A, B, C and D), but when 3 or 4 patches are used simultaneously, the polyphony can quickly drop to just 1 or 2 notes per patch, depending on the complexity and CPU load of each sound patch.

I wanted to include the brass sound that plays behind the guitar melody, along with some guitar pickup noise, but adding more modules to any of the patches caused the polyphony to drop and become unplayable, due to the high CPU load of the 4 patches.

The audio outputs of the Nord Modular completely mute for almost 1 second whenever a new patch is loaded, so it’s not possible to use MIDI program change messages to switch between sounds once Cubase starts playing back, so all the drum and synth sounds (14 sounds in total) have to fit into the 4 sound patches, by using as few sound modules as possible to keep the balance between low CPU load and usable polyphony.

#depechemode #violator #enjoythesilence #nordmodular #nordkeyboards #synthcover #atari #atarist #clavia #nord #modular #steinberg #cubase #midi #sequencer #synth #instrumental

[i_never_asked_for_an_alias]

Seeing this Atari ST still in action, specially in conjunction with the Nord Modular, makes me very happy. Good job overall. 👍Minimal setup, maximized.

[josephmarkey]

AllI ever wanted, all I ever needed was an Atari ST.

[melodies_are_alive]

Absolutely brilliant! Fantastic programming of the Sound stems and modular settings. And just seeing that beautiful ATARI brings back so many memories - the only computer back in the day that had MIDI ports built in by default. Your video is proof that creating great music/covers is possible using technology from yesteryear.

[AnalogX]

Impressive cover, DM songs are very hard to cover. I still have my Atari 1040STE 😁 I was using it with Edit Track Gold with MIDI gear in a small rack.

[productionneuftrois]

One of the best synth covers ever. Incredible sound design.

[KRKX]

No "blabla", all essential, detailled, clean, gratz man, really good job, appreciate it

[mysteriousmachine]

What a beautiful version, the sounds are very well done, they capture the essence of the original version, impressive synthesizer. Maybe you'd like to check out a version I made with my Polybrute in one take.

[ultracurvenl]

i enjoyed this very much...
fun project
great seeing someone still using the st

[MaxCarponera]

Man cannot say what's I am most impressed of. The perfect rendition of the traks on an Atary ST, including the bass funky filtering, the leverage of old tech and the integration witht the (most) new, the amazing and complex sound engineering on the modular, the detailed 'how it's made' at the end, the result... Congrats.

[epicsynthwave]

I used to have a 1040STe with Steinberg Pro-24.Thank you for this nostalgic moment, really did put a smile on my face :) well done 😘

[CHNCHLaboratory]

respect greetz from germany ffm! love my g1 too!

[flatlyna]

Marvellous work, jaw dropping recreation. As an old Amiga midi musician I appreciate the effort and time spent. I bust out an old Mac SE30 running Cubase from time to time and this inspires me to do it a bit more often 👍

[hvanmegen]

That Atari deserves a nice RetroBright treatment.. The Atari ST together with the Amiga 500 are still one of the few objects that make my heart swell with joy when I see them :)

[markseagraves]

Whoa. A Nord Modular. Vintage virtual modular makes me feel old. Brilliant cover! Okay so I just threw this into our mastering chain with an AIrwindows Clipper and some widening. Good Heavens. No nonsense about it, a very successful attempt.

[RaquelFoster]

I never even had an Amiga or Atari ST, but I discovered MOD and ScreamTracker files on pirate BBSs around 1989-'91, when I had a '386SX-16. And... there was a time before MP3s when trackers were just mind-blowingly clean powerful music. I mean imagine finding this kinda thing all over when the only thing on the radio was Pour Some Sugar On Me... And I was 13 listening to cassette tapes of the Beastie Boys. Depeche Mode was pretty Sci-Fi. It was trippy!

[gtretroworld]

Playing your track then later breaking the components down is a real treat, superb work. Thanks

[ericBcreator]

Awesome! Brings back memories to the late 80s / early 90s when I used to recreate popular music I liked with Cakewalk on my MSX(2) - anyway remember the FM Pac? - and PC - first the Adlib soundcard and later the Soundblaster series.
In the 90s I bought a Roland JV30 and a Korg X3 - which I still own and work fine - and programmed them through midi as they had better sounds.
Good ol' days and you revived them! Cool!

[Wagoo]

old is gold <3

(especially that ST lol - mine's gone the same)

Super job on the song recreation :)

[passsacaglia]

This is absolutely amazing - got as a recommended from start screen. Do you do requests?? I know the DM community is aching for But not tonight, I know Modular State has a really insane version, would love to hear yours! You just earned a new subscriber. Love from Stockholm Sweden

[thevi_olin]

Thank you, you put a great smile on my face! Great rendition of an incredible song, and shows you don't need more gear if you know what you are doing. Beautiful!