I was listening to Depeche Mode's 2013 "Delta Machine" album last night which is, in my opinion, the band's best album since Violator. I felt like discussing the production techniques on this album but it was late and none of my musician friends are that into the band these days. And who can blame them? Other than Delta Machine and maybe their most recent, "Memento Mori" album, their output has been pretty spotty in the last 20+ years.
But still, there is something about Delta Machine that sounds really interesting to me. It's nowhere near as sonically adventurous as Violator and even some of their earlier albums. But sampling as a sonic landscape has pretty much run its course. So where do you go from there?
Delta Machine would seem to emphatically suggest "modular synths"! I've read that Martin Gore of Depeche Mode is a "modular madman" and sometimes buys a Eurorack module a week even though he is basically duplicating (or quadrupling) what he already owns.
My only point in posting here is that I don't think you could ever recreate the cool, raw, minimalist sound of Delta Machine with plugins. That isn't an invitation to open some "flame war" about synth plugins vs hardware synths. I honestly don't have any skin in that game. I use both. And I don't actually own any modular gear because it seems too expensive, too space-consuming, and frankly too much of a pain to use for any improvement in sound quality it might add to my songs.
But then I listen to something like Delta Machine and think maybe I am missing out on something. Because again, I don't think I could ever mimic the sound of that record using my synth plugins or even my more conventional hardware synths.
Anyway, I hope this might be a fun discussion and not get into the whole software vs hardware "debate." I'm also specifically avoiding the topic of whether the songs on Delta Machine are "better" than those on Violator. I don't think anyone can answer that other than for themselves.
But when The Quietus posts a glowing track-by-track review of Delta Machine, then maybe Depeche Mode was actually on to something with that record.
https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/ ... ne-review/
But still, there is something about Delta Machine that sounds really interesting to me. It's nowhere near as sonically adventurous as Violator and even some of their earlier albums. But sampling as a sonic landscape has pretty much run its course. So where do you go from there?
Delta Machine would seem to emphatically suggest "modular synths"! I've read that Martin Gore of Depeche Mode is a "modular madman" and sometimes buys a Eurorack module a week even though he is basically duplicating (or quadrupling) what he already owns.
My only point in posting here is that I don't think you could ever recreate the cool, raw, minimalist sound of Delta Machine with plugins. That isn't an invitation to open some "flame war" about synth plugins vs hardware synths. I honestly don't have any skin in that game. I use both. And I don't actually own any modular gear because it seems too expensive, too space-consuming, and frankly too much of a pain to use for any improvement in sound quality it might add to my songs.
But then I listen to something like Delta Machine and think maybe I am missing out on something. Because again, I don't think I could ever mimic the sound of that record using my synth plugins or even my more conventional hardware synths.
Anyway, I hope this might be a fun discussion and not get into the whole software vs hardware "debate." I'm also specifically avoiding the topic of whether the songs on Delta Machine are "better" than those on Violator. I don't think anyone can answer that other than for themselves.
But when The Quietus posts a glowing track-by-track review of Delta Machine, then maybe Depeche Mode was actually on to something with that record.
https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/ ... ne-review/
Statistics: Posted by Delta Machine — Thu May 30, 2024 3:31 pm